Free Isolde: Queen of the Western Isle by Rosalind Miles

giver to all who come and pours wine from her loving cup with her own hand. When we offer bread and wine, haven't we taken this from the first power of the Lady, to feed and to provide?"
    "The Lady, yes." Dominian's face set. "The great priestess of the Great Whore."
    Simeon stared at him ardently. "Father, has any man seen the Lady of the Sea?"
    Dominian saw the boy's longing in his eyes. "Never!" he breathed. "Nor do we want to see the wretched hag." He drew a breath. "But we hear much of the riches in her secret hoard. Now if only we could get hold of these for the Church…" His dark face lit up, and for a moment the eyes of coal caught fire. "Think of the jewels, the rings, the gifts we could present to Rome—if that did not buy us the Pope's favor, nothing would!"
    Simeon stifled a gasp. God in Heaven, what a leader Dominian was! No man on earth knew where the Lady was to be found. Some said she lived beneath Castle Dore, others swore she ruled in Tintagel from a great cave. But Dominion meant to work on the weak King Mark and through him on Queen Igraine till he tracked down the Lady to her lair. And when he found her, there would her treasure be, too.
    Simeon's soul took flight. And I can be God's humble instrument in this great work, ordained to serve a man of vision, a true father of the Church.
    Dominian's harsh voice thundered in his ear. "Do you hear me, boy? We must take from them all they have. Not only their wealth, but their feasts and festivals, too."
    The young monk started. "What, all of them, Imbolc, Samhain, and Beltain?"
    Dominian tensed. His mother had gone to the fires of Beltain every year, taking the way of the Goddess to ensure she had no sons. Whoever had fathered him had broken the spell, and his mother had cursed him as the runt of a litter of fine girls.
    "Beltain above all!" he spat. "D'you think we can tolerate the feast of the Great Whore, when the people warm the hills with fire and flowers? When every woman has the right of thigh-freedom to lie with any stranger of her choice?" Venomously he resumed. "No, in God's name we must root out the Beltain feast. Our Lord teaches that we must bring women under the control of men. Remember that all women would be whores if they could."
    His master's voice was shaking, Simeon noticed, and he wondered why. But could it be true that all women were whores? "Sir, Father Jerome says that Jesus loved the Magdalen, and found room for both Martha and Mary in His heart."
    Dominian heaved a black sigh. Saint though Jerome was, the old man had only a primitive vision of what the Church might do. He believed in love and comfort, when the task was to seek mastery over all benighted souls and dominion over all the world.
    Dominion…
    The monk's spirits lifted. This was what he had been named for, and what he would achieve. He had willing instruments like young Simeon here, and a lifetime ahead to teach the lad all he needed to know. He cocked an eye at the sun. They had a long walk ahead to Castle Dore, and time was on their side. He cleared his throat. "Regarding women, St. Paul teaches us…"

Chapter 10

    The woodland lay before them like a dream. Through the thickets ahead, clusters of golden sunbeams dappled the path. Delicately the two mares picked their way under the trees, careful to avoid the low branches now in full midsummer leaf. Hearing the white doves calling in alarm, Isolde turned to give Brangwain a smile. The forest was giving warning of their approach.
    Along the path, ivy and honeysuckle brightened each mossy trunk, and clusters of white trefoil spangled the grass like stars. Tiny insects danced and sang under the trees, and all around them the warm air pulsed with drowsy life. Isolde loosened her reins to give her horse its head.
All may yet he well
.
    The woodland path wound onward through the trees. The soft loamy scent of the forest floor rose to meet them with every pace of their horses' hooves, and the peace of the place began to work on