Page 99 of Boudicca

I turned so that I could meet her gaze. “Have you seen that?”

“It is something I have known since the day you placed the torque of Prasutagus around your neck,” she said.

My body jolted with surprise. “And you said nothing to me about that until now?”

“You did not ask until now.”

Maldwyn tried unsuccessfully to cover his laughter with a cough.

***

Once again my war council gathered outside my tent under the meager tarp that attempted to keep the mixed sleet and snow from us. The camp was awake, waiting restlessly for the outcome of our petition to Andraste. I felt a great sense of anticipation that turned to trepidation as Rhan rushed to me. I expected her to be carrying one of the sacred white hares, but her arms were empty and her eyes unreadable.

“Queen Boudicca, I would ask that you and your council follow me. Andraste has given sign,” she said.

My brow furrowed. “Follow you? I don’t understand.”

“You will, my queen. If you follow me,” she insisted.

I nodded. “Lead on, Iceni seer.”

We followed Rhan out into the wet, walking in a line after her, drawing the curious gazes of the Iceni as we wove through the caravans to the area of the camp that held the animal pens. It was then that I first noticed the new deference the people showed Rhan. Word of the slaughter at Ynys Môn had spread among the army. The Druids were our king and queen makers. They settled tribal grievances. They were our most talented healers, storytellers, and artists. But beyond all of that, our Druids were our link to Annwn. As Rhan walked through the camp, warriors and the families that filled the caravans left the warmth of their tents and wagons and campfires to bow to Rhan. They watched her with an intensity I understood. Without our Druids, who would translate the signs sent to us by our gods? Who would look into the future and advise us? Who would give voice to the spirits of our ancestors? Within the scope of just a few days, Rhan’s already considerable power had multiplied. I did not want to believe that she and Adara were the last two Druids alive in Britain, but whether they were or not, our people would cherish them beyond gold.

I was glad of it. I was also aware that I could benefit from the veneration with which the people regarded Rhan, my dearest friend and seer of the Iceni.

The hares of Andraste had an entire wagon to themselves. Their hutches were lovingly filled with fresh bedding daily. They ate onlythe sweetest grasses and ripest vegetables. The women who cared for the hares loved them as they did their children.

As we came to the wagon, the caretakers of the hares clustered outside, visibly upset. My stomach tightened. If the sacred hares were dead I did not know what I would do. How would Rhan interpret a sign so terrible? I was consumed by dread that I could not allow my people to see.

Rhan halted just outside the draped end of the wagon. It was closed to keep the hares within warm. She turned to face us.

“I came here as soon as Queen Boudicca asked that I petition Andraste for our next move. I meant to select a hare and bring it to our queen so that she might speak her question for the goddess, as I have often done. But as I drew aside the curtains of their wagon it seemed the hares answered the question before the queen could ask it.” Rhan looked at me. “Queen Boudicca, I am going to draw aside the curtain and enter the wagon. When I do I ask that you speak your question to Andraste, loudly, so that your people will never wonder what their queen truly asked the goddess. Then I will go to the hutches to release a hare so that we may all see the sign the goddess gives. Will you do that?”

“I will.”

Rhan nodded to me, and then, with a flourish, she threw open the curtain and climbed nimbly into the wagon. She turned and faced me, folded her hands together, and waited.

The warm, familiar scent of rabbit and alfalfa drifted from within. We could see the neat hutches. They were spacious and stacked atop one another three high, strapped to the sides of the wagon so that they would not tumble over as we traveled. The hares were clearly visible. Their white coats and pink eyes were like torches in the grayness. They turned their heads and ears to the opening, curious and utterly unafraid of humans.

I gazed at them and spoke clearly, projecting my voice so that not just my council heard the petition I posed to Andraste, but many of the warriors surrounding us as well. “Mighty Andraste, I am your Boudicca—named by you, chosen by you. I ask for your guidance.Shall I march your army to meet the Romans now? What say you, goddess of the Iceni, goddess of vengeance, goddess of war?”

Rhan moved to the closest hutch, and as she opened the door to it, the hares within became hysterical. They scurried away from the little door to cower in a group in the rear of the hutch, shivering and screaming with high, thin voices that sent shivers down my spine.

But Rhan did not stop there. She approached every hutch and opened each one—and every sacred hare behaved the same way. As soon as Rhan opened their hutch, they panicked and raced to huddle together, trembling and screaming.

Only after Rhan closed the door to the last hutch and left the wagon did the hares calm. Within moments they returned to nibbling on their food, yawning and acting as if nothing unusual had happened. It was extraordinary.

“That is exactly how the hares reacted when I tried to choose one to hear our queen’s petition and our goddess’s answer,” said Rhan.

My warriors were speechless. They stared at the hares. Every Iceni that surrounded me knew that this behavior was unprecedented. Andraste’s hares did not fear us. They had no reason to. They were pampered and adored for their entire lives. Upon death they were mourned and often burned on a sacred pyre or buried within the Chief’s Barrow. They were never harmed or misused or frightened.

I was shaken, though glad that my voice remained steady. “Iceni seer, how do you interpret Andraste’s sign?”

“The goddess’s will is clear. We are to find a place to winter the army. And it will be a long, harsh winter. We are not to march against Rome until Andraste has given sign that it is safe.”

“So the goddess has spoken, so will I do,” I said solemnly. Though how I was going to safely winter over one hundred thousand people with two legions hunting us, I did not know.

Chapter XXXII