The Dawn Stag by Jules Watson

Author:Jules Watson [WATSON, JULES]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC010000, FIC009030, FIC014000
ISBN: 9781468301335
Publisher: The Overlook Press
Published: 2012-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

The next day Linnet wished to return to her home, and Rhiann insisted that she, Caitlin and Fola accompany her. Caitlin kept her eyes fixed on the back of Rhiann’s head for the entire ride, concerned at this sudden burst of energy after the slow, unspoken grief of the previous day.

They ate fresh baked salmon in the shade of Linnet’s oak, played with Gabran and talked of small things, and all the while Caitlin could see Rhiann bursting with something. And when they had finished eating, Rhiann could wait no longer, rising and pressing her hands together. Then she announced that she had an idea, at last, of what to do about the Sisterhood.

Cross-legged on a deer-hide, Caitlin stayed silent as she listened, one hand on Gabran’s back while he rocked on his hands and knees. Yet as Rhiann continued to speak, Caitlin’s heart sank.

Rhiann explained how she originally considered establishing a new seat of the Sisterhood at Dunadd, but had immediately realized that without the elder Sisters that kind of power had been lost. ‘So then I thought that perhaps something different was being demanded of the Sisters now.’

Rhiann began pacing. She had wound her auburn hair in tight braids about her skull, and her cheekbones and jaw were all stark angles, her eyes hollowed. Caitlin knew she had hardly eaten for weeks, despite her and Eithne’s best efforts to tempt Rhiann’s palate. The softness of the extra weight her sister had put on this last year was already being stripped away. ‘I thought that we must harness the grief of this attack. As the news passes across Alba, and the Ban Crés do not return, the people will surely cry out for vengeance.’

‘Vengeance is not the way of the Sisters, daughter,’ Linnet interrupted quietly.

Rhiann came to a halt. ‘No, aunt, I speak of bringing the tribes together in defence!’

Caitlin read Rhiann’s desperation and grief, and longed to go to her. She sighed under her breath. Yet perhaps she could do nothing; perhaps the only thing to reach Rhiann would come from the Sisters.

Rhiann explained that thirty of the young Sisters were initiated, and knew the songs, rites and chants, the healing knowledge and the lore. So she proposed embarking on a journey north around Alba, visiting the kings who had not yet joined Eremon and invoking their people’s outrage, leaving a priestess at each royal dun to replace those who had been lost.

Caitlin immediately sat up straighter, alarmed at this suggestion, yet Rhiann was staring at Fola. Her friend was sitting forward on her knees, her dark eyes eager. ‘It is the rallying call,’ Fola murmured, her voice trembling with excitement.

‘Exactly! For the tribes will find it difficult to ignore this outrage when the Sisterhood itself – what is left of it – arrives on their doorstep!’ Rhiann’s eyes burned, though her mouth remained pained. ‘These girls will show that no sacrilege is beyond the invaders! They will be a reminder for all those kings, when their resolve to defend their land falters.

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