Summary

In Part 3, Chapter 1, Abbess Emme dies and Marie becomes the new abbess. It is 1188. During the consecration ceremony, Marie overhears church superiors complaining about the abbey's wealth and considering “redistributing it” (98). Shortly thereafter, Marie has a vision of the Virgin Mary. She is holding a rose in the forest, and when she drops the rose, its petals scatter. The petals make a pattern, which Marie recognizes as a labyrinth. There is a broom flower in the center. Marie believes she must build this labyrinth around the abbey to protect the women living there from the outside world. Since the fall of Jerusalem, she has worried about Christian persecution.

In Chapter 2, Marie gathers her most trusted advisors and tells them about the labyrinth. Ruth is skeptical and Wulfhild is outright defiant, but all agree to the plan. Work on the labyrinth begins immediately...