Bodicea whipped the point of the spear around and jabbed it straight at the Faerie woman's face. The ethereal weapon was sharp and it slashed the red-haired handmaiden's cheek. The Faerie hissed and stepped back and all of the others, the one trapped beneath Bodicea's heel included, gasped as they watched their sister reach up to touch her fingers to her face.

There was blood on her fingers. Her own blood. Faerie blood.

"I am Queen Bodicea, warrior and magician. I have given my pledge to the Protectors and to Albion. You thought it impossible that you could be harmed here, in the mortal world. Now you see this is not so. By your own blood, I command you, be still. Or I swear upon the graves of my daughters you will all die here, on this mortal ground, and be forgotten forevermore in the realm of your birth."

Several moments passed as they hesitated, but then the handmaiden Bodicea had wounded took a careful step nearer, suspicion clouding her eyes.