The Dark Mirror Read Online Free PDF Page A

for the crisp, tart apple he was eating.
    “A whole community,” Broichan said, “fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, the men of many settlements up and down the Great Glen. They had fought long and hard; this was the ending only, the last flickering of a conflict that had lasted fromseeding to harvest. Our forces were already defeated; the enemy had taken the western isles and the land all along that coast, and was moving eastward like a plague. They seemed fit to rampage across the very heartland of Fortriu, not content until every one of our warriors was slain. You saw the result. Our men fell there, the last of them. When the enemy was gone another army crept out, the widows,the fatherless, the old folk, and gathered the broken remnants of their kin. They bore them away for burial. Then a watch was set on that place. Just who keeps it, nobody is quite sure. Folk speak of a dog that howls there at night.”
    “A sorry place,” commented Donal.
    “The Vale of the Fallen is not solely a scene of death and defeat,” said Broichan. “It holds the essence of the men of Fortriuwho fell there. Each of these doomed warriors held in his heart the love of his country, his kin, his faith. We must never forget that, for all our sorrow at their loss.”
    “My lord,” queried Bridei, “what enemy was that? Their eyes were strange. They frightened me.”
    This time it was Donal who answered, his tone bitter. “The Gaels, curse them, that godforsaken breed from over the water. That invasionwas under anold king. His grandson rules them now, Gabhran’s his name. King of Dalriada. Huh!” He spat by the path. “Jumped-up incomer, that’s all he is, meddling where he’s not wanted. There’s one king too many in these parts already; we don’t need one of those bog-dwellers moving in and helping himself.”
    Broichan glanced at the warrior and Donal fell silent.
    “Let us not speak of kings,” thedruid said smoothly. “There is time for Bridei to study these matters, and expert advisers to help him learn. But that’s for the future. He has barely begun to scratch the surface of what he must know.”
    Bridei considered this as they completed their meal and made their way home through the forest. There was a question he wanted to ask Broichan, one that was often in his thoughts. His foster fathertalked about
later
, about
the future
, about all the things Bridei needed to learn. But Broichan never said what it was for; what was to become of Bridei when the learning was over. Would he go back to Gwynedd, home to the family he was starting to forget? Would he become a druid like Broichan, grim and tall, his mind all on learning? Or was it something else Broichan meant? Perhaps he was to bea warrior, like those men in the Dark Mirror. He shivered, remembering. It did not seem to be a question he could ask, not straight out.
    “Tell me, Bridei,” Broichan said, breaking into his thoughts, “can you swim?”
    This was entirely unexpected. On the other hand, Broichan’s method of conversation was ever full of surprises.
    “No, my lord. I would like to learn.”
    “Good. We’ll need to retainDonal’s services over the winter, then, so he can teach you when the weather’s warm enough. Rowing, too. It’s just as well you didn’t tumble into that pond. It’s rather cold and extremely deep.”
    “Yes, my lord.” There was nothing else to say. If you fell into the Dark Mirror, Bridei thought, drowning might be the least of your worries.
    “Meanwhile,” the druid said, preparing to mount his horseonce more, “winter allows the study of numbers and codes, of games and music, and I think Donal can use the hall to start some rather specialized training that will equip you to be a little more self-sufficient. I may be away for a time. I will appoint other tutors as required.”
    “Yes, my lord.” One thing was certain, thought Bridei. There’d be no time to get bored.

    LOOKING BACK ON this period, years later, Bridei