Elphame's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page A

mother added.
    Elphame’s only response was to lean against the warm familiarity of the horse’s neck while the mare nuzzled her affectionately.
    “I still do not understand why you must leave.”
    “Mama,” Elphame said, turning her head so she could look up at her mother. “You sound like I am traveling to the other side of the world.” She raised one dark eyebrow in exasperation, which her mother always thought made her look so much like her father.
    Etain’s answering smile was sardonic. From the moment of each of their births, she had been devoted to her children. Even now that they were adults, she preferred that they stay near her. She honestly enjoyed their company and appreciated them for the individuals they were growing into.
    El spoke slowly, willing her mother to really hear her words. “I don’t know why it upsets you so much that I’m going. It’s not like I’ve never been away from home. I studied at the Temple of the Muse and that didn’t seem to bother you.”
    “That was different. Of course you had to study with theMuse. It’s where all the most spectacular females of Partholon are educated. Arianrhod is there now.” Etain’s smile was self-satisfied. “Both of my daughters are spectacular, which is one reason I enjoy having you near me,” Etain said logically.
    “If I had married, I might have moved to his home.” El’s voice had lost its frustrated edge and she just sounded exhausted.
    “Don’t talk like you’ll never get married. You’re still young. You have years and years left.”
    “Mama, please. Let’s not start this old argument again. You know no one will marry me. There’s no one like me, and no one who wants to get that close to a goddess.”
    “Your father married me.”
    El smiled sadly at her mother. “But you’re all human, Mama, and besides, the High Shaman of the centaurs is always mated to Epona’s Beloved. He was created to love you—it’s what is normal for him. It is obvious that the Goddess has touched me, but I am not Her Chosen. Epona has not prompted any centaur shaman to come forward as my mate. I don’t think anyone, man or centaur shaman, was created to love me. Not like you and Da.”
    “Oh, Fawn!” Etain’s voice broke on the childhood nickname. “I don’t believe that. Epona is not cruel. There is someone for you. He just hasn’t found you yet.”
    “Maybe. And maybe I have to go away to find him.”
    “But why there? I don’t like to think about you being there.”
    “It’s just a place, Mama. Actually it’s just an old ruin. I think it is past time that it was rebuilt. Remember the stories you used to tell me at bedtime? You said that once upon a time it was beautiful,” El coaxed.
    “Yes, until it became home to slaughter and evil.”
    “That was more than one hundred years ago. The evil is gone, and the dead can’t hurt me.”
    “You can’t be sure about that,” her mother retorted.
    “Mama,” El reached up and took her hand. “The MacCallan was my ancestor. Why would his ghost harm me?”
    “There were more who died at the slaughter of MacCallan Castle than the Clan Chieftain and the noble warriors who gave their lives trying to protect him. And you know the castle is said to be cursed. No one has dared to enter its grounds, let alone live there, for over a century,” Etain said firmly.
    “But all of my life you have watched over the MacCallan shrine and its ever-burning flame,” she countered. “We have kept alive the memory of The MacCallan, even though the clan was destroyed. Why should my wish to restore his castle surprise you? After all, his blood runs in my veins, too.”
    Etain didn’t answer her immediately. For an instant she actually toyed with the thought of lying to her daughter, of saying that she had Goddess-given knowledge of the veracity of the castle’s curse. But only for an instant. Mother and daughter had a deep reservoir of trust as well as love between them, and Etain wasn’t