Druids Sword (65 page)

PRASUTAGUS
: British druid-king of the Iceni. Husband of
BOUDICCA
. He died circa AD 60.

RINGWALK, THE
: the medieval term for the path of the stag through the forest.

RINGWALKER
: the name of the current
STAG GOD, JACK SKELTON
.

STACEY, ROBERT
: concierge of the private residents’ lobby at the SAVOY. Stacey is a
SIDLESAGHE
.

ST DUNSTAN’S-IN-THE-EAST
: one of the medieval churches of London. It stands in Idol Lane near the Tower of London.

ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
: situated in the heart of London, St Paul’s is the heart of the
TROY GAME
. The cathedral that stood during World War II (and which stands now) is that designed by Sir Christopher Wren to replace that destroyed by the
GREAT FIRE
of London in 1666.

SAVOY, THE
: a famous hotel situated on the banks of the Thames on the Strand. It takes its name from the medieval palace which once stood on the spot.

SKELTON, JACK
: once Brutus, who, with Genvissa, began the
TROY GAME
during the Bronze Age, Jack is now also
RINGWALKER
, the
STAG GOD
of the forests. Previously he had lived as William the Conqueror and Louis de Silva.

STAG GOD
: one of the ancient gods of the land of
LLANGARLIA
, the Stag God is particularly associated with the forests. For aeons he was known as Og. In the previous life
JACK SKELTON
assumed the powers of the Stag God and took the name
RINGWALKER
.

STONE DANCES, THE
: the ancient circles of standing stones which dot the British Isles.

SIDLESAGHES
: ancient magical creatures of the land who often take the form of standing stones within the
STONE DANCES
.

SILVIUS
: father to
BRUTUS
, murdered by
BRUTUS
in the forests outside Alba in Italy almost three thousand years ago. (See also
MAKRIS, SILVIUS
.)

THORNTON, REVEREND JOHN
: see
GEORGE VI
.

TROY
: the fabulous city of Troy sat on the western shores of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). Paris, son of the Trojan king Priam, stole away Helen from her husband, Menelaus, King of Sparta, precipitating the Trojan War in which the city-states of Greece united against Troy. Although it survived a long Greek siege, Troy was eventually destroyed due to a combination of hubris, the betrayal of the gods, and Greek cunning. Those Trojans who survived the destruction were scattered about the lands of the Mediterranean, either as refugees or slaves.

TROY GAME, THE
: the ancient protective sorcery which draws on the power of the ancient labyrinth in order to protect a city. In
Hades’ Daughter
Brutus and Genvissa constructed the Game, but were unable to complete it when
CORNELIA
murdered Genvissa. Now the Game has taken on a life and power of its own, and wishes only to be completed by the
KINGMAN
and the
MISTRESS OF THE LABYRINTH
.

VEILED HILLS
, the: the six sacred hills of
LLANGARLIA
, clustered above the Thames River in the area now known as London. The six hills were: Tot Hill (where now stands Westminster); the Llandin, the most sacred of the hills (now called Parliament Hill);
PEN HILL
; Og’s Hill (Ludgate Hill); Mag’s Hill (Cornhill); and the White Mount (Tower Hill).

VERULAMIUM
: the Roman name for St Albans.

WENTWORTH, STELLA
: once Genvissa, who started the
TROY GAME
with
BRUTUS
, Stella is now the
CAROLLER
(she who sings in the dawn and the dusk in
THE FAERIE
), and lives as the
LORD OF THE FAERIE’S
lover.