Read Online The Light-Bearer's Daughter by O.R. Melling - Free Book Online Page A

it. That’s just the way things are done. They use mortals for their own ends without thinking about it. Yet I have human feelings sometimes.”
    They had come to the heart of the wood. The Lady linked arms with Dana in a more casual manner. Dana noticed how the briars and brambles gave way before them. Deer peeked shyly from behind the trees. An otter slid from the riverbank and into the water. The air was filled with trills as songbirds swooped around them in arabesques of flight. When they passed a clump of wild rose, a flurry of pink petals showered their path.
    At first her companion seemed oblivious to their surroundings. Then Dana glimpsed something different at the corner of her eye: a vision of the Lady in a flowing green gown and a crown of white flowers, waving graciously to all around her.
    But it was an ordinary young woman who argued with her.
    “Look, you’re just a kid. I should find someone else to do the job. Someone older. It’s usually teenagers who go on these missions.”
    Dana almost choked. She recognized the tone in the older girl’s voice, the same one her father had used when he told her they were going to Canada. The finality of the adult who held all the power; the certainty that they knew best. A rebellious fury surged through her.
    “You made a pact! You promised! I want my wish and I’ll do anything to get it. I’m nearly thirteen. I’m as good as any teenager. You can’t take this away from me!”
    The Lady hesitated. It was obvious she wanted to be convinced. “The High King says you are the one … He says mortals always underestimate their young.”
    “He’s right!” Dana insisted. “We can always do more, just no one lets us. I can do this! I know I can!”
    The Lady looked no happier. They had reached the edge of the forest. As they stepped from the trees, they looked out over a landscape of heathered hills that swelled into the distance like a green grassy ocean. They had arrived at the threshold of the Wicklow Mountains.
    And the way was barred.
    A great gray standing stone blocked their path. The monolith was scored with a hieroglyphic script that curved like the hills themselves.
    The Lady rested her hand upon the stone.
    “It declares the borders of the Mountain Kingdom closed. There are more around the perimeter. How long they have stood here we do not know. The mountain folk are a solitary people and rarely mingle with the High Court or the rest of fairy-kind. There are spells on the stones to keep intruders out, but even if there weren’t, we would defer to their wishes. Every kingdom in Faerie sets its own laws.”
    She gazed into the distance.
    “Do you know of the mountain called Lugnaquillia?”
    “The highest in the chain,” Dana said, nodding. “Da and I climbed it last summer.”
    The Lady looked pleased, and a little relieved.
    “Lugnaquillia is the site of the palace of our Tánaiste, Lugh of the Mountain, Lugh of the Wood.”
    Dana blenched. From where they stood, Lugnaquillia was at the farthest point of the range, beyond many peaks and valleys. It would take days to get there. And that meant she would have to spend nights in the mountains alone. A hard task for anyone, never mind a twelve-year-old who didn’t have a tent or enough provisions.
    “Right, I’m off to Lugnaquillia,” she said, with forced heartiness. She couldn’t let the Lady see her fear. The mission was already hanging on a knife-edge. “To find Lugh of the Mountain, Lugh of the Wood. What’s the message?”
    Looking anxious again, the Lady frowned at Dana.
    Dana held her breath, doing her best to appear relaxed and unconcerned.
    The Lady spoke carefully.
    “A shadow of the Destroyer has entered the land. Where is the light to bridge the darkness?”
    Dana was baffled.
    “What does it mean?” she asked, a quaver in her voice.
    “The Tánaiste will know. The message is for him. Your mission is simply to carry it to him.”
    But the Lady’s unease was peaking. Her eyes