Read Online Mood Riders by Theresa Tomlinson - Free Book Online

water turned red as blood, and when I looked to ask her what it meant the woman had gone and guards were streaming out from the city calling my name.”
    Atisha nodded. “And you have kept it ever since?”
    Cassandra stroked the glassy black surface. “It is my treasure,” she said.
    “And why do you treasure it so?” Atisha’s eyes narrowed.
    Cassandra hesitated. “Because . . . I see things in it, things that my parents call imaginings, but I know them to be truth.”
    “And what do you see now?” Atisha asked, while Myrina stood there quiet and awed.
    Cassandra looked down at her night black mirror, then suddenly she smiled. “I see my friend Iphigenia, on the deck of a ship in the wide blue sea. She’s watching dolphins jump from the water and she’s happy. The creatures escort her safely home.”
    Atisha kissed Cassandra on the forehead. “Now I know truly why you needed to come with us: you have been chosen. Go back to Penthesilea and ask her to teach you the moon-dance. I can teach you nothing about mirrors; you have that magic already.”
    Myrina felt a little disconcerted as Atisha led her away from the camp and Cassandra wandered back to where Penthesilea was putting the dancers through their paces. Now that she was alone with her, Myrina felt a little afraid of the sharp-tongued Old Woman.
    “Right.” Atisha shaded her eyes from the sun. “Let’s find a pleasant shady spot. Over there by the stream; that will do well.”
    Myrina obeyed, wishing that Cassandra were coming, too.
    “Come sit beside me,” Atisha ordered. “Sit so that you can lean against the tree. May I see your mirror?”
    “It isn’t like Cassandra’s.” Myrina spoke hesitantly, pulling the snaky mirror from its bag.
    “No,” Atisha agreed, gently touching Aben’s delicate work. “But it is a very beautiful mirror, made with great love and care, and I think it is just the right mirror for you.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

A Precious Secret

    A TISHA MADE M YRINA lean back against the tree holding the mirror in front of her. “Now,” she asked. “What do you see?”
    Myrina frowned, still puzzled. “My own face.”
    “Good. Now let your eyelids droop a little, let your shoulders sink, slow your breathing down, as though you’d like to sleep.”
    Myrina suddenly felt very tired.
    “Now tell me, what do you see behind your face?”
    “I see the strong tree’s bark, and green leaves dancing in the breeze, and a blue, blue sky,” Myrina murmured.
    “Forget yourself and gaze through the leaves into that sky.”
    Myrina felt as though she’d rather go to sleep but she tried to obey the Old Woman and soon she gasped.
    “What do you see?” Atisha asked. “What do you see out there in the sky?”
    “Clouds and swirling mist and shapes!”
    “What shapes, child?”
    But Myrina could only gasp again with delight as, through the swirling mist, familiar shapes emerged. There was Hati, holding a wreath of flowers, slipping them over Reseda’s head. Then Gul was hugging her older daughter and Aben was there, too, slipping a fine silver bangle carved in the shape of deer’s horns onto Reseda’s arm.
    “What do you see?” Atisha was smiling now.
    “I see those I love the best,” Myrina murmured contentedly; then suddenly she was alert with excitement. “Beno, my sister has chosen Beno for her husband; she’s chosen well.”
    “And you have done very well. Come back now, back through the sky and the leaves and the tree bark,” Atisha told her firmly.
    At once the misty pictures merged together and faded. Myrina was staring at her own face again, reluctant to let the vision go.
    “Now, just sit still for a moment,” Atisha told her. “The first time that you mirror-gaze and truly see may leave you drained of energy. Now then, how do you feel?”
    Myrina smiled and sighed. “Happy,” she said. “Just happy. Reseda knew about my golden brown viper and now I know how.”
    Atisha nodded. “If you long for your family