| In the oldest of days, women came alone to Bol Forla to seek the aid of the goddess. But across the open waters, in the marshes of the north, a community of priestesses had gathered around the Dark lady of Ynys y Cysgodion. For many generations they had kept to themselves, for most had fled there from fearsome men; husbands, chieftains, warriors. Some arrived carrying children, either in their arms or their bellies. Slowly the small community grew, and rumors of their existence drifted in the marsh currents. But their time had not yet come. The Dark Lady, as her ancestors and her descendents, wove spells of shadows that kept them hidden from the wide world. Their time had not yet come, but they knew they would be needed one day, so they studied the ways of women and of goddesses, and learned the lore of healing and the magic of the marshes . . . |
