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Critical Acclaim for
The Light Bearer

“For anyone interested in this tumultuous period of Roman despotism and Germanic tribes, Gillespie’s epic is an intriguing recording of everyday detail, national issues and, more impressively, overarching influences of religion and psychology.”

—
P
UBLISHERS
W
EEKLY
(STARRED REVIEW)

“Gillespie’s grasp of the daily social, religious and political lives of Germanic tribes and urban Romans alike, and her understanding of the way human deeds are woven by time into myth, keep
The Light Bearer
rooted in historical plausibility … keeps the reader engaged …
The Light Bearer
taps into one of the most popular themes in historical fiction today, the unsung woman who takes a hand in the shaping of history.”

—
T
HE
S
AN
F
RANCISCO
C
HRONICLE

“Much has been written of the cold-blooded shenanigans of the Roman way of life, but Gillespie weaves her tale in a way that brings new color and excitement to the era … [She] gives crisp and detailed descriptions of the fighting methods of the well-trained Roman legions … as powerful as Gillespie’s action writing can be, she shows a deft and almost musical quality in more passionate interludes … Throughout this monumental story, Gillespie constantly increases the excitement and intrigue. There are no flat passages in
The Light Bearer
, only a fast-flowing stream that erupts into a full-scale torrent in the book’s conclusion.”

—
W
ASHINGTON
P
OST
B
OOK
W
ORLD

“A time capsule journey into a world of richly embroidered adventure … Richly flavored with historical references, the plot, the action, the painstakingly developed characterizations make it a treasure—even for those who don’t put historical tomes high on their reading list. Gillespie’s greatest gift is the way she crafts descriptive passages—phrases never sit static on the pages. These words are fluid grace points that translate instantly into living, active images in the reader’s imagination.”

—
N
ORTHWEST
F
LORIDA
D
AILY
N
EWS

“Gillespie immersed herself in the lore and legends of the Roman way of life and emerged with
The Light Bearer
… sure to entertain readers in a manner they will not soon forget.”

—
O
RLANDO
S
ENTINEL

“Gillespie spent eleven years bringing this magnificent book to completion … replete with excitement … Gillespie’s love of the written word is evident.”

—
T
HE
M
ARINA
T
IMES

“Auriane is a true heroine, a woman who stands out from the crowd and who makes a journey of growth and discovery. Her innocence and faith make her trials more poignant, her choices more stark …
The Light Bearer
weaves a strong picture of life in the first centuries … There are plenty of details that give a feel for the coarse and glorious realities of the ancient Roman world … This is epic historical fiction, centering on one larger-than-life woman.”

—
A
LL
A
BOUT
R
OMANCE

“…you are in for a treat when you discover [Gillespie’s]
Lady of the Light
, and its predecessor,
The Light Bearer
, two of the most stunning, mature and intelligent historical/magical novels I have ever read. …its themes—the cost of love, the weaving of destiny, and the way our choices have unexpected consequences—are as contemporary as today’s headline news.”

—
S
AGE
W
OMAN

“Ms. Gillespie writes with a fluid power. Her characters are strong, clear, three-dimensional and totally believable. Her action leaps off the page; her description of life in Rome around the time of Nero is authentic; and her feel for the mysticism and the magic of primitive religions makes one almost want to believe. How the fate of Marcus becomes entwined with that of Auriane is another facet of this wonderful novel never falters or slows its pace.”

—
T
HE
B
OOK
R
EPORT

“(Auriane) is a brilliantly written character…Gillespie is an extremely gifted author who effortlessly and seamlessly weaves together historical facts and fictional twists and turns…
The Light Bearer
is a monumental work of fiction, history and adventure.”

—
U
NDER THE
C
OVERS

Copyright

The Light Bearer
Donna Gillespie

Copyright
©
2012 Donna Gillespie. All rights reserved.

Cover art and design copyright
©
2012 by Virginia Lindsay

ISBN (eBook Edition): 978-1-937572-29-7

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Publishing History

Berkley trade paperback edition / September 1994
Jove mass-market edition / November 1996
Berkley trade paperback reprint / 2006

Also by Donna Gillespie:
Lady of the Light

The Light Bearer

by

Donna Gillespie

For my parents

Acknowledgments

I would like to warmly thank my writing instructor, Leonard Bishop, a brilliant teacher who first made me believe I could write a novel. And I owe more than I can express to Joe Capello, whose steady encouragement through all the years helped me through moments when finishing this book seemed impossible. And I owe an enormous debt to Donna Levin, for all her timely advice, and to Bruce Hartford, for all those times he drove across town to bail me out of my latest computer crisis. Others whose help and understanding were indispensable were my editor, Susan Allison, and my agent, Robert Stricker.

I was also fortunate enough to be coached and encouraged by an amazing writing group. I’d like to thank them for their friendship and support through the years, and their insightful critiques of the manuscript—Victoria Micu, Marilyn Day, Trisha Johnson-Reece, Christine Gross, Phyllis Holliday, William Buford, Lynn Allen, Julie Whelly, Robert Hunt, Brad Newsham, Karen Carolina, Gloria Suffin, Margaret Cuthbert, Leigh Anne Varney, Donal Brown, and Gene Corning. And I’m greatly indebted to the San Francisco Public Library, which became a second home through the years, and to the Goethe Institute.

A Note on the Revised Edition

In preparing this book for the electronic edition, I found it necessary to do a little rewriting—probably inevitable when you take a close look at something you wrote seventeen years ago. Some of these changes have to do with an evolving writing style; others I made in order to incorporate new research. The changes are minor, and do not affect the original shape and intent of the story.

THE SACRED EARTH

CHAPTER I

I
T WAS A WOLF-RIDDEN NIGHT.
E
ARLY
spring in the wastes of Germania was not kind to creatures of warm blood. Wind, snow and stars ruled here, not man. Night wind played the land like a bone flute, its desolate tones gently rising and falling with the hills. This country was home to the Chattians, the most warlike of the Germanic tribes dwelling beyond the Rhine, and the most independent of their all-conquering neighbor to the south, imperial Rome. To the Roman world this was the sunless side of the Rhine, ruled by spells and dreams, where limbs of trees might spring to life and reach down to strangle a man, where bottomless bogs waited with gaped mouths, eager to swallow their bones.

On this eve the oaken doors of the rude dwellings of the Chattians were barred shut against night-spirits and elves. But at the hall of their most celebrated war-leader Baldemar, the smoke-hole was pulled open, the door flung wide. For within, his young wife Athelinda writhed on a rush mat, losing a grim struggle to push out her first child. The women thralls who served her unfastened the gates of the animal pens as well, and unbraided their thick red-blond hair—for anything knotted, closed or bound might hold the child back.

As Roman historians reckoned time, this was the eleventh year of the reign of the lame Emperor Claudius—or two years before Claudius’ wife Agrippina sent him the dish of poisoned mushrooms that ushered in the rule of her son Nero. But to the Chattians, who knew only the wheel of the seasons and daily struggle with the earth, the intrigues of the Roman court would have seemed a village madman’s tale. The tribe knew too well, however, the Roman soldiers of the Rhine frontier, who had lately kidnapped a hundred of their young warriors to be trained for the Roman army. Baldemar on this night was encamped three days’ ride to the south near the confluence of the Rhine and Main, poised to attack the Roman settlements near the great fortress of Mogontiacum in retaliation for these frequent abductions. And so he left his fierce old mother Hertha, mistress of the wide fields ringed about the Village of the Boar, to receive the child into the clan.

Hertha first sent to the Village for the midwife Sigdrifa, who used all her arts to no avail. When the midwife decided no mortal woman could safely deliver Athelinda, she waited until Hertha dozed with the exhausted Athelinda cradled in her arms, then slunk off into the night—Sigdrifa had no wish to be held to account by one so protective of his honor as Baldemar for the death of his wife. And so as dawn tinted blue the last stubborn patches of old snow, Hertha ordered Mudrin, youngest of the thralls, to travel to the lodge of Thrusnelda, a holy woman said to be able to sing a child from the womb.