A mound of freshly dug earth by his side is garlanded with flowers and bowls of grain. Swords, arrows and shields are laid down in front of the mound. A small group of villagers stands in tattered, woven clothes, their heads bowed. Standing alone between the two groups of villagers are a young boy and a young girl holding hands. They are twins. They bear the olive skin and striking features that mark them out as different from the rest of the onlookers. They stare blankly into the hole, uncomprehending. Round each of their necks on a leather thong hangs a blade of the Triskellion. The hooded figure nods towards an old woman, who leads the twins away. When he sees that the children have gone, the man in the hood steps towards a raised platform on which two bodies are laid in a hollowed-out tree trunk. He lowers his hood, revealing pale, sunken cheeks and a hawk-like nose. He mutters an incantation as he leans over the bodies, removing the curved knife from the folds of his dark cloak… Rachel looked up at the stained glass window.
