The Women Of Woden.

Mystic Women of The Realm.

Series.

By Robbie Collins.

To E.C., my High Queen.

"Wither thou, goest I."

Acknowledgements.

Thank you to E.C. who reminded me that I could, and to Ann V. who provided the path.

Truth is ever more unbelievable than fiction.

"Urgent: Woden's enemies are gathering their forces together. The warrior women of Woden must be told! We must find a way to inform them of their past so that they know they are not isolated. Their long-prior journals must be made available to them."

Unknown to the women warriors of Woden, their quiet community is about to become entwined into the mysterious and mystical realm of which they know so little.

As they prepare their community for battle, the women leaders learn of Woden's long-unknown past, their attraction for each other, The Realm's mystics, and the treachery that will lead them directly into the middle of The Realm and its struggles.

The suspenseful journey unfolds through a series of six books in a mystifying realm.

Come, let us pass through Woden's Gate together . . .

Chapter I.

The Grassfields.

The sentries had found her lying just outside Woden village boundary at what is called the Grassfields. She was semi-conscious, but was struggling to remain alert. Her dog had howled until someone came. The sentries had finally heard the dog and found the woman. They had then called for Meera, then for The Second, as a decision was needed about bringing the injured woman Inside. Not a decision lightly made in Woden.

When The Second arrived and saw the injured woman, she tried to mask her feelings. So many moments have been wasted. I hope we are not overly late.

She had hurried to the site as quickly as possible, but it was an entire morn's journey from the Woden community. As she bent over her, the injured woman looked directly into The Second's eyes and blinked slowly as if it took great effort. Even this injured, her eyes seemed to speak to The Second with determination. The Second spoke tenderly to her. "You can rest now. I am known as The Second of Woden. We will take care of you and your dog. And we will tend to your injuries."

The injured woman nodded to The Second slightly, in apparent understanding, but didn't speak. She tried to recover something from an inside pocket. The effort must have caused her great pain as her face contorted into a cringe, but she remained silent. Meera's guards aimed their weapons upon her.

"Meera, have them place their weapons down."

"She might be armed, Second. She may be trying to hurt you, or worse."

The Second refrained from sighing. "She is overly injured to do anything, let alone hurt me."

Meera reluctantly motioned for them to back off. "Look, I think she is but trying to get something out of her garment."

The injured woman withdrew something small; some type of container. She held it up to The Second. Meera took it, then the woman slipped into unconsciousness. The Second tried to touch it, but Meera - 1 -.

wouldn't let her near it. "Second, please touch it not; it could be dangerous.

We will take it for study."

The Second knew that Meera was following procedure, but it still took all the patience she had to control herself. She just looked at Meera, who knew the look well, but Meera wasn't done with The Second yet. "Second, I think we should leave her Outside. We could make a shelter and tend to her here. We know not where she came from and know not if there is anyone else around with her."

As patiently as she could, The Second replied, "She is with her dog. If there were others, the dog would be looking for them. Have you never a dog, Meera?"

"No, I have not. But the woman could be dangerous, Second. And the dog will not let us near him. It is my duty to ensure that no harm comes to you or the community. How do any of us know that she is not here to hurt you, or The Highest? It could be but a trick."

The Second turned her gaze from the injured woman to look at Meera for the first moment since arriving. "If someone will do this much harm to one of their own people to trick us, then there is little in our power to prevent their kind of evil. No, I think her not dangerous. We will not leave her."

Pointing to the container that Meera was now holding, The Second said, "She came to deliver this to us, whatever it is. We probably cannot know what it is without her." Meera handed it to one of her guards. "The dog most likely senses that we are not going to harm her, and my guess is that he will follow wherever we take her."

The Second turned back toward the injured woman and bent down to examine her wounds more closely. "What be the extent of her injuries?"

"Her right knee was dislocated. We re-set it just before you arrived."

Ugh. The Second was glad she hadn't been here during that ordeal.

Painful moment, she thought.

"She also has knife wounds in her left shoulder and arm, a deep gash in her left hand, and she has been hit on the head with something very heavy. Her dog is also injured. He has a knife wound on his hind end, but I cannot get close enough to see the damage. I think she will not live, Second. Her head injury looks overly severe."

"You and your guards have done well halting the bleeding and bandag-ing all the wounds. At least she is transportable. Did she carry weapons?"

The Second stood up, yet looking at the woman. Her knee was dreadfully swollen, but well wrapped now.

"Thank you, Second. We have found nothing so far, except that object she but gave to us."

- 2 -.

"Nothing?" She looked at Meera again and then surveyed the open grasslands. "Strange, is it not? Do you suppose her attackers took her weapons with them?"

Meera looked at The Second with surprise, "How did you but know it was more than one attacker?"

The Second laughed, "Just a guess. You have taught me well over the cycles." The Second had taken a quick look at the area Meera's guards had sectioned off, seeing more than two distinct sets of bootprints. "She looks strong, though. I bet her attackers look not much better."

"From the bootprints we think there were three, but one was dragged off. Dead or injured, probably. We can find no evidence of weapons, so they must have taken them."

The Second spoke softly to Meera so only she could hear, "I leave it to you to do your usual thorough investigation of the site. Make certain to check for how they got here. Her also. But be careful. We need not any more injuries. The healers have their hands full with The Highest. I also want to know how this happened at the boundary without the sentries but knowing it." She let the implications of that stand between them. Meera knew what The Second had meant in that statement. The boundary sentries were considered Woden's most important duty, as it was the first warning in case of threat or attack.

"Speak to me privately when you have your findings."

Meera nodded in understanding.

"Meera, do you think she walked here?" The Second hadn't seen any signs of a horse, but walking all the way from Apien or New Harborage was a formidable distance for anyone.

"From her clothing, I think she did. See her boots? They are heavy ones, and her long cloak was made for extreme conditions. The attackers must have shredded it. It is that pile of clothing over there at the edge of the woods. We have just begun searching for clues, though. I but think she came over the mountains." That meant a very long and dangerous journey.

"Has she spoken to anyone yet?"

"No, nothing. With her head injuries, I am unsure of her hearing ability."

Ever-negative Meera, The Second thought, knowing better. The injured woman had already acknowledged The Second's words. At least Meera was thorough, so The Second accepted her answers without argument. Besides, Meera was someone The Second respected. She took her duty seriously.

Aside from that, she was The Second's closest friend. The Second hadn't really believed the object the injured woman had provided to be dangerous, but Meera had been correct - it was her duty to protect. She knew The Second well and knew when she could push an issue and when she couldn't.

- 3 -.

They had been friends for over fifteen cycles. At one moment early on, some had thought that they would become more than friends, but those rumors died when Meera accepted another as a companion. During those fifteen cycles, Meera had prevented many potentially harmful attacks upon The Second, and they had remained close friends. She fully embraced that her duty was to protect The Second, and she did it well. The Second trusted Meera with her life.

The Second looked directly at Meera, "Take her and her dog to the healers and tell them to but heal both. I want no argument from them on this. Place her in my guest room when they feel they can move her, and assign a guard on her at all moments."

Both turned to look at the dog. He neither barked nor growled at them, but when the injured woman was moved to a litter, he followed. The Second wished that her purpose in life were so clear.

Those few turns of waiting for the injured woman to regain consciousness seemed like forever to The Second. There was so much she needed to know that went unanswered. The injured woman remained unconscious the first two turns, only regaining consciousness slowly after that.

In the interim, The Second spent her moments mostly with The Highest, her daily rounds, getting updates from Meera on her findings, and trying to appear normal to the community. She had gone to Meera and Caithas'

dwelling this midturn for their usual updating session.

Caitha was Meera's companion and a master weaver and gardener.

The Second loved going to their dwelling. Caitha always spoiled her, letting her sit in their patio, which was their private place. Caitha had decorated their dwelling and patio with peace, comfort and transcendence in mind.

Given Meera and The Seconds' positions, they needed it. Meera and The Second were sitting on the patio discussing recent events while Caitha fussed over them, bringing them food and drink whenever she thought necessary. Their loving, but what they thought well-hidden looks between each other made The Second miss her own long-prior companion.

She laughed when Caitha poured Meera's drink. "Caitha, you spoil Meera. She lifts not one finger around here." Which was true, but Caitha seemed to relish in it.

Caitha smiled. "And she but deserves it!" She was always ready to defend her companion. "You work her overly hard, and that is all you two do, is work. Yourself needs a companion, as well!"

- 4 -.

The Second ignored the suggestion, per usual, and asked Meera to update her while she ate Caitha's wonderful salad of goat cheese, lettuce, nuts, raisins, oil and vinegar.

"I have released the two sentries from their duties. I will need to deal with them later. They say they had become but bored, so had decided to sit together a while and talk. That is bad enough, but I also believe them not.

The other sentries know nothing about the event, but those two tell the same story. Overly much so; same words and same details. We have confined them to their dwellings and placed guards outside their doors. That is not a popular decision, but I trust them not at all."

"Who is complaining about this decision?" If the two sentries had been neglectful, The Second couldn't imagine who would care that they had been placed under watch.

"The Counselors approached me. They said they were but certain it was an oversight on the sentries' parts."

The Second thought, The controlling counselors. She wasn't pleased.

"And did they say how they came to know of the incident?"

"They said that the two sentries had come to them directly after the woman was brought Inside, to Woden. My fault on that one, as I did not cover it quickly enough. They also tried to give me grief about bringing the woman Inside."

The Second thought about that for a moment. It was apparent the Counselors knew too much.

But how?

Meera continued, "I would like to request Briggon over to but question them, as I have gotten as much as I can without using harsher measures. Perhaps he will even allow us to confine them over there for a while."

"Briggon? Drastic decision, Meera."

The Second considered Meera always a little hasty in her decisions.

Involving Hengist, the men's community, was usually a last option, and one rarely taken.

"Why not just confine them to the sea for a while with Oisin?"

Sea Duty was one of Woden's vocations, but they also found it useful for those in need of closer scrutiny, watching, or general moments away from everyone. "Oisin told me that she is going over to Matah Island in the next few turns. She will be gone for over twenty turns, and has three ships going. These two sentries could be but placed apart, and we could let Oisin wear them down. At minimum, they will be away from here and the Counselors."

Oisin was The Second's counter-part on the sea. The Second knew that Oisin was much tougher than she was, being a strong, tall woman, with what some thought were brusque manners. The Second liked her and - 5 -.

found her candidly honest. She never allowed anyone except The Second and The Highest to question her decisions, and always said exactly what she was thinking. The Second thought that she wouldn't allow any questioning of her decisions if she had the Sea Duty. It was rough and very dangerous.

All in all, Briggon would probably be easier on these two women than Oisin. The Second didn't want to rely on Hengist, the men's community, unless really necessary. She just hoped that Oisin would bring them back.

If they were guilty of being traitors, she knew that Oisin wouldn't bring them back at all.

"Oisin?" Meera wasn't questioning Oisin; she was questioning The Second's relationship with her. She knew that The Second and Oisin were involved with each other, but didn't know the extent of their relationship, and worried about it.

The Second just sighed, "Worry not. We are but friends, Meera."

"You and I are but friends, Second. You and Oisin are different than that. I cannot figure out your relationship with her. Why did you not accept her when she asked you?"

A few cycles prior, Oisin had asked The Second to be her companion.

They had worked close together, out of necessity, for many cycles and had built a strong bond and trust with each other. For a few brief moments, they had discussed the possibility of becoming companions. But Oisin was a free spirit, and that's what The Second liked most about her: she was fun.

After The Second lost her life-companion, Oisin had taught her how to laugh again. She would often bring The Second gifts from her travels and tell stories of her adventures.