The Greener Shore (Druids) by Morgan Llywelyn

Author:Morgan Llywelyn [Llywelyn, Morgan]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2006-05-29T16:00:00+00:00

chapter XV

I TRIED TO TELL BRIGA ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE WOLVES, but she, who could work a very high order of magic herself, paid little attention. She had no hesitation about using her extraordinary gifts to benefit anyone who needed them, yet steadfastly refused to acknowledge the magical. In all our time together I had not managed to convince her otherwise.

To Briga, the Source of All Being was a tangible entity. Its works were tangible, too: the shining of the sun, the falling of the rain, the upthrust of the mountain. I knew that what we called magic was also a manifestation of the Source but I could never convince my senior wife.

Lakutu was different. When I told her about the wolves she was fascinated. “In Egypt we consider animals the equal of humans,” she said. “The earth is meant for man and beast to share equally. We worship the hawk, the snake, the crocodile, and most particularly the cat as gods.”

“Why?”

Her dark eyes were opaque. “Why? Because they are.”

After meeting the silver wolf I was fully willing to accept that there were animals who possessed extraordinary powers. I longed to know specific details about the beliefs of the Egyptians, but Lakutu’s unquestioning assertion offered me only a blank wall. She had a simple, straightforward mind. She believed what she believed and that was that.

When I told Onuava I was convinced that Cormiac was still alive, which meant that Labraid might well be alive too, she was pitifully eager to believe me. Even the hardest tree has a soft heart. Her credulity did not come from faith in the druids, for when Gaul fell Onuava lost all faith in the powers of druidry. But there is something beyond faith: a certainty that seeps into the bones.

I knew that Cormiac was alive. Through me, so did Onuava.

Her expression softened. “Perhaps I’ve been too harsh with you, Ainvar. You were very ill; I suppose you had no way of knowing what Labraid and Cormiac would do.”

“I would have prevented them if I could.”

“I’m sure you would, Ainvar.”

“Does this mean you don’t hate me anymore?”

She gave a little laugh. “I never hated you, not really.”

“Oh yes, you did. Women can hate and love and hate again in a single breath.”

“There’s some truth in that,” she agreed. “Men are more sluggish. Their emotions take a bit of time to rise and fall. Rather like their lances of flesh,” she added with a wicked sparkle in her eyes.

I was not accustomed to having such a conversation with my third wife. I had always thought of her as a gorgeous animal, rather than the possessor of a thinking head.

But lately l had been rethinking my opinion of animals.

Perhaps this was the right time to ask Onuava an important question. “When I was waking up after my illness, I overheard you tell Briga that she shouldn’t have done what she did. You told her she should have let me die. Just what did Briga do?”

Onuava turned her head so I could not see her eyes.

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