The Pool of Two Moons Read Online Free PDF Page A

it has no' been easy for ye and that ye grieve for your brothers still. I miss them myself and hope we will perhaps find one trapped still in the body o' a blackbird . . . Though thirteen years have passed—even under enchantment, I doubt they could have lived so long. I wonder ye managed to survive the four years ye did." She fell silent for a long while. When Meghan spoke again, her voice was low and stern. "Iseult has offered to teach ye to fight, yet ye are too proud to take up her offer. Much as I abhor violence, she is right, war is coming. If the omens are true, a dark and bloody war it will be. Ye say ye wish to have revenge on Maya for your ensorcelment, and prevent her evil schemes from coming to fruition, yet ye will no' learn the strength and skills ye will need. What kind o' Righ will ye be, when ye canna even grasp opportunities when they're offered to ye?" Even in the dim light of their fire, Iseult could see how red Lachlan had flushed. He gritted his teeth, and said, "Canna ye stay off my back, Meghan! All ye do is nag me and nag me."
    "Do ye wish for revenge on Maya the Ensorcellor?"
    "Aye, Ea damn the black-hearted witch!"
    "Do ye wish to protect the people, as all your forebears have done, ever since our ancestor Cuinn brought them to this land?"
    "I suppose so," he scowled.
    "Do ye wish to rescue the Lodestar?"
    "Aye," Lachlan answered after a moment, his voice unexpectedly gentle. "It's greetin', Meghan, I hear it all the time. I canna bear to have it slowly dying from want o' love and contact."
    "Then put aside your pride and accept what Iseult and I are offering ye. Ye have ability, Lachlan, ye just lack discipline and focus. Accept that ye shall never have back your carefree childhood a"nd your strong, unblemished body, and make the most o' what ye have."
    He said in a strangled voice, "Ye do no' understand."
    "Indeed I do, my lad," and there was more affection and warmth in Meghan's voice than Iseult had ever heard. "My blood boils with anger that Maya can have harmed ye so. But I canna transform ye back, though I've tried all I know. Ye must accept your fate, laddie.
    I have thought long and hard on this, and I wonder why else was Iseult brought to us at this time, if not to teach us what she knows o' battle and warfare? I must trust to the weaver to fly the shuttle true, and so must ye, Lachlan the Winged."
    Lachlan did not reply. When Meghan had finished altering the shirt, he shrugged it on and submitted to her buttoning the back around his wings, but he said nothing. Scowling, he squatted again by the fire and prodded moodily at the coals with a twig. Iseult risked a glance at him and was disconcerted when he shot her a fierce gaze from under his brows. For a moment their eyes met, then Iseult looked away, embarrassed.
    "Ye owe me a question, Iseult o' the Snows," Lachlan jeered softly. She met his gaze squarely. "That I do."
    He lifted an eyebrow in surprise, then turned his gaze back to the coals. "I'll think o' a good one then."
    "One should never waste a question," she agreed.
    Involuntarily he smiled, though he turned away so quickly that Iseult saw only the crease of his cheek. She smiled to herself, turning her attention back to the spell book.
    Every morning after that, Iseult had practiced with her weapons in a clearing in the forest, polishing her moves and stances, keeping her limbs supple and strong. Usually she worked naked, wearing only her boots and weapons belt, but Meghan had suggested she remain in her shirt and breeches in order to protect her fair skin from the sun. Iseult agreed and was glad later when she realized Lachlan was watching her from the shelter of a huge moss-oak. The memory of the time he had watched her bathing still gave her an odd squirming feeling deep in her stomach, and she was glad to keep her linen shirt on, despite the heat.
    At first she was tempted to show off some of her more difficult aerial maneuvers. Iseult had been one of the most acrobatic of