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fair.”
    “You will wear a crown.”
    “A crown?” Quite involuntarily my hand drifted toward my head.
    “It’s not so bad a fate,” she said, looking again to her papers.
    “But wed to whom? To Duncan?”
    Aridmis smiled. “That I can’t quite see. But I do know one thing about Duncan.”
    “What’s that?”
    “He should beware of valkyries.”
    Speechless, I stood quietly at her side for several minutes.
    “Goodnight, sister,” Aridmis said, looking up. Her voice prompted me from my stillness.
    “Yes, goodnight.”
    I would wear a crown. What crown? At the side of what king? My mind boggled at the idea.
    That night I dreamed I lay in Sid’s bed and cried. I saw Epona’s white hair and could hear her comforting voice, but I could not see what was the matter. All I knew was that I was hurt. Some part of my body ached terribly, and the room seemed very hot. It seemed to me that Madelaine was there, but I could not be certain. I heard Druanne chanting, her dry droning voice calling the Goddess. My body was soaked with sweat.
    Then the pain cleared, and I was in a soft bed with rich coverings. I rolled over to find a pure white back in my face, masculine muscles curving smoothly. My hands roved upon his skin. The man turned to look at me. He had raven-black hair and clear blue eyes, and those eyes were filled with love.

Chapter 8
     
    “Wake up,” someone said, jiggling my shoulder .
    I opened my eyes to see Sid’s face peering into mine. She was leaning through the window. I hadn’t noticed the day before how delicate her features were. Her nose was small and pinched. Her green eyes sparkled from under long lashes. Her small mouth was rosy pink.
    “Hurry and dress. We must race the sun,” she whispered.
    I looked out the window behind her. It was still mostly dark, but the sun was on its way. I rose quickly and pulled on my boots, not stopping to dress in a fresh gown. Leaving my pup to the warm bed, I crept outside. Ludmilla stirred but did not wake.
    Sid rounded the house and began to walk quickly toward the woods. “They liked the cream. You are forgiven.”
    “What’s wrong with snowdrops?” I asked as I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes. Suddenly, I felt as if my hair had been pulled. “Ouch!”
    “Oh, you,” Sid said disdainfully, “don’t blame people for ignorance,” Sid scolded someone directly in front of her. “She’s sorry.”
    “Who?”
    “Nadia.”
    “And Nadia is…” I asked, rubbing my head.
    “A fairy. Don’t you see her? No, no one does. But, she’s right there,” Sid said waving her hand in front of her as she marched quickly through the forest.
    “Sorry, Nadia. Please be patient with me,” I said as I hurried to keep up with Sid. Whoever the phantom Nadia was, I was very certain I wanted to be on good terms with her.
    Sid laughed. “You’re making friends.” She moved quickly over beds of fern and through thickets. Then, as if remembering that she had not answered my question, she said, “Snowdrops are poison to fairies. They can’t go near them. If you ever fear an evil fey has fallen upon you, take up snowdrops.”
    Sid kept one eye on the sky and another on the woods ahead of her. The sun was moving quickly upward. We moved through the forest with great haste.
    “Sid, how will I be able to follow you?”
    “You can ride the silver thread. Do it the same as you did before.”
    “How do you know about that?”
    Sid didn’t answer me.
    I continued, “And, besides, I did it by accident.”
    She looked over her shoulder at me. “There is no such thing as accidents. Do it on purpose this time.”
    “And if I cannot?”
    “Then you cannot.”
    I turned and looked behind me. The village was out of sight, and no clear path returned to it. I was at Sid’s mercy.
    We entered a valley where the ground was covered by a vast bed of moss, a barrow in the center. Domed like a turtle shell, it rose some eight feet high. It, too, was covered in lichen. Save