Read Online The Greener Shore by Morgan Llywelyn - Free Book Online
Authors: Morgan Llywelyn
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Separate branches of druidry were not recognized. Cohern flatly stated, “All druids are sorcerers, but even the best aren’t as adept as the Túatha Dé Danann. My fever was a curse put upon me by the Dananns.”
“I assumed they were all gone by now,” I said.
“They are.”
“Then how could they cause your fever, Cohern?”
“Magic,” he replied with a ferocious scowl. “We slaughtered the lot of them, yet they still attack us through magic. Generation after generation. It’s a terrible long time to carry a grudge.”
As the survivor of a slaughtered race myself, I felt sympathy for the Túatha Dé Danann.
Was it they, rather than the Iverni, who frightened Goulvan so badly?
That night I slept on the floor of Cohern’s lodge, wrapped in my cloak and dreaming confused dreams. Once or twice I sat up abruptly and wondered where I was. There is a moment between sleep and wakefulness when one is totally vulnerable. During that moment my spirit trembled within me.
At first light Dian Cet and I set out for the coast. We left Cormiac Ru with Cohern, and promised to deliver Labraid when we returned. I bade Cormiac farewell by saying, “You’re still one of us and always will be.”
The Red Wolf gave a terse nod.
I added, “I’m relying on you to uphold our side of the bargain.”
His face was impassive. Only his colorless eyes flashed fire. “I always keep my promises, Ainvar. Always.”
Cohern walked with us to the gateway. “That woman you mentioned, the healer? Will she be coming with you?”
“She will.”
“If she’s any good, I might be willing to buy her.”
The distance back seemed much longer than the distance coming. Too much food and too little sleep weighed heavily on me, and Dian Cet was in worse shape. Several times he stopped and sat down. I joined him, ostensibly to be polite, but in reality with relief.
As we drew near the beach where we had left the boats, Briga came running to meet me with the sunlight on her face. My arms folded around her; I buried my face in her hair. It felt different, stiffer. Yet it was my Briga’s hair, and that’s all I needed to know. She was warm in my arms and soft in my arms and her softness summoned a most delicious hardness in myself. We must build lodges very soon.
Briga and I stood unmoving until our hearts began to beat with the same rhythm and we were one again. When I raised my head I saw that my clan was still gathered on the beach. But the boats were gone.
I stared at the space where they had been. Then looked to the sea. The empty, empty sea. I felt nothing. Since Caesar invaded Gaul I had received so many shocks, I could not absorb any more.
“Where did the boats go?” I asked faintly.
My wife’s eyes sparked with anger. “As soon as you were out of sight, Goulvan ordered his men back into them and they all sailed away.”
The others were crowding around us. I did not see Labraid among them. “Where is he?” I asked Onuava.
She knew exactly who I meant, and why. When she answered her words ran together too fast. “He tried to stop them, Ainvar, I swear he did. All the men tried to stop them, but the Armoricans were too strong.”
Too strong for Teyrnon the ironsmith, and the sinewy arms of the Goban Saor, and stalwart Grannus who never took a step backward in his life? If I had left Cormiac Ru with them, things would have been different.
Looking around, I observed that the faces of my friends were battered and bruised. Even young Glas had a purple eye. At that moment, if I could have got Goulvan’s neck in my hands I would have snapped it like a dead branch.
My ears reported that Onuava was still babbling. “Labraid’s always been as fearless as his father was, you know. My brave little prince ran headlong into the sea and began beating the water with his arms and legs. I shouted after him but he ignored me. Ignored his own mother! His head stayed atop the water for a little while, but he never even got close to the
“I assumed they were all gone by now,” I said.
“They are.”
“Then how could they cause your fever, Cohern?”
“Magic,” he replied with a ferocious scowl. “We slaughtered the lot of them, yet they still attack us through magic. Generation after generation. It’s a terrible long time to carry a grudge.”
As the survivor of a slaughtered race myself, I felt sympathy for the Túatha Dé Danann.
Was it they, rather than the Iverni, who frightened Goulvan so badly?
That night I slept on the floor of Cohern’s lodge, wrapped in my cloak and dreaming confused dreams. Once or twice I sat up abruptly and wondered where I was. There is a moment between sleep and wakefulness when one is totally vulnerable. During that moment my spirit trembled within me.
At first light Dian Cet and I set out for the coast. We left Cormiac Ru with Cohern, and promised to deliver Labraid when we returned. I bade Cormiac farewell by saying, “You’re still one of us and always will be.”
The Red Wolf gave a terse nod.
I added, “I’m relying on you to uphold our side of the bargain.”
His face was impassive. Only his colorless eyes flashed fire. “I always keep my promises, Ainvar. Always.”
Cohern walked with us to the gateway. “That woman you mentioned, the healer? Will she be coming with you?”
“She will.”
“If she’s any good, I might be willing to buy her.”
The distance back seemed much longer than the distance coming. Too much food and too little sleep weighed heavily on me, and Dian Cet was in worse shape. Several times he stopped and sat down. I joined him, ostensibly to be polite, but in reality with relief.
As we drew near the beach where we had left the boats, Briga came running to meet me with the sunlight on her face. My arms folded around her; I buried my face in her hair. It felt different, stiffer. Yet it was my Briga’s hair, and that’s all I needed to know. She was warm in my arms and soft in my arms and her softness summoned a most delicious hardness in myself. We must build lodges very soon.
Briga and I stood unmoving until our hearts began to beat with the same rhythm and we were one again. When I raised my head I saw that my clan was still gathered on the beach. But the boats were gone.
I stared at the space where they had been. Then looked to the sea. The empty, empty sea. I felt nothing. Since Caesar invaded Gaul I had received so many shocks, I could not absorb any more.
“Where did the boats go?” I asked faintly.
My wife’s eyes sparked with anger. “As soon as you were out of sight, Goulvan ordered his men back into them and they all sailed away.”
The others were crowding around us. I did not see Labraid among them. “Where is he?” I asked Onuava.
She knew exactly who I meant, and why. When she answered her words ran together too fast. “He tried to stop them, Ainvar, I swear he did. All the men tried to stop them, but the Armoricans were too strong.”
Too strong for Teyrnon the ironsmith, and the sinewy arms of the Goban Saor, and stalwart Grannus who never took a step backward in his life? If I had left Cormiac Ru with them, things would have been different.
Looking around, I observed that the faces of my friends were battered and bruised. Even young Glas had a purple eye. At that moment, if I could have got Goulvan’s neck in my hands I would have snapped it like a dead branch.
My ears reported that Onuava was still babbling. “Labraid’s always been as fearless as his father was, you know. My brave little prince ran headlong into the sea and began beating the water with his arms and legs. I shouted after him but he ignored me. Ignored his own mother! His head stayed atop the water for a little while, but he never even got close to the
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