Deception's Princess (Princesses of Myth) by Esther Friesner Page B
Authors: Esther Friesner
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heron’s bill. After we caught three fish, Odran’s belt pouch produced a knife and a fire striker. He kindled a flame and soon the fish were roasting to a golden brown on sharpened sticks. Muirín and Guennola tussled over the entrails.
When the light began to wane, we agreed to go back to Cruachan separately. “My mother thinks I like you,” I toldhim. “I don’t want to give her any more thread to keep on weaving that cloth.”
“I thought you did like me.” Odran looked hurt.
“I do,” I reassured him. “The trouble is, Mother’s idea of ‘liking’ isn’t the same as mine. I’m afraid it ends in marriage.”
Odran shuddered. I didn’t know why seeing that gesture of repugnance irked me so much. “You’re right, Lady Maeve. We do not want our parents getting the wrong idea about us. My father would call a thousand curses down on the High King’s household if he imagined we were more than friends.”
“The High King’s daughter isn’t good enough to be the wife of a druid’s son?”
“It’s not that. It’s the timing. Right now there’s room for only one thing in my life, according to my father, and that’s getting me to Avallach so that I can finish my training and become exactly what he wants me to become. There can’t be any distractions or diversions.”
“Not even bringing them with you?” I pointed at Guennola and Muirín.
“Trust me, it took all my wits to persuade him to allow me their company. I’ve never asked Father for much and I’ve always tried to bend to his will, whether or not I like it. The only thing I’ve ever fought for in my life has been getting permission for this.”
“I’d think that if Master Íobar’s used to your constant obedience he’d be less likely to make an exception. My father’s chariot driver, Fechin, always says that if you loosen the reins a little, the horse will yank them completely out of your hands.”
“Then I’m glad Father knows nothing about horses.” Odran grinned.
“I’m surprised he was willing to let you harbor wild things even before the two of you began this journey.”
The druid’s son grew serious. “I was born sickly. Not even Father’s healing lore could bring a healthy color to my face or give me the endurance to run and scuffle with the other children. Then my mother died, and I mourned so deeply that I couldn’t eat or sleep. Everyone said I was destined to follow her to Tech Duinn.
“And it would have been so, if not for my mother’s dearest friend. That good woman brought a robin’s nest to my bedside with a broken-legged birdling inside. ‘I can’t persuade the little one to eat,’ she said. ‘Won’t you help me?’ She showed me how to feed it by hand, how to keep it clean, how to check the binding on its leg and how to retie it. By the time the little robin could hop to the door and fly away, she’d saved two lives. After that, whenever I found an animal that was hurt or ailing and brought it home to heal, Father scowled but didn’t interfere. Mother’s friend was there to remind him that he owed my life to Flidais, the goddess who cares for wild things. If Father wanted to keep me, I must be allowed to keep my creatures.”
“How many do you have?” I asked, picturing the ringfort of Munster with all the king’s warriors ankle-deep in limping badgers and runny-nosed hedgehogs.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that I keep every creature I heal. If I have the skill and good fortune to make them well again, I send them back to their true homes. It’s only rarely I take one in who’s meant to stay with me. Guennola and Muirín came into my care as orphaned babies. I couldn’t teach them how to live wild. They’d die.”
“I wonder how your teachers at Avallach will react to them.”
“I’m hoping Father will bring them around.” Odran dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ve convinced him that these two rascals help me concentrate on my studies.”
“I’d love to
When the light began to wane, we agreed to go back to Cruachan separately. “My mother thinks I like you,” I toldhim. “I don’t want to give her any more thread to keep on weaving that cloth.”
“I thought you did like me.” Odran looked hurt.
“I do,” I reassured him. “The trouble is, Mother’s idea of ‘liking’ isn’t the same as mine. I’m afraid it ends in marriage.”
Odran shuddered. I didn’t know why seeing that gesture of repugnance irked me so much. “You’re right, Lady Maeve. We do not want our parents getting the wrong idea about us. My father would call a thousand curses down on the High King’s household if he imagined we were more than friends.”
“The High King’s daughter isn’t good enough to be the wife of a druid’s son?”
“It’s not that. It’s the timing. Right now there’s room for only one thing in my life, according to my father, and that’s getting me to Avallach so that I can finish my training and become exactly what he wants me to become. There can’t be any distractions or diversions.”
“Not even bringing them with you?” I pointed at Guennola and Muirín.
“Trust me, it took all my wits to persuade him to allow me their company. I’ve never asked Father for much and I’ve always tried to bend to his will, whether or not I like it. The only thing I’ve ever fought for in my life has been getting permission for this.”
“I’d think that if Master Íobar’s used to your constant obedience he’d be less likely to make an exception. My father’s chariot driver, Fechin, always says that if you loosen the reins a little, the horse will yank them completely out of your hands.”
“Then I’m glad Father knows nothing about horses.” Odran grinned.
“I’m surprised he was willing to let you harbor wild things even before the two of you began this journey.”
The druid’s son grew serious. “I was born sickly. Not even Father’s healing lore could bring a healthy color to my face or give me the endurance to run and scuffle with the other children. Then my mother died, and I mourned so deeply that I couldn’t eat or sleep. Everyone said I was destined to follow her to Tech Duinn.
“And it would have been so, if not for my mother’s dearest friend. That good woman brought a robin’s nest to my bedside with a broken-legged birdling inside. ‘I can’t persuade the little one to eat,’ she said. ‘Won’t you help me?’ She showed me how to feed it by hand, how to keep it clean, how to check the binding on its leg and how to retie it. By the time the little robin could hop to the door and fly away, she’d saved two lives. After that, whenever I found an animal that was hurt or ailing and brought it home to heal, Father scowled but didn’t interfere. Mother’s friend was there to remind him that he owed my life to Flidais, the goddess who cares for wild things. If Father wanted to keep me, I must be allowed to keep my creatures.”
“How many do you have?” I asked, picturing the ringfort of Munster with all the king’s warriors ankle-deep in limping badgers and runny-nosed hedgehogs.
“Oh, I didn’t mean that I keep every creature I heal. If I have the skill and good fortune to make them well again, I send them back to their true homes. It’s only rarely I take one in who’s meant to stay with me. Guennola and Muirín came into my care as orphaned babies. I couldn’t teach them how to live wild. They’d die.”
“I wonder how your teachers at Avallach will react to them.”
“I’m hoping Father will bring them around.” Odran dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’ve convinced him that these two rascals help me concentrate on my studies.”
“I’d love to
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