The Pool of Two Moons Read Online Free PDF

the Scarred Warriors. Even on foot she was capable of dazzling tumbling and somersaulting runs. Remembering, though, that Lachlan was a pupil, she did what she would do if she were teaching one of her young disciples back in the Haven. She showed how a relatively simple sequence of movements could translate into a powerful defensive move. Over and over she repeated the slow flowing movement of hand and hip, each time extending until at last she rose off the ground in a quick snap of her body, her foot kicking out and up. Without having to look, she was aware of Lachlan's brooding interest, and gradually she began to vary the moves so that he saw how many ways a learned reflex could be used.
    By the third day Lachlan was restless, wanting to try the moves out for himself, and only then did Iseult show him what training and discipline could do, throwing herself into a series of cartwheels that ended with a soaring somersault that took her high into the leafy canopy. He came out then, though frowning, his arms crossed over his chest. Since donning the clothes of his ancestor, he ? had seemed both more righlike and less mysterious. Iseult was conscious of a feeling of anticipation.
    "Why do ye always cover your hair?" he had surprised her by asking, tugging at the long tail of her linen cap.
    "Is that the question ye wish me to answer?"
    "Nay. Though I would like to know .... So ye wish to teach me to fight."
    "Aye, if ye would like."
    "Meghan seems to think it may be o' use. Just try no' to lecture me or put on that superior smirk o'
    yours."
    "So gracious as always, Your Highness."
    So while Meghan had paced the clearing and scryed through her crystal ball, Iseult had begun teaching Lachlan how to fight. At first it had been difficult, for he had never worked out whether to stride like a man or hop like a bird. By now, however, he was at least able to defend himself if attacked, and his movements were not so awkward as he limped about the clearing.
    Meghan had found the weeks of waiting till the spring equinox difficult and her temper this evening was bitter and hot. As they drank the herbal potion she gave them, the wood witch scolded them angrily, testing them on the rites of the equinox. Both Iseult and Lachlan had learnt them the previous day, but in his resentment at her mood, Lachlan either could not or would not remember them.
    "It's about time ye took the rituals o' the Coven seriously, Lachlan! Ye must ken all the chants for all the festivals—they are no' all for show and mystification . . ."
    "Why do I need to ken them all? I shall be Righ!"
    "Ye come from the line o' Cuinn Lionheart himself, and great power is latent in ye. Ye canna wield the Lodestar if the power lies dormant. Ye must learn as much as ye can about your own Skills and Talents afore ye can think o' winning the Lodestar. Ye want to be Righ o' all Eileanan? Ye'll need everything ye have o' strength and knowledge and wisdom, and still ye will need more . . ."
    "Aye, aye, I ken, ye've told me all this afore," Lachlan muttered. Meghan clambered to her feet and began gathering together her witch's paraphernalia. "Then why will ye no' heed what I say?" She thrust a load of firewood into Lachlan's arms and piled Iseult's up with wreaths of flowers. Gita clinging to her plait, she began to walk through the forest to Tulachna Celeste.
    "If it's so important for me to learn the Skills o' witchcraft, why did ye leave me with Enit all those years?" Lachlan suddenly flared, rustling his wings behind him. "She's no Tower witch, just a forest skeelie that sings for her supper."
    "Enit may no' be Tower-trained, but she has powerful magic o' her own," Meghan snapped, leaning on her staff to catch her breath. She continued in a troubled voice, "Ye ken why I had to leave ye with Enit. Ye were more than half bird still. Enit can charm any bird, even one as fierce as ye were, more falcon than blackbird, I swear. She could speak with ye in your own language . . ."
    "The