Birkita hesitated. When she spoke, her soft voice was sincere. “No, Mistress, you are not wrong. There can be only one High Priestess. I willingly step down from that position. It is, indeed, the Light Bringer’s role to be Adsagsona’s Chosen and her High Priestess.”
“Wait, no—” Morrigan began, but Birkita’s insistent hand on her arm cut off her words.
“It is Adsagsona’s will. I am no longer of the age of a maiden or a mother. I will be glad to take a lesser role, my Lady.” Birkita smiled at Morrigan warmly.
“Good. That’s settled. Then that means Morrigan will be performing the Dark Moon Ritual tomorrow night,” Shayla said.
Morrigan saw Birkita stiffen. “Mistress, I’m not sure that would be—”
“Is it not the responsibility of our High Priestess to perform the Dark Moon Ritual?” Shayla snapped.
“It is,” Birkita said.
“Then I’ll perform the ritual,” Morrigan heard herself say, and then was sorry she’d spoken so quickly when she saw a flash of triumph cross Shayla’s beautiful face.
“But you were unconscious for days, and though the Goddess breathed strength into you today through the sacred stone, you have not yet recovered fully,” Birkita said.
“Our Light Bringer is young and strong, and she has obviously been greatly blessed by the Goddess. Surely she will be recovered from her journey by tomorrow night,” Shayla said.
Morrigan wondered how the woman could make words that should have been complimentary sound like insults.
“Yes, Mistress, our Light Bringer is, indeed, strong with the Goddess,” Birkita said reluctantly, still throwing worried looks at Morrigan.
“I’ll be fine. I just need a good night’s sleep, that’s all,” Morrigan interrupted, meeting Shayla’s cold blue gaze steadily.
“Excellent. Our new High Priestess will perform the ritual. It seems an auspicious omen for our goddess that her Light Bringer arrived just before the dark moon. Don’t you think so, Birkita?” Perth said.
Shayla had overshadowed him so much that Morrigan had almost forgotten Perth was there. Now as she turned her attention to him she got the distinct impression that he was exactly what he seemed to be—a handsome but henpecked shell of a middle-aged guy whose wife clearly didn’t like him much. But Birkita said that he was the Sidetha’s Cave Master. She’d assumed that meant that Perth was touched by, or in a way special to, the Goddess. Didn’t it? If so, why was hateful Shayla obviously in charge?
“Yes, Master Perth. The dark moon is auspicious for Adsagsona, so Morrigan’s arrival so close to it is an excellent omen,” Birkita was saying.
Morrigan refocused on the conversation, smiled perkily and wrapped her arm through Birkita’s, pulling the older woman to her feet. “Then that sounds perfect. I’m sure it’s different than an, um, Oklahoma Dark Moon Ritual, but Birkita can fill me in on all the details. So, thanks again for everything.” Arm in arm, they walked from the huge room with Brina padding silently behind. Morrigan could feel Shayla’s eyes boring into her back, but she also noticed that several women, and even a few of the men, bowed their heads respectfully as she passed their tables.
CHAPTER 4
Birkita took the lead as soon as they left the Great Chamber. “Okay, there was a lot about that that was truly weird,” Morrigan began, but Birkita shook her head and whispered, “Not here, my Lady.” So Morrigan bit back her zillions of questions and let Birkita lead her down the winding tunnel.
This time she actually paid attention to her surroundings. At first they followed the same path that was mirrored in Oklahoma, which led from the deepest part of the Alabaster Caverns to the Encampment Room. Of course, in Partholon the cave wasn’t the crude, undeveloped rock structure it was in Oklahoma. The pillars of smokeless flame illuminated smooth, widened walls that, every few yards, branched out to the left and right in new tunnels. The pathway was clean and even, completely free of debris, dirt and dampness. Ledges held delicate pottery and statuary. Some of the walls were decorated with intricate stone mosaics, some of them were painted with beautiful, interweaving designs within which Morrigan recognized the figure of the Goddess. In the domed part of the cave, a brazier hung from silver chains anchored on the underlip of the circular pattern, looking like a fantastic chandelier made of fire and fantasy. Awed, Morrigan tried to take in all the wonders at once until her mind was overfilled with beautiful, exotic images of the underground marvels.
It didn’t take long for them to come to the Encampment Room—no, it was called the Usgaran, Morrigan silently corrected herself. The selenite boulder was still glowing, but only softly. As Morrigan approached it and automatically stroked her fingers across its skin, the crystals blazed into diamond brilliance again as if she had flipped on a hidden switch.
“It’s so beautiful,” Morrigan murmured.
“It is, indeed.” Birkita paused before adding, “The High Priestess before me told stories of Light Bringers, as Adsagsona’s Chosen before her had also told. We all know that the crystals can be called alive. But knowing and seeing are very different things. Until you arrived I had only imagined the beauty of the light.”
“So there wasn’t a Light Bringer before me, like there was a High Priestess before you?”
Birkita shook her head. “There hasn’t been a Sidetha Light Bringer in more than three generations.” She smiled and pointed to one of the many side tunnels that led from the large room. “Your antechamber lies through there. Though it has been many years, Adsagsona’s priestesses have kept the Light Bringer’s chamber ready for her. Some of us never doubted your return.”
As if she understood exactly where they were going, Brina padded ahead of them through the arched tunnel way. The passage narrowed and then made a little S curve, emptying into an arched doorway covered by a large animal skin, which the cat nosed aside and disappeared behind. Morrigan paused and looked questioningly at Birkita, who brushed one side of the hide curtain aside and motioned for her to enter.
Morrigan climbed three smooth stairs up and then the tunnel widened. To her right was a small entryway that was also covered by a hide curtain. Ahead, the tunnel rounded to dead-end into an amazing room. It was lit by one small pedestal light, which licked soft shadows on the smooth walls. A wide, waist-high ledge that ran around a good length of the right side of the chamber was filled with furs and pillows and plump comforters. On the opposite side of the room, shelves were carved into the wall. They held what looked like perfume bottles and boxes brimming with ropes of semiprecious stones. A mirrored vanity sat beside an intricately carved wooden wardrobe. Two plump fur-upholstered chairs completed the opulent furnishings. Morrigan stared around her, shocked to silence by the richness of everything. Then her eyes were drawn upward and she gasped, automatically brushing her fingertips against the nearest wall. Light Bringer…whispered through her skin, and the crystal stalactites that hung in icicle cascades from the ceiling lit, displaying a beauty more delicate and timeless than the finest Venetian-glass chandeliers.
“It’s so lovely.” Birkita’s voice was hushed. “We could see that the hanging rock was made of crystal, of course, but having the light called to them…” She paused, blinking hard as if she was trying not to cry. “It is simply breathtaking.” She turned her bright gaze to Morrigan. “I hope the chamber pleases you. The ancient legends say that when Adsagsona formed the caves for her people she took special care to fashion a chamber for the most beloved of her priestesses. To this High Priestess the Goddess also gave the gift of hearing the spirits in the stone, as well as the ability to call light to her sacred crystals.”
Morrigan walked around the room, touching the gorgeous bottles and peeking into the jewelry boxes. “This is all so amazing.” She looked back at Birkita. “And so confusing. Birkita, I need you to help me understand this place.”
“Of course, my Lady. I am here to serve you and the Goddess.”
Morrigan sat on the thick bed pallet. Brina jumped up and stretched out be
hind her and Morrigan stroked her soft pelt while she considered how to sift through the sandbox full of questions in her mind. Well, she decided, first things first.
“I don’t want to take your job,” she said miserably.
“Job?” Birkita’s face was a question mark.
“Being High Priestess. I don’t have any right to walk in here and take the job you’ve had for years and years.”
Birkita smiled. “Being High Priestess is not a job, it is a calling. Do not let it distress you, darling child. This is the way of it. Each High Priestess is someday replaced by a younger woman. In truth, it will be a relief to pass my duties to you. I am old and weary, and want to retire to the outskirts of the Goddess’s service.”
“I don’t think it’ll be much of a relief for a while. I don’t have a clue what I’m doing.”
“Trust yourself and your goddess, Light Bringer.”
“And you,” Morrigan added.
Birkita inclined her head graciously. “If you wish, my Lady.”
“So, tell me, what’s up with Shayla and Perth? Are they in charge here?”
“They are Master and Mistress, and have been for almost two decades. Under their rule, we have prospered.” Her smile turned wry. “Even more than is usual for the Sidetha, which is truly quite impressive.”
Morrigan’s gaze went back to the boxes of glittering stone jewelry. “Y’all are rich, aren’t you?”
Birkita laughed softly at Morrigan’s odd language. “If by y’all you mean the Sidetha, then yes, we have always been a prosperous people. The Goddess has gifted us greatly with valuable rock and precious stones found nowhere else in Partholon. Our people are talented, not simply in finding veins of hidden rock, but also in fashioning things of beauty from it. The earth outside the caves is fruitful, and though it is colder here than in the rest of the country, our crops are hardy and plentiful. We have little cause to leave our Realm. It has been a simple thing for us to acquire riches. And, of course, our reigning Master and Mistress find riches, and the acquisition of them, very important.”
“You don’t like Shayla and Perth, either.”
Birkita hesitated, choosing her words carefully. “I have been saddened to see the focus of too many of our people change from loving the beauty they can create and praising Adsagsona for the blessing she has given us, to loving the riches those gifts can command in the outside world.”
“Shayla feels wrong to me.” Morrigan spoke the words aloud without really realizing what she’d said, but when she looked up from petting Brina, Birkita’s eyes were sharp and knowing.
“Trust your goddess-given intuition, my Lady.”
“I will.” Morrigan took Birkita’s hand. If she couldn’t trust the woman who was her grandma’s mirror image in this world, and tell her the complete truth, then she was utterly lost. “Birkita, Oklahoma is not across the B’an Sea. It’s way more complicated than that.”
Birkita’s hold on Morrigan’s hand tightened. She nodded solemnly. “You may tell me, Morrigan. I will keep your counsel.”
“Oklahoma is in another world. I’m from another world,” she said quickly, holding on to Birkita’s hand. “I know hardly anything about goddesses and the spirits I can talk to in the rocks and being a Light Bringer.”
“But you said you thought you were Epona’s Chosen.”
Morrigan nodded. “I do know about Epona, but only a little. See, my mom died right after I was born and I was raised by my grandparents.” She smiled and added, “You look like my grandma.”
“That’s a lovely thing for you to say, my Lady.” Birkita blinked away tears.
“No, you don’t understand. I don’t mean that you remind me of her. I mean you are her, or actually her mirror image in this world. I know it’s confusing, and I don’t even really understand it. I totally don’t understand how these two worlds could exist. But I know they do. I know they do because my mom came from Partholon. She was trapped in Oklahoma, though, and that’s why I was born there.”
“But you said your grandparents raised you. Were they your father’s parents?”
“No. They were the parents of my mom’s mirror image.”
“My Lady, this makes no sense.”
Morrigan chewed her bottom lip. She’d decided to trust Birkita, so telling her parts and pieces of the truth wasn’t right. Claim your destiny…drifted through her mind and Morrigan didn’t ignore it. This time she took courage from the whispered words.
“Who is Epona’s Chosen?”
Birkita looked surprised, but answered the unexpected question. “Rhiannon MacCallan is Blessed of Epona and the Goddess’s Chosen.”
Morrigan stared into Birkita’s eyes and shook her head slowly from side to side. “No. Rhiannon MacCallan was Epona’s Chosen. She was also my mother. She died a little over eighteen years ago after giving birth to me. The woman who has been Epona’s Chosen for the past eighteen years in her place is Shannon Parker, and she’s also from Oklahoma.”
Birkita had gone very white. “How can this be? She has the blessing of Epona.”
“I’m not saying that Shannon’s not Epona’s Chosen. All I’m saying is that she’s not Rhiannon MacCallan. She’s Rhiannon’s mirror image. She exchanged places with her before I was conceived.” Morrigan looked down at their joined hands and said the rest of it. “My mom, Rhiannon, made some pretty big mistakes. She started listening to a dark god and she turned her back on her people. Epona had to replace her.” Still looking down, Morrigan ignored the tears that were tracking slowly down her face. “That’s why I thought I might be Epona’s Chosen. I thought that maybe Epona had given me special powers as kind of a way of showing that she’d really forgiven Rhiannon before she died.”
“You have been Chosen, Morrigan. Not by the Great Goddess of Partholon, but by the Goddess who reigns below. Adsagsona is a loving goddess who gives the spark of her spirit to the heart of our land. You will find her easy to love and faithful to her own.”
“I’m scared that because I wasn’t raised here I won’t recognize Adsagsona’s voice. What if I listen to the wrong god?”
Birkita lifted Morrigan’s chin and gently wiped away her tears. “You are not your mother.”
“Sometimes I wonder,” she whispered.
“Light Bringers do not traffic with evil,” Birkita said firmly.
“Neither does the Chosen of a Great Goddess,” Morrigan countered.
Birkita shook her head. “There is no evil in you. Of this I am certain.”
“That sounds just like something Grandma would say.”
Birkita smiled. “Then you should believe me.” The older woman’s expression sobered. “My Lady, I do not believe it is wise for us to tell anyone about this mirror world of Oklahoma, or that Epona’s Chosen is not who they believe her to be. I cannot see that the knowledge would benefit you or Partholon. It could do the opposite. It could harm the very fabric of our world.”
“She has a daughter who’s my age, doesn’t she?”
“Yes, Epona’s Chosen was gifted with one child, a daughter called Myrna. Word came not long ago that the Chosen One’s daughter will soon give birth.”
“I might be her mirror image—or she could be mine—or however you put it.” Something passed through Birkita’s eyes that Morrigan couldn’t identify. “What is it? Why did you look like that?”
“Shayla seemed to recognize you,” Birkita said quickly, her forehead wrinkling with worry. “I wonder how close this resemblance with Myrna is.”
Morrigan snorted. “If it’s like Rhiannon and Shannon, then Myrna and I could be twins.”
“Then it is a good thing that few of the Sidetha travel beyond our Realm. It is not a good thing that Shayla is one of those few.”
You must not hide from your destiny! The words in her mind jolted Morrigan. “Well, I’m not going to make a big announcement about my real mom, but I’m also not going to hide like I’ve done something wrong.”
“Of course you’ve done nothi
ng wrong! But this is all quite a shock.” Birkita passed a hand across her eyes, and Morrigan noticed that she was looking even paler than she had before.
“To me, too. I mean, I always knew I was different from other kids. None of my friends could ever understand why I loved being outside so much, and then there were the voices I’ve heard since I was a little girl. I’ve never belonged.”
“You belong now, Light Bringer,” Birkita said firmly.
Birkita’s words settled through her body, soothing Morrigan’s frayed nerves. “I just found out days ago about Partholon and my real mom. It was the same day I heard the spirits in the crystals and made them light. Then something awful happened in the cave in Oklahoma, and I was pulled here through the crystal boulder.”
“Home, my Lady. Adsagsona brought you home through the Usgaran, and tomorrow you will perform your first ritual for the Goddess.”
“Are you sure I should do the ritual? I don’t have any idea about what goes on in any ritual, let alone a Dark Moon Ritual. I—I’m scared of saying or doing something wrong. Maybe we should just tell Shayla that I’m too tired.”
“The ritual is quite simple, and you will be alone most of the time, so there is no need for you to fear saying or doing anything wrong. The other priestesses and I will bathe and anoint you, then we will take you to the Usgaran. There you will ask Adsagsona’s blessing for a new cycle of the moon.”
“That’s it? Then why didn’t you want me to perform the ritual when Shayla mentioned it?”
“I was concerned for your health, not for your ability to perform the ritual. A High Priestess must abstain from eating food before the ritual, and I know your journey here has taxed you greatly.” Birkita smiled and squeezed Morrigan’s hand reassuringly. “But Shayla was correct when she said that you are young and strong and blessed by the Goddess. All will be well, Light Bringer.”