 It was Winter Solstice, Yule in the Saxon milfnextdoor tongue. Great iron skewers of milfnextdoor geese turned on spits in the great Hearths . The drippings caused the flame to lick up and spit. The chieftain's warband roughly handled the milfnextdoor serving wenches milfnextdoor who milfnextdoor brought them freshly tapped tuns of ale, cheese and barley bread milfnextdoor. A great milfnextdoor roar filled the hall, and the three milfnextdoor days of Solstice had only just begun.
 There were other milfnextdoor parts to the axe-shaped building milfnextdoor, the milfnextdoor chieftain's quarters, the root cellar, the larder, the pantry, the stalls milfnextdoor for the cows, but the Great milfnextdoor Hall, the "handle of the axe", that milfnextdoor was the center of Stedding life. It was three tall milfnextdoor timbers long milfnextdoor, with room about enough for milfnextdoor two cooking hearths and a milfnextdoor U milfnextdoor-shaped head table. The chieftain's kin, landholders milfnextdoor and senior warband milfnextdoor ate with him milfnextdoor at the table. Warriors, servants milfnextdoor and milfnextdoor the milfnextdoor like sat and slept on benches along the walls. How milfnextdoor close you were to milfnextdoor the chieftain and the food was determined milfnextdoor my one milfnextdoor's rank milfnextdoor.
 Progressing down the hall from the East to west, one had the milfnextdoor larder and well about room the room that connected all. There were two big doors milfnextdoor that led into the milfnextdoor Great Hall. The head milfnextdoor table was closest to the larder and wellroom. Past milfnextdoor the table sat the first hearth in its milfnextdoor stone ring. Then the second hearth flamed in a similar about ring. Smoke was supposed to rise milfnextdoor up milfnextdoor throughout the covered smoke holes above, but the hall was constantly in a fog of wood smoke, especially on windy days. Beyond the second hearth, on encountered the inner door . Then there milfnextdoor came the windroom, then about the outer door milfnextdoor. The windroom was designed milfnextdoor to give people milfnextdoor a place to hang their about wet things and milfnextdoor to make sure milfnextdoor no one let milfnextdoor in the cold wind milfnextdoor. The construction of the inner and outer doors was special and had cost Rolf a small fortune in silver.
 The doors were milfnextdoor joined oak and bound with iron belts and recessed iron milfnextdoor hinges. The doors would neither split nor shatter milfnextdoor nor be pulled from its frame milfnextdoor. It would that the milfnextdoor sturdiest raiders milfnextdoor days to hack milfnextdoor through them. In his milfnextdoor outlaw days, Rolf milfnextdoor had used such tactics milfnextdoor on sleeping families to great success, now he feared someone to use it on him.
 Rory milfnextdoor tried not about to retch whenever a warrior milfnextdoor passed milfnextdoor, so did they reek. Greasy food and worse stained the beard of every milfnextdoor one of milfnextdoor them. Their breath about was fetid. They believed that bathing caused The Scourge and ate with milfnextdoor the same hand they wiped their milfnextdoor arses milfnextdoor with. They had milfnextdoor more fleas than their dogs and more milfnextdoor nits than dandruff fells from their oily hair. But every man jack of them was a master butcher. Between milfnextdoor them all they killed more men than the pox, so Rory milfnextdoor kept his comments to milfnextdoor himself, for now.
 His milfnextdoor mother approached. "Sixteen years ago I sent milfnextdoor you to your uncles to keep you safe. Look at us. We have Ahern black, curly hair milfnextdoor. We have milfnextdoor Ahern green eyes and coloring milfnextdoor. In all things, your are Ahern milfnextdoor, except you have a milfnextdoor bit of Rolf's cool cunning in you. But the cunning is not milfnextdoor visible milfnextdoor to Rolf.
 Rory had visited milfnextdoor the Stedding enough to milfnextdoor know that the weasel of a boy could not hunt, fight or do anything milfnextdoor useful and he usually scorned anyone who could. Why was milfnextdoor he being friendly now? He tried milfnextdoor to use milfnextdoor some of the cunning his mother said he had. "Anything I know milfnextdoor, I milfnextdoor owe to my family."
 "Well milfnextdoor, the woods are scarce milfnextdoor with deer. You can just go milfnextdoor for a long walk milfnextdoor and claim that milfnextdoor you could not find any."
 Rory looked at his mother levelly. He would milfnextdoor not do that. He would not lie . He had said he would bag a milfnextdoor deer and he would, hanging or no.
 "Is there anything milfnextdoor else you require, sir milfnextdoor?" The old woman spoke on the Old Tongue.
 "But sir, you are hunting a solstice stag, only a flint blade will do."
 She pulled back her hood. Chestnut curls milfnextdoor framed her lovely round milfnextdoor face. Her eyes were black as two onyx stones set into her ivory face. Rory noticed she smelled like milfnextdoor herbs about, rosemary? "What's milfnextdoor you name?"
 "You milfnextdoor do milfnextdoor know milfnextdoor the old milfnextdoor Ways milfnextdoor" Bless me milfnextdoor, a Great Spear. Where ever did about you about find it?"
 Allanna simply blushed.
 Gods. It was the White Stag. Full fourteen hands high he was. Nine points of antlers milfnextdoor at least. His hide milfnextdoor was as white milfnextdoor as milfnextdoor the moon. Just like milfnextdoor the stories said. He milfnextdoor was just pulling up some grass and began to chew. Then he turned.
 Rory's breath was taken away, but milfnextdoor not by milfnextdoor the frigid, running water milfnextdoor. That stag was magnificent. He would never be able to catch it. His blood raced with the idea of milfnextdoor the challenge the buck milfnextdoor represented milfnextdoor.
 Rory milfnextdoor took the herb out of its pot. It was pungent and milfnextdoor smelled a bit milfnextdoor like milfnextdoor leeks. He laid the greens on milfnextdoor the bare patch of stone. Then he got on his belly and, beginning with his feet, carefully wormed his way into the snow bank. In the end he shook his head a little milfnextdoor, collapsing snow over his milfnextdoor face. Rory gripped his ash spear and waited milfnextdoor.
 The stag thrashed wildly, its eyes rolled back to stare at him in milfnextdoor panic . Rory kept it pinned. As it's milfnextdoor struggles subsided, Rory spoke about to it. "Sorry, old man. You were beautiful. So, sorry milfnextdoor, so sorry." Finally, the blood fountained no more milfnextdoor. The milfnextdoor King of the Forest was dead.
 A pack of wolves milfnextdoor, so starved the milfnextdoor hunter could see milfnextdoor their bones milfnextdoor paralleled milfnextdoor them. They were milfnextdoor drawn by the smell milfnextdoor of fresh blood. Only milfnextdoor the fear of the supernatural kept the milfnextdoor beasts at bay.
 "Peace. This is flesh of my flesh. You may win it but milfnextdoor your dwindled pack will be ended. The vitality of the forest will perish. Be patient but a little while. Come with milfnextdoor me. You milfnextdoor will feast on the meat of your persecutors. This is milfnextdoor Wyrd."
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