Isobel sat on her bed, Ysenda at her side. She still wore the kirtle. The fragrance of the scented oils on her body filling the small room. They had sat in silence on their return. Isobel looked at her hands in her lap and sighed
"I am bewitched," she said softly.
Ysenda took her hand,
"You had no choice Isobel," she said and reached up to stroke Isobel's hair.
"Just as I have no choice. The only choice we both have is to accept and find a way to be at peace with what comes to pass."
"But I believe I am bewitched," Isobel repeated.
"I am here so that my father and family may profit. To that end, I must obey my masters without question."
Isobel looked up at Ysenda and reached softly for the hand that caressed her hair.
"But that does not explain the feelings that I had when ....when I was purified." Isobel hastily looked downward again.
"Nor does it explain how the Abbess could calm me and help me to accept what happened tonight. I cannot explain it, but it was if she was a part of me."
There was silence then Isobel looked at Ysenda again.
"But what spell has been cast that you have to obey, could you not just leave?"
A shadow crossed Ysenda's face and a fleeting look of fear.
"I came here as penance for my sins. To return to my village and the people that banished me, would be to return to certain death."
"Or worse."
Isobel wanted to question her but Ysenda's look forbade it.
Eventually, Ysenda left, telling Isobel that she would show her their duties in the morning after they had broke their fast and Ysenda had attended Morning Prayer.
Isobel took to her bed still wearing the kirtle and pulled the woolen blanket over her. Suddenly she was as tired as she had ever been and fell into a deep sleep.
She dreamed vividly.
In the dream, she lay on her bed but the room seemed expanded and adjoined the Abbess' chambers. She could see through her door the fire burning and felt warmed by it.
Candles lit both rooms but there was still darkness in their corners.
She noticed a Cross adorning the wall, bathed in the light of a candle close by. It was perhaps twelve inches in height and was of a design that Isobel had not seen before. It was of highly polished hard wood and rounded at the ends, unlike the squared Celtic cross she was familiar with.
Then the Abbess appeared at the door.
She was dressed for bed. She wore a kirtle and, though Isobel did not know it, it was made of silk.
It seemed to shimmer.
Isobel had not seen any material of its like.
Nor had any other mortal in the western world, for the material had been bought at great expense from a land beyond the limit of their knowledge.
The Abbess' hair was braided and she was bare foot. In her hand was a candle in a simple wooden holder. Her face seemed to glow in its light.
She smiled and entered the room and sat at the end of Isobel's bed
"You have many questions my child," she said softly.
"Though tonight you performed your duties without question. You have done well."
Isobel felt the warmth of her praise and basked in it as if it were the radiance of the fire.
"I will permit you three questions, though whether I choose to answer......we shall see," the Abbess smiled.
In the dream, Isobel raised herself in the bed. Her room seemed to fade to darkness and only the Abbess' face and the golden light of the candle remained.
After a silence, Isobel asked her first question and knew not why.
"Why did you come to Duart Your Reverence?"
The Abbess responded after a moment's consideration:
"I came here to learn and I came here to hide."
In the dream, Isobel felt frustration. She wanted to explore the reply but not waste her second question. But as she spoke she realised that again, her second question came unbidden.
"Are you really Hilda Your Reverence?"
The pause was longer this time and the Abbess' gaze at Isobel seemed to be weighing her. Isobel felt fear as the Abbess seemed to search the recesses of her mind.
Eventually the Abbess replied.
"Hilda travelled across Christendom to take her position here."
The voice was soft, her gaze never leaving Isobel.
"She came from a land called Silesia and we met in a great forest as her journey neared its end. I lived there and had all but forgotten the dealings of men. But, the world is becoming smaller. Tracks were cut through the forest and I learned of the fights and squabbles as one chieftain defeated another.
And I learned of the Christian religion."
Isobel stared in to the bottomless depths of the Abbess' eyes and saw a shadow of sorrow.
"And soon I learned that Christians searched the land for unbelievers to punish them with death."
Isobel felt the Abbess' sorrow and a feeling of something passing never to return.
"And they would punish me," the Abbess laughed softly.
Isobel's mind raced with questions.
"What happened to Hilda Your Reverence?" she said finally.
The Abbess' face seemed to slowly retreat from the candlelight and the light itself started to fade.
"And that is your third question Isobel." There was a soft laugh and a pause.
"Hilda acquainted me with the ways of her order and Christendom."
Isobel could now only see the glittering bottomless eyes.
"And now Hilda lies in the forest, in communion with her God for ever after. She served the purpose of teaching me her ways"
The eyes were specs of light and seemed far away.
"I can assure you Isobel that I was an attentive pupil."
Suddenly all was darkness.
——————————————————————————————————————
Isobel woke to shafts of grey light finding their way through the wooden shutter, highlighting the dust dancing in the air.
She remembered the dream and felt a stab of fear. She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling, fear was replaced by anxiety at what the day would bring.
There were the ordinary tasks that a servant would undertake, she was sure.
But then there were the remaining tests.
There was a knock on the door and she turned, glancing at the small table.
On it was a candle in a simple wooden holder.
Ysenda entered to see Isobel transfixed, staring at the candle.
Ysenda had taken her fear as trepidation and Isobel was not to be drawn on how she felt, despite Ysenda's entreaties.
Ysenda became business like.
"I will show you your duties starting with the kitchens and the stabling."
Isobel's attention seemed to return,
"Then the Abbess has instructed that you take confession."
"Confession?" Isobel was confused.
"The Abbess has said that this is the third of five tests."
Ysenda avoided Isobel's look.
"The Abbess has also instructed that you attend her chambers after the campomine liturgy this evening."
The rest of the morning was spent learning the routines of the kitchen and the lighting and maintenance of the fires. Finally Isobel tended to the bedding and stabling of the monasteries two horses with the support of Ysenda.
At Ysenda's bidding, Isobel then made her way up to the Abbey. There was silence as she entered, her footsteps echoing as she made her way toward the confessional.
The curtains were closed but she sensed a presence.
She opened the curtain to the left and sat on the wooden seat in semi-darkness.
