When Morrigan continued to hesitate, Birkita whispered to her, “Refusal will only draw more attention to you.”
Reluctantly Morrigan changed direction to the head table, and was further disconcerted to see that the only places left empty were two spots directly across from Shayla and Kegan. She sat quickly and motioned immediately for a server to bring her something to eat and drink while she kept her eyes averted and her face turned away from the way-too-familiar-looking horse-man who sat across from her.
“When did you become High Priestess, Morrigan?”
Kegan’s voice—so like Kyle’s that it made her stomach clench—was deep and emotionless. Morrigan looked up and the intensity with which he was staring at her completely belied his tone. Meeting his gaze, it seemed that she had somehow said or done something to upset him deeply.
“I, well. Um. I became High Priestess just—just a few days ago,” she managed to stutter, completely thrown off-balance by his soul-piercing gaze.
“I was here four cycles of the moon ago. I did not see you with the other priestesses then, and no mention was made of Adsagsona choosing another High Priestess,” Kai said. He too was watching Morrigan with an incredibly focused expression.
“Most especially we had no news of the coming of a Light Bringer,” Kegan said.
“You didn’t see her and you didn’t hear about her because she wasn’t here.” The sultry tone had left Shayla’s voice, making her annoyance at the men’s interest in Morrigan obvious.
“Yes, Adsagsona gave her to us,” Perth chimed in. Morrigan thought he made her sound like a crappy present given to an unwanted stepchild.
“Yes, yes, yes. Birkita foretold it. She waited in the Usgaran until Morrigan appeared. And now you know the story of our new Light Bringer and High Priestess.” Shayla paused, collected herself, and then continued with a smile for Kai and Kegan, which was completely wasted on its intended victims because neither sets of eyes had left Morrigan’s face. “Stonemaster, you promised you would reveal the reason for your visit when the High Priestess joined us.” Shayla leaned into Kai, allowing her breast to graze his arm. “Morrigan is here, so let us not waste time with chatter.”
Morrigan decided she’d seen subtler moves on MTV rap videos.
With an obvious effort, Kai took his gaze from Morrigan. Ignoring Shayla, he spoke past her to the centaur. “Kegan, will you make the announcement, or shall I?”
“I’m just the sculptor. You’re the Stonemaster and messenger,” the centaur said.
“Very well.” Kai stood and walked up the short steps to stand in front of the mosaic of Adsagsona. He waited for the room to quiet. It wasn’t until then that Morrigan noticed how tired and dirty he looked. Several strands of his long brown hair had come loose from the tie that held the rest of it back. His clothes—leather pants with a plain linen shirt tucked into them and a well-tooled leather coat—were travel-stained and rumpled. His eyes were shadowed by fatigue and his face was heavily lined. Not that he wasn’t a handsome man—he definitely was, even for an older guy, with his broad shoulders, square, strong jaw and kind face. But he looked really tired and sad, and Morrigan wondered what had happened to him. Finally, the Great Chamber was silent and everyone had turned their attention to the Stonemaster.
“Your Mistress asks why the Master Sculptor and I have journeyed here today in such haste. We come because we have been commissioned with the task of choosing the marble for, and then carving the effigy of, one who was very dear to Partholon.” A concerned murmur began in the crowd, but Kai’s raised hand stilled it. “Seven days ago Myrna, the daughter of Epona’s Beloved, Rhiannon, died giving birth to a daughter. The child lives. I believe the babe is all that keeps Rhiannon tied to this earth.” He paused, clearly having to fight to control his emotions.
Morrigan felt as if someone had driven their fist into her gut. Myrna was dead. Myrna. Shannon’s daughter—the person who could have, probably should have, been her. Should have lived her life. Should have grown up being loved by her grandparents. And she was dead. Then another punch hit her. Myrna had died seven days ago. It was exactly seven days ago that Morrigan had passed through the selenite boulder and entered Partholon. Suddenly cold to the bone, Morrigan wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
Kai continued. “Partholon’s High Priestess is in deep mourning, and though the pyre was made and the funeral bier for Myrna burned, she asked that a likeness of her beloved only child be carved to hold her ashes and to be a memorial to her. That is our sad task.” Kai paused again and bowed his head slightly to Shayla.
From his place at the table, Kegan spoke up. “The Lady Rhiannon asks that I be allowed to stay with the Sidetha until I’ve completed the carving of the effigy. I ask your permission to do so, Mistress Shayla—” he turned to bow slightly to Perth “—and Master Perth.”
“Kegan, of course you may remain here with us until your task is complete,” Shayla said before she rushed up the stairs and took Kai’s hands. “I know how close you have been to Epona’s Chosen and her family. I am so very sorry for your loss.”
Perth got to his feet and joined his wife’s very public condolences. Then Birkita’s arm slid around Morrigan’s waist. “Are you well, child?”
Morrigan leaned into the older woman, needing her comfort and her warmth. “No,” she whispered. “No, I’m not okay. It was the day I got here, wasn’t it? That’s the day she died.”
“Yes, it was.”
“What’s going on? I don’t understand what’s going on,” Morrigan whispered frantically.
“Not here, child.”
Morrigan clamped her lips closed on the questions that were swarming through her mind. Birkita was right. She needed to keep it together.
She felt his eyes on her before he spoke.
“Perhaps you will offer prayers to your goddess asking that Myrna’s spirit’s journey to Epona’s meadows be swift?” Kegan asked.
Morrigan looked at the bizarrely familiar centaur. “Yes, of course I will,” she said.
“Thank you, High Priestess.” Even though his smile was shadowed with sadness, she found herself responding to it. His human half looked so much like Kyle! With the way he was sitting, his human torso was about all Morrigan could see of him. And most of that was muscular and mostly bare since the little leather vest he wore didn’t do much to cover all that golden tan skin. Like Kyle, Kegan was so blond that his thick hair was almost gold. His skin was more tanned than his human mirror’s though, which made him look healthier and sexier, too.
With a start, Morrigan realized she’d been gawking at him like a kid. “You’re welcome,” she said quickly.
Kai, Shayla and Perth returned to the table. Shayla was still murmuring soft condolences to Kegan and Kai that Morrigan thought sounded too damn much like flirty cooing. Birkita squeezed her arm. When Morrigan glanced at her, the older woman gave her a pointed look before standing.
“Mistress, if you will excuse us, the High Priestess has said that she would like to offer prayers tomorrow for the spirit of Myrna. Indeed, all of the priestesses should join her in petitioning Adsagsona to aid Myrna’s journey to the Otherworld, as well as offering prayers for Epona’s Chosen. There is much to be done for such an offering.” Birkita glanced over her shoulder and made a small motion, at which all of the priestesses present got to their feet, curtsied to the head table and began to leave.
Taking that as her cue, Morrigan stood. “Yes, we have a lot to do.”
“Very well. You are excused,” Shayla said dismissively.
“Epona’s Chosen would appreciate your offer of prayers for her daughter’s spirit,” Kai said abruptly.
Morrigan met the Stonemaster’s eyes, wondering at his weird tone. “I’m glad to do it,” she told him. She’d already curtsied and had begun turning to go when Kegan’s voice stopped her short.
“Where did you come from?”
She looked back at him and opened her mouth to say, Oklahoma, which is across the B?
??an Sea in the southwest, but what actually came out of her face was, “I came from the Goddess.”
Kegan continued to stare at her for several heartbeats, then he bowed his head and said with a small, ironic smile, “I have no doubt of that at all, my Lady.”
Thankfully, Birkita took her hand and pulled her from the Great Chamber before anything else unexpected could come out of her mouth, but as they made their way across the large room Morrigan could feel Kegan’s eyes still on her.
CHAPTER 10
There weren’t a great number of Sidetha guest chambers, but the few they had were large, comfortable and private. Kegan knew them well. He also knew they were so private because the Mistress of the Sidetha preferred it so. The centaur frowned and rubbed a hand through his hair. Shayla, unfortunately, never changed. Her masque was predictably the same. She liked to seduce visitors. Not all visitors, of course. Only those who were most powerful. By the Goddess, he’d hardly been more than a pubescent colt when she’d started his seduction. Perhaps this visit she would be so focused on Kai, a longtime favorite of hers, that he could avoid her completely. Kegan knew her game; he had wearied of it years ago. At first she would offer herself, warm and seductive, pliant, even. When he rejected her she would show her true nature and turn cold and sarcastic. He didn’t need to wonder about why she kept offering herself to him even though he’d been rejecting her for the past several years. He understood her well. She knew even before he knew it himself that as High Shaman and the youngest Master Sculptor in Partholon’s history he would one day command a high level of respect and power. Shayla craved both.
And the unfortunate truth was that he had not always rejected her.
Kai rubbed his hand through his hair again. He needed a bath and a good night’s sleep. The bath was easy enough to come by. Sleep would be more elusive. He must talk with the Stonemaster about what had happened. With a weary sigh he made his way to the next guest chamber, but he hesitated before going inside. There was little doubt that Kai would be even more shaken by her than he had been, and the Stonemaster’s mood had been dark enough lately to—
“Stop lurking and come in,” Kai called gruffly from the other side of the leather-curtained doorway.
Kegan pushed aside the thick drape that closed the room off from the passageway. The centaur looked around and nodded in approval. “I suppose it’s only right that your chamber be more opulent than mine. You are the obvious favorite.”
Kai frowned at him. “I don’t think you’re here to talk about the decor or my status with the Sidetha.”
“It’s bizarre, isn’t it?” Kegan said as he crossed the chamber and filled two goblets with wine. He handed Kai one and then took a long drink from his. “She looks too much like Myrna for it to be a coincidence.”
“She’s not Myrna,” Kai said flatly.
“Again, I say she looks too much like her for it to just be a coincidence. The goddesses are at work here, of that there is little doubt.”
“People can look alike without there being divine intervention.”
The centaur’s brows went up and his lips quirked sardonically. “The Sidetha’s new High Priestess and our dead Myrna do not simply look alike. They are mirrors of one another.”
“They aren’t mirrors. Myrna was big with child. Morrigan is still as slender as—” He broke off and Kegan continued the thought for him.
“As Myrna was before she got with child. No, Morrigan doesn’t look like Myrna did recently, but go back nine cycles of the moon and then tell me the two could not be mistaken for each other.”
“They could,” Kai said reluctantly.
“What would Lady Rhiannon do if she—”
It was Kai’s turn to interrupt. “No! Neither you nor I will tell the Lady Rhiannon that there is a High Priestess of the Sidetha whose looks mimic those of her newly dead daughter.”
“Perhaps it would comfort her.” Kegan shrugged. “And it was whispered that Lady Rhiannon was truly disappointed when Myrna showed no sign of being touched by Epona. This Morrigan is already a High Priestess, and did they not call her Light Bringer, too?”
“They did.”
Kegan knew Kai was probably unfamiliar with a Light Bringer’s gifts, but the centaur High Shaman knew exactly what the title implied and how rare a manifestation of power it was. “Kai, a Light Bringer is a spectacular gift. Do you not think Epona’s Chosen would want to know that Adsagsona has given her people such a rare gift?”
“Do you honestly believe that it would cause Lady Rhiannon anything but more pain to be faced with a powerful priestess who resembles her dead child!”
“Consider carefully, Kai. Clearly there is a goddess at work here.”
Kai studied the handsome young centaur before he replied. “You attempted to woo Myrna, did you not?”
Kegan shrugged again. “What of it? Many centaur High Shamans courted the daughter of Epona’s Chosen. Had she followed her mother and become the next Beloved of Epona, one of us would have been fashioned by the Goddess to love her.”
“If I remember correctly, you more than any other centaur spent a considerable amount of time courting her.”
“I did. Myrna was attractive and intelligent. It was no hardship to spend time with her. Besides—” he grinned “—I have never hidden the fact that I enjoy the attention of females, be they human or centaur.”
“And had Myrna chosen you as her mate you would have been the most powerful male in Partholon.”
Kegan’s nonchalant attitude shifted and hardened. “Had she chosen me it would have meant that Epona had fashioned me to love her for eternity.”
“Which means for this lifetime you would have been the most powerful male in Partholon.”
Kegan’s face relaxed and his boyish grin returned. “All of Partholon knows that. There is no shame in desiring the position of Partholon’s High Shaman, especially when it comes with such a delectable mate.”
“But she didn’t choose a centaur High Shaman as her mate.”
Kegan snorted. “No, she chose a grape grower. A human. And thus dashed her mother’s dream of having her daughter follow her as Epona’s Chosen.”
“So you think this Sidetha High Priestess would be a good substitute because Lady Rhiannon obviously stopped loving her daughter when it became clear she wouldn’t be Chosen by Epona?” Kai’s voice was heavily sarcastic.
“I did not say Lady Rhiannon stopped loving Myrna. I simply repeated common court gossip about Epona’s Chosen being disappointed in her daughter’s choice.”
“Common court gossip should be beneath you to repeat.”
Frustrated at the stubborn old Stonemaster, Kegan paced while he tried to reason with Kai. “Court gossip aside, I have simply stated the obvious—that Morrigan’s resemblance to Myrna is too great to be ignored. That I believe the divine is at work here.”
“And you suggest we do what?”
“I only suggest that we leave ourselves open to the divine.”
Kai narrowed his eyes. “Do you mean we, or you?”
“Both of us, of course.”
“Well, I suggest that leaving ourselves open to the divine does not mean we need to relay hurtful news to Lady Rhiannon.” Kegan started to speak, but the Stonemaster interrupted him. “Which means we also do not need to share the fact that Morrigan so closely resembles Myrna with any of the Sidetha.”
Kegan raised an eyebrow. “You will have more to do with that than I. You’re Shayla’s favorite, and the Mistress is also one of the few Sidetha to be educated outside of their Realm. If any of them were to recognize Morrigan it would be Shayla.”
Kai sighed and stared into his wine. “Her sharp eyes miss nothing,” he muttered. “I suppose I will simply have to be sure the Mistress is too preoccupied to think of such things.”
Kegan tried unsuccessfully to cover his knowing grin. “It’s a good thing you are a man of such experience.” He cleared his throat to hide a chuckle. “Well, I happen to agree with you that no o
ne else in Partholon need know that the mirror image of Lady Rhiannon’s newly dead daughter is the Sidetha’s High Priestess—at least they don’t need to know at this time. Perhaps my mind, or yours, will change before we return to Epona’s Temple.” Kegan upended his goblet, finishing off the rest of it. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and gave Kai a jaunty little bow. “I’ll leave you to your rest, Stonemaster.” Just before he ducked back through the leather curtain he grinned over his shoulder at the older man. “You should know I’ve decided to spend as much time with Morrigan as possible as part of how I am going to remain open to the working of the divine. I suggest you spend an equal amount of time avoiding Shayla’s questions. I’m sure you’ll find a way to keep her mouth busy with other duties.” Laughing, Kegan left the chamber with Kai’s growl of “Damn arrogant centaur!” following behind him.
Kegan was still smiling to himself as he went into his well-appointed private bathing chamber and washed the layers of travel dirt and sweat from his body. What an amazing stroke of fate—to find a powerful priestess who was the twin image of the dead, and decidedly powerless, Myrna. He’d made light of his failed attempt to woo Myrna to Kai. The truth had been that Kegan had been drawn to the daughter of Epona’s Chosen from the first instant the two of them had been introduced. It had been more than a blow to his ego when she obviously felt no similar attraction to him and had completely rejected him. For a powerless human. It still amazed Kegan.