threw up her hands, screeching how rare and difficult to obtain these were.
Even before he left the camp, she defied Elcmar and bathed every morning at the stream. Despite cooling temperatures, Maedb and companions took it up but to her dismay, those women insisted on bathing in the Boyne, the Starwatchers’ sacred waterway, where they taunted the warriors with their nakedness.
The intruders neglected the sacred river in other ways. The muck inside the camp walls, mud mixed with refuse and animal wastes, appalled her. She raised their negligence with Bresal, while he sat eating.
“Invaders dispose of animal waste carelessly. It could be set aside to enrich the fields. The trench for human waste, that is located in the wrong area and drains too close to the river. That waste should filter through a reed bed well before it reaches any water.”
“These are your concerns, not mine.” He looked bored and continued eating.
“Can the Invaders not see that bad practices make for sickness? Your camp brought illness to our green plain along the Boyne. We must all avoid more sickness and death.”
Bresal eyed Muirgen, standing back of Boann. “No changes while Elcmar is gone. To be sure, I could have some men dig latrine pits wherever you like. But I don’t care about muck.” He waved his arm, bedecked with a wide bracelet of jet. “A fine armpiece, taken from the Continent. Would you like to wear this?”
Not sure whether Bresal agreed and the waste would be moved, Boann saw Muirgen hungering for the shiny black ornament and she led the slave girl away from him. But she did not let the matter rest and reminded Bresal until he did have the pits re-dug in a suitable place.
Night and day, smoking fires inside the camp walls obstructed any starwatching for her. She missed working with Oghma at the mounds. And Boann yearned for a simple outing by herself to gather herbs before hard frosts would wither them away. Bresal said her outing was not permitted though he didn’t say why. She was followed by the slave Muirgen or by Maedb and intruder women, in the great hall or outside. Accustomed to being out in the open air much of the time, engaging her mind, this new life forced her to remain inside the great hall and be subjected to endless chatter. She lapsed often into thinking of what her Starwatchers would be doing during the sunlight and the starlight, outside in the natural rhythms and stillness. She missed fresh breezes whispering through grass and branches, insects’ humming and bird songs. Her sense of time blurred; she took naps and awoke feeling sluggish and queasy rather than rested.
Maedb invited her to practice their sport with those few women who were not slaves, in the clearing outside their banked walls, but after watching them Boann chose not to participate. These Invaders’ war games shocked her; the fervor, their love of combat. They seemed to mock her: why don’t your Starwatchers fight us? More and more, she shied away from the camp’s inhabitants.
She did take in a stray puppy found in the camp, underfed and wobbly, and her sole comfort was her little dog Dabilla. Each rising of the sun found her more restive. The camp boundaries squeezed her even when she could not see them. She detained Muirgen for taking walks with Dabilla around the palisade, then after a brief interval inside the hall she called upon the girl to take yet another walk. The slave at last gave her a quizzical look.
“I prefer your company to being followed by a guard, you see.”
“Would you like to watch at the cooking pits?” Muirgen asked.
Boann wondered if she could bear the smells, but the girl looked fidgety herself. Muirgen pushed on a loose section in the high wall and it opened, a door of sorts. Surprised, Boann followed her out to the cooking site where slaves prepared feasts for the great hall. She stepped gingerly around the fualachta fiadh , long pits lined with wood. Meat cooked there in greasy steaming water
Even before he left the camp, she defied Elcmar and bathed every morning at the stream. Despite cooling temperatures, Maedb and companions took it up but to her dismay, those women insisted on bathing in the Boyne, the Starwatchers’ sacred waterway, where they taunted the warriors with their nakedness.
The intruders neglected the sacred river in other ways. The muck inside the camp walls, mud mixed with refuse and animal wastes, appalled her. She raised their negligence with Bresal, while he sat eating.
“Invaders dispose of animal waste carelessly. It could be set aside to enrich the fields. The trench for human waste, that is located in the wrong area and drains too close to the river. That waste should filter through a reed bed well before it reaches any water.”
“These are your concerns, not mine.” He looked bored and continued eating.
“Can the Invaders not see that bad practices make for sickness? Your camp brought illness to our green plain along the Boyne. We must all avoid more sickness and death.”
Bresal eyed Muirgen, standing back of Boann. “No changes while Elcmar is gone. To be sure, I could have some men dig latrine pits wherever you like. But I don’t care about muck.” He waved his arm, bedecked with a wide bracelet of jet. “A fine armpiece, taken from the Continent. Would you like to wear this?”
Not sure whether Bresal agreed and the waste would be moved, Boann saw Muirgen hungering for the shiny black ornament and she led the slave girl away from him. But she did not let the matter rest and reminded Bresal until he did have the pits re-dug in a suitable place.
Night and day, smoking fires inside the camp walls obstructed any starwatching for her. She missed working with Oghma at the mounds. And Boann yearned for a simple outing by herself to gather herbs before hard frosts would wither them away. Bresal said her outing was not permitted though he didn’t say why. She was followed by the slave Muirgen or by Maedb and intruder women, in the great hall or outside. Accustomed to being out in the open air much of the time, engaging her mind, this new life forced her to remain inside the great hall and be subjected to endless chatter. She lapsed often into thinking of what her Starwatchers would be doing during the sunlight and the starlight, outside in the natural rhythms and stillness. She missed fresh breezes whispering through grass and branches, insects’ humming and bird songs. Her sense of time blurred; she took naps and awoke feeling sluggish and queasy rather than rested.
Maedb invited her to practice their sport with those few women who were not slaves, in the clearing outside their banked walls, but after watching them Boann chose not to participate. These Invaders’ war games shocked her; the fervor, their love of combat. They seemed to mock her: why don’t your Starwatchers fight us? More and more, she shied away from the camp’s inhabitants.
She did take in a stray puppy found in the camp, underfed and wobbly, and her sole comfort was her little dog Dabilla. Each rising of the sun found her more restive. The camp boundaries squeezed her even when she could not see them. She detained Muirgen for taking walks with Dabilla around the palisade, then after a brief interval inside the hall she called upon the girl to take yet another walk. The slave at last gave her a quizzical look.
“I prefer your company to being followed by a guard, you see.”
“Would you like to watch at the cooking pits?” Muirgen asked.
Boann wondered if she could bear the smells, but the girl looked fidgety herself. Muirgen pushed on a loose section in the high wall and it opened, a door of sorts. Surprised, Boann followed her out to the cooking site where slaves prepared feasts for the great hall. She stepped gingerly around the fualachta fiadh , long pits lined with wood. Meat cooked there in greasy steaming water
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