Ravens of Avalon Read Online Free PDF Page A

its manifestations in the world are always changing. The thought made her shiver.
    “Two is for the God and the Goddess, male and female, light and darkness, all opposites that meet and part and join once more.” She spoke the words unthinking, then paused.
    Spring was giving way to summer. In another week they would light the Beltane fires. At the festivals when man and woman lay down together to bring the power of the Lord and the Lady into the world, only those priestesses who had vowed virginity for the sake of the higher magics stayed apart. She cast a quick glance at Ardanos, who sat on the other side of the circle, and felt the hot blood heat her cheeks.
    Even from across the circle she could feel his desire for her. When winter chilled all fires it was easy to deny the body’s demands, but when the sun kindled new life in every leaf and blade of grass, she remembered that she was young, and in love.
    “Three is for the Divine Child that is born of their union, and three the faces of the Goddess who gives life to the world.” The spring sun filtered down through the new leaves, crowning the students with light. Coventa’s fair hair shimmered silver-gilt, and behind her she glimpsed a bent head like a blazing fire that could only be Boudica.
    Were these the only children Lhiannon would ever have? Once more she glanced at Ardanos. She might dream of bearing him a child, but she had never cared much for babies. Let others create bodies—here at Mona, she and Ardanos formed minds and souls.
    She wanted to sit in the seat of prophecy and soar through the heavens, but she also desired the wiry strength of his arms around her. The senior Druids taught that one must choose between the body and the soul. Lhiannon’s lips continued to move as the chant droned on, but her mind was far away.
    As the young people trooped back toward Lys Deru, Lhiannon could hear them speculating on what they had heard. Boudica in partic-ul ar seemed thoughtful. It was about time. After a little more than a year the girl still sometimes acted l ike—a Roman visiting barbarians. But Boudica was forgotten as Lhiannon felt a warmth at her side and turned to find Ardanos there. Her whole body flushed with response as he took her hand.
    “When I read the heavens, they tell me that Beltane is near …” he said softly. “Will you dance with me when they light the festal fire?”
    Will you lie with me? He did not need to say the words aloud.
    The priests said that the flow of energy in the body was altered when a woman lay with a man, blocking the channels through which power flowed in prophecy. But what hope did Lhiannon have of sitting on the Oracle’s stool as long as Helve was the priests’ darling? The energy that flowed between man and woman raised another kind of power. Was she a fool to refuse that ecstasy for the sake of an opportunity that might never come?
    She could not speak, but her grip tightened on his hand and she knew that her body had replied.
    ut girls don’t play hurley! Boudica, they’ll never let you on the field!” cried Coventa, grabbing for her sleeve. From the field came a shout as one of the players caught the l eather-covered wooden ball on his cumman stick and lofted it back over the goal.
    Boudica resisted an impulse to stride on, dragging the smaller girl behind her. At fifteen, she had nearly reached her full height.
    “It’s a game to train warriors,” Coventa said when she had caught her breath. “In the old days it was not a little ball they hurled with that stick, but the head of an enemy.”
    “I know that!” retorted Boudica. “They play it in my tribe as well. But Druids do not fight, so why are they playing? Anyway, in Eriu, the women still go to war.”
    Coventa blinked, trying to sort out the logic, and Boudica started forward once more. The Druids recognized that a healthy mind functioned best in a healthy body, and a large meadow near Lys Deru had been made into a playing field. When