"The young man and woman are William and Tamara Swift. Protectors of Albion. I have sworn my fealty to them and to their cause. If you intend to harm them, I shall not let you pass."
The nearest of the Faerie women, whose hair was a cascade of golden ringlets and whose features were sharp and cruel, drifted and danced in the air, moving toward Bodicea, her eyes narrowed with mockery.
"You, ghost? You, memory? You, echo of life?"
All of them uttered a high giggle that seemed part girl-child and part hyena. It ripped through the trees and made Bodicea shudder again.
"You shall not let us pass?" the golden-haired one continued, sneering. "Really?"
"Oh, yes. Really."
The Faerie handmaiden lunged at Bodicea, eyes wide and feral, fingers hooked into talons that could rend human flesh and spirit flesh alike, such
