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"Yes," she answered firmly

The Rood Screen was beautifully carved of oak, stained dark like blood Tall wooden slats ran straight up and down but the tips were connected into intricate arches The isted and sculpted with decorationseight-point stars Each ridge of wood, the junctions and the trim were all beautifully carved out and polished Between the slats of wood hung liht Leering beyond and which low brilliantly Hesitantly, she looked at the Aldermaston

"You must proceed on your own," he said in a whisper-like voice "I ait for you until you return"

She bowed her head and nodded weakly, wondering ould await her What challenge would test her? What would it mean? Her mind was so full already that she did not kno much more she could endure

At the center of the Rood Screen was a wide section, a doorway The Aldermaston ossamer fabric Her hand trembled a little as she reached towards and parted the curtain As she stepped through, she was jolted with the full force of the Medium It made her knees wobble and tears stab her eyes The room was beautiful and carved fron with seven stone pillars, each carved into the shape of a Leering The one directly opposite was of a bearded ripped her attention It was more than a man’s face, it was a robed body with one ar in her eyes, wondering at itsthe Alder Astrid fros as well, one of a lion, another of a sheep Another of a snake She looked at the others as well A blazing sun One of the Leerings was a twisting vine, with flowers and leaves The last, a bull with horns Each was sculpted to the s she had seen Between each of the pillars alls of marble with carved insets hite stones on the in the rooap between the pillars were stone however The one behind her was made of the white linen shrouds Two other shrouds were on the far wall, between the pillar with the bearded man with the lion on one side and the sheep on the other

The floor was a mosaic that dazzled her, but in the center of the rooes of a stone ossuary that went below the ground The lid of the ossuary was open and shoved partway aside In front of the shallow pit was a wide stone bowl and before that, a bundle of white linen

Lia wondered what to do, but the ossuary drew her eyes and she cautiously approached it It was long but not very deep and inside was a stone slab – a bier The bundle of linen was the first thing in front of her, followed by the bowl, and then the ossuary The Leerings stared at her and she could feel their eyes on her, boring into her Watching her stand there, gaping

She advanced slowly The thought of rushing about was abhorrent to her There was power in this place beyond anything she had felt before The ossuary was not deep, but it looked disturbing What was an ossuary doing in the middle of the Abbey? She looked at the white bundle Were they graveclothes? What was she supposed to do?

The thought ca was arranged in a certain order She knew the billowy curtain on the far as the Apse Veil It was her objective to cross it Before she could, however, there were things she needed to accouessed that it was required for her to put them on She knelt by the bundle of fabric and unfolded it There were two pieces, she discovered A beautiful white che the shoulder as well as the hens were threaded in silver, arer than the chear around with only the Leerings to look at her, she slowly removed the learner robes She trusted her instincts, but she was still nervous She fingered the edge of the ches she had seen before – and had seen on Colvin’s chaen shirt Was the maston custom different for women than it was for men? She did not know Anxiously, she pulled on the soft che threaded through it Iht flooded her memory Graveclothes found near ehtened the fabric The chearment was full and deep and it extended down to her wrists and coiled to her ankles on the floor It fit her like a gown, surprisingly She folded the learner robes left them in a bundle by the basin