Curse Of Blood: Gods & Monsters

Chapter XIII - Epona

Bit of Terminology for you:

Psychopomp - a guide of souls to the place of the dead. Usually birds.

Arawn - In Gaelic/ Celtic mythology he was the god of death and the king of the underworld (probably the Greek equivalent of Hades). He is often seen with his red-eared hounds.

Earlier...

When Epona awoke the morning after the night's rowdy feasting, she dressed hurriedly and raced to the master's chamber in search of Aila who she feared had not yet returned home. Had Epona not been kept busy with menial duties required of her lowly status, she'd not have allowed Aila from her sight. But the circumstances, such as they were, had not afforded her a moment to herself and so Aila had slipped into the night unseen as a sullen and desponding Harald brooded quietly over many tankards of strong ale.

Arriving at the chamber, she found the bedding disturbed but emptied of its occupant. This relieved her somewhat for she knew that Harald had slept elsewhere so it could only have been Aila. That thought alone, that Harald had slept elsewhere, soured her temper, for she had seen him last with Brynja, but she brushed it aside and consoled herself that Aila had at least found her way home after all.

She watched the little slave girl, Olga, bustling about the room as if naught were amiss. Where was her mistress? Of Harald's whereabouts, however, she had no care.

"Where is Aila?" she asked the slave.

"The m-mistress left an hour ago to visit with her g-grandmother," the young girl replied warily.

Epona was well aware of the fact that she disconcerted the other slaves. The thought did not bring her any satisfaction, so she kept her contact with them brief, loathe to partake of the dissonance that existed between herself and the rest of the household save Aila. Had it not been for her friend, or the wee babe she carried come to that, she might have braved the hostile journey southward and escaped the lonely drudgeries of her existence long before now.

However, there was nothing for her even in the land of her birth. Her family and all those that she had known since childhood were gone — snuffed of life and delivered to the underworld by the barbarians she now served.

Epona watched as the slave girl's shoulders tensed under her scrutiny. With a disgruntled sigh, she withdrew, determined now to seek Aila out and assure herself of the younger woman's wellbeing. There was only four years separating her age from Aila's; it was right that she should feel such sisterly devotion to her. She knew her lady would not mind if she abandoned her chores for the morning in favor of satisfying herself that Aila was well.

With that reassurance uppermost in her thoughts, she lit out almost immediately, eyes scouring the meadow ahead and the trees beyond for any sign of the dark man she'd seen loitering about of late. Sometimes it was just he alone and at other times he was accompanied by a black wolf. Ofttimes he was absent altogether, yet she would still encounter the black wolf beside its brother, a larger beast with lesser shades of black flecking its coat.

No one seemed to spy him or his strange familiars, save her of course, and it disturbed her all the more for he would pass by with a mischievous, almost playful, wink before disappearing mysteriously. He made her increasingly uneasy and she wondered if he could be the god of the underworld himself, Arawn, accompanied by the black hound as he usually was.

The sound of of an axe splitting timber brought Epona up short and she shot her eyes to the left of the worn path, whence the noise had issued. It was followed shortly thereafter by the sound of hearty male laughter, reaching her from the other side of the storehouses and twisting her mouth down at the corners. She then quickened her pace, eager to be away; the thought of being discovered alone by those pigs curdled her stomach.