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    Ravens of Avalon: Avalon


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      M A R I O N Z I M M E R B R A D L E Y ’ S

      RAVENS

      ofAVALON

      Other books in this series

      Ancestors of Avalon

      Priestess of Avalon

      Lady of Avalon

      The Forest House

      The Mists of Avalon

      M A R I O N Z I M M E R B R A D L E Y ’ S

      RAVENS

      ofAVALON

      D i ana L . Pax s on

      V I K I N G

      vi k i ng

      Published by the Penguin Group

      Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90

      Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, En gland • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11

      Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rose-dale, North Shore 0745, Auckland, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

      Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:

      80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, En gland

      First published in 2007 by Viking Penguin,

      a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

      Copyright © The Marion Zimmer Bradley Literary Trust and Diana L. Paxson, 2007

      All rights reserved

      Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      l i b rary of cong re s s catalog i ng i n p ubl i cati on data

      Paxson, Diana L.

      Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Ravens of Avalon / Diana L. Paxson.

      p. cm.

      ISBN: 1-4295-4202-0

      1. Boadicea, Queen, d. 62—Fiction. 2. Druids and Druidism—Fiction. 3.

      Great

      Britain—History—Roman

      period, 55 B.C.–449 A.D.—Fiction. 4. Great Britain—History, Military—55 B.C.–449 A.D.—Fiction.

      5. Romans—Great Britain—Fiction. 6. Britons—Fiction. 7. Avalon (Legendary place)—Fiction.

      I. Bradley, Marion Zimmer. II. Title. III. Title: Ravens of Avalon.

      PS3566.A897M34 2007

      813'.54—dc22

      2007003307

      Set in Bembo

      Designed by Spring Hoteling

      Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright own er and the above publisher of this book.

      The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not partici-pate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrightable materials.Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

      To Sarah Rachel, who fought long and hard . . .

      N A M E S I N T H E S T O RY

      CAPITALS = major character

      + = historical fi gure

      (

      ) = dead before story begins

      [

      ] = alternate or later form of name

      P E O P L E

      B riton s

      (Note: Most of these names are attested from written documents of the

      period; however, I have left the British nominative ending “os” on some

      but not on others to provide variety and lessen confusion for the reader.)

      +Adminios—middle son of Cunobelin, exiled king of the Cantiaci

      Anaveistl—mother of Boudica

      Antebrogios—Durotrige chieftain defending the Hill of Stones

      +Antedios—High King of the Iceni

      Argantilla—Boudica’s younger daughter

      Aurodil—an Iceni maiden

      Beric—son of Segovax, a young warrior in the rebellion

      Bethoc—an old woman from a fishing village on Mona

      Bituitos—bodyguard to Prasutagos

      viii

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      +Bodovoc—king of the Northern Dobunni, subject to Togodumnos

      +BOUDICA—daughter of Dubrac, later wife of Prasutagos and queen of

      the Iceni

      Bracios [Braci]—Boudica’s youngest brother

      Brocagnos—an Iceni farmer

      Calgac—a warrior in Boudica’s service

      +CARATAC [Caratacus]—third son of Cunobelin, king of the Cantiaci

      and leader of the fight against Rome

      +Cartimandua—queen of the Brigantes

      Carvilios—a warrior in the rebellion

      Caw—a freedman in the service of Boudica’s daughters

      Cingetor—king of the Silures

      +Cogidubnos—grandson of Verica, later, king of the Atrebates and

      Regni

      +Corio—king of the Southern Dobunni

      Crispus—a Gaulish freedman in Boudica’s service

      (+Cunobelin [Cunobelinos])—king of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni,

      overlord of southeast Britannia)

      Drostac of Ash Hill—a chieftain of the Iceni

      Dubnocoveros—eldest son of Dubrac and brother of Boudica

      Dubrac—father of Boudica, a prince of the Southern Iceni

      Eoc Mor—bodyguard to Prasutagos

      Epilios—youngest son of Cunobelin, foster brother of Braci

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      ix

      +Esico—goldsmith minting coins for Prasutagos

      Kitto—the son of a farmer near Manduessedum

      Leucu—an Iceni warrior in the service of Dubrac

      Maglorios—overking of the Belgae

      Mandos—an Iceni warrior

      Morigenos—an Iceni clan chieftain

      Nessa—an old servant in Boudica’s family

      Palos—owner of the farm near the Horse Shrine, husband of Shanda

      +PRASUTAGOS—son of Domarotagos, High King of the Iceni, Boudi-

      ca’s husband

      Rigana—Boudica’s older daughter

      Rosic—a farmer near Eponadunon, father of Temella

      Segovax—an Iceni clan leader

      Shanda—wife of Palos, of the farm near the Horse Shrine

      Tabanus—a Trinovante slave in Colonia

      Tancoric—king of the Durotriges

      Tascio—son of Segovax, a young warrior in the rebellion

      Taximagulos—an Iceni farmer

      Temella—Boudica’s maid

      Tingetorix—a war leader in the rebellion

      +Togodumnos—son of Cunobelin, king of the Trinovantes and Catuvellauni

      x Nam e s i n th e Story

      +Venutios—king of the Brigantes

      +Veric [Verica]—king of the Atrebates expelled by Caratac

      D ru i d s

      Albi—a boy in training with the Druids

      Ambios—Druid attached to the household of King Caratac

      ARDANOS—a Druid priest

      Belina—a niece of Cunobelin and a priestess

      Bendeigid—a Cornovian boy in training with the Druids, later husband

      of Rheis
    <
    br />   Brangenos—a Druid bard from Gallia

      Brenna—a Brigante girl in training with the Druids

      Brigomaglos—a Durotrige Druid

      Caillean—an Irish girl fostered by Lhiannon

      (Catuera—a legendary priestess)

      Cloto [Lucius Cloto]—an Atrebate boy in training with the Druids

      Coventa—a Brigante girl in training with the Druids, later a priestess

      Cunitor—a Druid priest

      Elin—an old priestess

      Divitiac—chief Druid of the Durotrige tribe

      Helve—a se nior priestess, later High Priestess

      Kea—a girl in training with the Druids

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      xi

      LHIANNON—a young priestess

      Lugovalos—Arch- Druid at Lys Deru

      Mandua—an Atrebate girl in training with the Druids

      Mearan—High Priestess when Boudica arrives on Mona

      Nan—an old priestess living at Avalon

      Nodona—a young priestess, Helve’s second protegée

      Rheis—daughter of Ardanos, later wife of Bendeigid

      Rianor—a Trinovante boy in training with the Druids, later a priest

      Sciovana—wife of Ardanos

      Senora—a girl in training with the Druids

      Roman s

      Calvus [ Junius Antonius Calvus]—a Roman lawyer

      +Catus [Decianus Catus]—Roman procurator in charge of collecting debts

      +Claudius [Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus]—emperor

      41 CE to 54 CE

      Crispus—a Gallo-Roman freedman in the household of Boudica

      +(Gaius Julius Caesar, imperator and leader of a successful campaign in

      Britannia in 54 BCE)

      +Gaius Nero “Caligula”—emperor 54 CE to 68 CE

      +Gallus [Aulus Didius Gallus]—governor of Britannia 52 CE to 57 CE

      +Narcissus—a freedman and secretary of state to Claudius

      +Nero [Nero Claudius Caesar]—emperor 54 CE to 68 CE

      xii

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      +Petilius Cerialis—commander of Legio IX in 60 CE

      +Paulinus [Gaius Suetonius Paulinus]—governor of Britannia 58 CE

      to 61 CE

      +Plautius [Aulus Plautius]—commander of the invasion force, military

      governor of Britannia 43 CE to 47 CE

      +Poenius Postumus—commander of Legio II Augusta, the legion that

      failed to come to Paulinus’s aid

      Pollio [Lucius Junius Pollio]—a tax collector in Britannia

      +Scapuola [Publius Ostorius Scapuola]—governor of Britannia 48 CE

      to 52 CE

      +Seneca [Lucius Annaeus Seneca]—senator and playwright, one of the

      regents for the emperor Nero

      +Silanus [Lucius Junius Silanus

      Torquatus]—senator, son-in-law of

      Claudius

      +Vespasian [Titus Flavius Vespasianus]—legionary legate in command of

      Legio II Augusta during the invasion (emperor, 69 CE to 79 CE)

      A N I M A L S

      Bogle—pack leader of Boudica’s white, red-eared hounds

      Roud—Boudica’s red mare

      Branwen—Boudica’s white mare

      D E I T I E S

      Andraste—battle goddess of the Iceni

      Argantorota [Arianrhod]—Lady of the Silver Wheel

      Arimanes [Arawn]—ruler of the Underworld (or Arihausnos)

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      xiii

      Belutacadros, Cocidios, Coroticos, Lenos, Olloudios, Teutates—war gods

      Brigantia—goddess of inspiration, smithcraft, and healing, also territorial

      goddess of the Brigantes

      Cathubodva—“Battle Raven,” see Morrigan

      Dagdevos [the Dagda]—the Good God, a god of fertility, mate of the Morrigan

      Epona—the Horse Goddess, patroness of the Iceni

      Lugos [Lugh]—the many-skilled, honored at the harvest

      Morrigan—“Great Queen,” a title for the battle goddess, also called

      Cathubodva (“Battle Raven”) and Nantosuelta (“Winding-One”)

      Sucellos—“the Striker,” a Gaulish equivalent to Dagdevos, mate of the

      Morrigan

      Taranis—god of thunder

      P L AC E S

      An-Dubnion [Annwyn]—the Underworld

      Briga/the Brigante lands—Yorkshire and Lancashire

      River Brigant—the Braint, in Anglesey

      River Brue—near Glastonbury

      Camadunon [Cadbury Castle]—a hillfort at the edge of Somerset that in

      the sixth century was to be refortifi ed as King Arthur’s Camelot.

      Camulodunon [Camulodunum, Colonia Victricensis, Colchester]—chief

      dun of the Trinovante territories, capital for Cunobelin, and later admin-

      istrative center for Britannia Superiore

      Carn Ava [Avebury]—a stone circle north of Stonehenge

      xiv

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      Danatobrigos, the Hill of the Sheep [Sedgeford, Norfolk]—Boudica’s farm

      Deva [Chester]—home fort for Legio XX and IV

      Dun Garo [Venta Icenorum, Caistor St. Edmunds, Norfolk]—Iceni capi-

      tal, just south of present-day Norwich

      Dun of Stones [Hod Hill, Dorset]—hillfort defended by the Durotriges

      Durovernon [Durovernum Cantiacorum, Canterbury]—dun of Caratac,

      the Cantiaci capital

      Durovigutum [Godmanchester]—a Roman fort at the edge of the Iceni

      country

      Earth-ring—Arminghall Henge, south of Norwich

      Eponadunon [Warham Camp, Norfolk]—King Prasutagos’s dun

      Eriu [Ireland]

      Garo—river Yare, Norfolk

      Gesoriacum [Boulogne]—Roman port in Gallia

      Great Road [Watling Street]—an early Roman road bisecting Britannia

      from London to Wroxeter

      Horse Shrine [Sedgeford, Norfolk]—local off ering place near Danatobrigos

      House of the Hare (near Teutodunon)—home of Boudica’s parents

      Isca Road [Fosse Way]—Roman road from Exeter to Lincoln

      Isle of Vectis [Isle of Wight]

      Laigin [Leinster, Ireland]

      Lake of Little Stones—Llyn Cerrig Bach, Anglesey

      Lead Hills [Mendip Hills, Somerset]

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      xv

      Letocetum [Wall]—a Roman fort on Watling Street in the Midlands

      Limes—the border between the pacified and unpacified lands, running

      roughly from present-day York to Usk in Wales

      Londinium [London]—administrative center and trading town on the Tamesa

      Lys Deru (Oakhalls) [near Brynsiencyn, Anglesey]—the Druid commu-

      nity on Mona.

      Lys Udra [near Aldborough, Yorkshire]—Queen Cartimandua’s home

      Medu [the Medway]—in Kent

      Mona [Anglesey]—an island off the northwest tip of Wales, the Druid

      sanctuary

      Manduessedum [Mancetter, near Nuneaton]—site of Boudica’s last battle

      Narrow Sea [English Channel]

      Noviomagus—Chichester, Sussex

      Rigodunon—Venutios’s hillfort at Stanwix, near Carlisle

      Sabrina [Severn River]

      Sacred Spring—Holy Well at Walsingham, Norfolk

      Salmaes Firth [the Solway]

      Tamesa [River Thames]

      Teutodunon [Thetford, Gallows Hill]—dun of the Iceni clan of the Hare,

      home of Boudica’s family and site of Prasutagos’s great hall

      Verlamion [Verulamium, St. Albans]—Catuvellauni capital

      Vernemeton, the Forest House (near Chester)—sanctuary to which the

      surviving Druid priestesses are moved after the fall of Mona

      xvi

      Nam e s i n th e Story

      Tri bal Te rri tori e s


      ( B o rd e r s A p p r ox i m a t e a n d S h i f t i n g )

      Atrebates—Hampshire, Berkshire

      Belgae—Wiltshire, Hampshire

      Brigantes—York, Lancaster

      Cantiaci—Kent

      Catuvellauni—Oxfordshire, Hertshire

      Deceangli—Flintshire (north coast of Wales)

      Demetae—Pembrokeshire (southwest Wales)

      Dobunni—Gloucestershire

      Durotriges—Dorset, Somerset

      Iceni—Norfolk

      Ordovices—western Wales to Anglesey

      Regni—Sussex, Surrey

      Silures—Glamorgan and Monmouthshire (southern Wales)

      Trinovantes—Essex, Suff olk

      M A R I O N Z I M M E R B R A D L E Y ’ S

      RAVENS

      ofAVALON

      P R O L O G U E

      Lhiannon Speaks

      At Samhain, we open our doors to the spirits of those who are

      gone. These days I find it easier to remember the dead than the living. I

      recall the most insignificant details of dress and habits of the women

      who were priestesses when I was young, and forget the names of the

      girls who serve me now. Even at this season of chill winds and falling

      leaves the house they have made for me beneath the trees of Vernemeton

      is comfortable, but when I remember our sanctuary on the Isle of Mona,

      it is all one golden afternoon, for Lys Deru was a place of magic.

      These girls have grown up in the shadow of Rome. How can I show

      them the glory of that world in which we lived before the Legions

      came? I suppose it was no more perfect than any other society of hu-

      mans, but it was our own. The Druids of Lys Deru preserved a noble

      tradition which we can practice only in pale imitation here.

      Ardanos says that to survive we must bow our heads, conceal our

      powers, compromise. I do not gainsay him—what use would it be? But

      sometimes I wish that we could make these young ones understand why

      we fought to stay free. They say that the Society of Ravens is rising again.

      Will they call upon the Lady of Ravens to lead them? Boudica did, and

      nearly brought Rome to her knees.

      In those days we loved deeply and dared greatly. Now all we can do

      is endure. It is the turn of Ardanos’s granddaughter Eilan to serve me.

      Perhaps this evening, when we wait for the pro cession of spirits to come

      to my door, I will try to tell her the tale . . .

      O N E

      They had come to the Druids’ Isle just before sunset, Boudica sitting

     

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