Arrow (Knife) Read Online Free PDF

stand up to Lady Celyn. No wonder her mother had looked so satisfied at supper. No wonder she had been confident that her plan would be approved…
    ‘But we do not blame your mother,’ said Lady Arianllys. ‘For she only did what she believed was right and best for our people. And though the Elders’ decision was painful, it was not unexpected: as soon as Garan left the Gwerdonnau Llion , Gwylan and I knew this day would come.’
    ‘But it’s so unfair,’ Rhosmari said. ‘You didn’t help him. He didn’t tell you anything…did he?’
    ‘He hardly needed to,’ said Gwylan. ‘I read it in his face, the moment we Elders told Linden and Timothy we could not give them the magical help they sought. I looked down from the dais and saw my son standing there, and I knew that he was determined to take the Stone and free the faeries enslaved by the Empress, just as Rhys used it to free our people from tyranny a thousand years ago.’
    Rhosmari drew in her breath. ‘Then you agree with him? You think he was right to take the Stone?’
    ‘That does not matter now,’ said Arianllys. ‘The Stone is gone, and the Children of Rhys are terrified. Something must be done to restore our people’s confidence. But if your mother’s plan is not the answer, then what is?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Rhosmari. ‘I thought…if I came to you…’ She looked up pleadingly at the Lady Scholar. ‘You haven’t foreseen any of this? You don’t know if my mother will succeed, or if we will get back the Stone, or…any of it?’
    Arianllys was quiet a moment. Then she said, ‘I have not seen anything that will help you. My visions come rarely, and they are seldom clear or certain.’
    Rhosmari dropped her head into her hands. If Lord Gwylan could not stop her mother from carrying out her plan, and the greatest scholar and prophetess in the Green Isles had no wisdom to offer, then what hope was there?
    Then a thought came to her, and she straightened up again. Perhaps all was not quite lost. After all, even if Lady Celyn did succeed in convincing the Elders, she would have to present their decision before the assembly and win the approval of the other Children of Rhys as well. And then the Elders would have to choose which faeries would serve in the army, and appoint commanders over them, and supply them all with weapons and provisions before sending them out on their journey. It might be a week, or even two, before all was ready.
    So there was still time to find an alternative, a way of recovering the Stone without conflict or violence. It might not even be that difficult. Despite the rash things Garan had done, Rhosmari could not believe he was a traitor: he had only meant to help the faeries on the mainland, not to harm the Children of Rhys. Perhaps, if someone from the Green Isles were to go to him and tell him what the loss of the Stone had done to their people, he might realise his mistake and give it back.
    But who could make such a journey? When Garan fled, he had taken all of his closest comrades with him; Rhosmari was the only one left outside his family who knew him well. His parents had already suffered enough on his account, and their wisdom and moderation were needed here. No one else knew the details of her mother’s plan.
    Which meant that there was only one person who could do it.
    No.
    Please, no. Not me.
    She had longed to visit the mainland, but not like this. Not alone and unprepared, with nothing to protect her from the evils of which her mother had so often warned. Even if Rhosmari could find the courage to expose herself to such danger, it might take her days or weeks to accomplish her mission. And all the while she would be running against time, afraid that her mother’s army might overtake her at any moment.
    Yet what else could she do?
    I do not desire evil , Garan had said to her once, but it seems to me that to stand idle while evil is being done is no virtue either. Rhosmari had not understood at the