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man as if addressing a troublesome child. "I'll not be threatened by
you no matter how much furniture you destroy."
"Wait, Bres. He may be right," said a new voice from the group.
Bres looked around in surprise as a girl moved out from the others to
stand beside him.
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She seemed very young to Lugh, her features softer, less austere than
those of the other women. Her small nose and high cheekbones were
dusted with freckles, and a wavy flow of warm, red-brown hair fell
freely about her shoulders. But her shining brown eyes swept him with a
gaze as unfeeling as the rest, and her words were as scornful and
cruel.
"This boy should be made to show his skills to us."
"Oh, come now, Aine," Bres replied. "Why waste time with the whelp?
He's clearly lying in his claims."
"He has made a challenge, cousin," she reminded him firmly. "If you
send him away without making him prove it,
you'll make him seem the winner. You'll make it look as if you were
afraid to try him."
"Who would believe that?" he asked derisively. But a faint doubt
tightened the lines about his eyes.
"Who in Tara wouldn't like to believe it?" she countered. She knelt by
him and spoke with intensity. "Do you want to chance giving them
another hero? Another reason to call you scornful names? No. You have
to try him, make him look the fool." She laid a hand on his arm and
smiled winningly, adding in a cajoling way: "Besides, cousin, no matter
how badly he does, we can still have some sport with him."
Bres looked into the innocent, smiling face and laughed.
"So young you are to have such a wicked mind," he said, stroking the
soft cheek. "All right, Aine. We'll try the lad. And you can choose the
skill he'll demonstrate for us."
"Oh, cousin! What fun!" she said gleefully. She jumped up and turned to
Lugh, eyeing him carefully as she considered.
Lugh watched her, his nervousness increasing. What was this pretty but
very nasty young woman going to do to make him prove his bragging
claims?
"He said he was a harper," she announced at last. "Let him play for us.
We've no good harpers left here anymore!"
The harp! Relief flooded Lugh at her words. Of all the ways he might
have been tried, this was the one he felt surest about. A sense of
confidence began to return to him.
"Fetch the boy a harp; Quickly!" Bres barked at the sharp-nosed man.
A harp was brought to Lugh. It was a finely wrought instrument, and the
boy held it for a moment, running his hands over the carved ivory and
gold, lightly caressing the strings. He recalled another instrument,
not so fine as this one, but his own, left behind in the ruins of his
flaming home.
"Now then, boy, try to play it!" Bres demanded impatiently. "Let's have
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this over with!"
Lugh concentrated his attention on the harp. The room, the situation,
his own fears faded away. He knew now was the time when the skills
Taillta had given him would be his only aide. He trusted to her
teaching and began to play.
His music was like sunlight flooding the room. It swept back the
night's shadows and the damp, chill air. The company, so recently
laughing at Lugh, suddenly found themselves
I
50
THE RIDERS OF THE SIDHE
THE MISSION
51
enchanted. The music cheered and saddened, soothed and aroused all at
once. Their arrogance dissolved in human warmth as they were drawn
completely within the spell cast by the harp.
All except for Bres.
When he saw what the music was doing to his companions, he reacted
sharply.
"Enough of this!" he cried, the cold words splashing like icy water on
the slumbering group, snapping them back to life.
"He's not so bad now, is he?" Nuada challenged, grinning with enjoyment
at the High-King's obvious discomfiture.
"The boy can play," Bres admitted grudgingly. "But it's only one skill.
He claims many."
This time, however, there were no supporting words from those around
him. The boy's playing had won the admiration of the company.
"By his skill with the harp alone he has proven his worth," one of the
ladies suggested. "He is finer than any harper I've yet heard."
There were murmurs of agreement from the others, but Bres cut them
short.
"No! Such skill at playing tells me that he could not have had the time
to master others. We must try him at something else."
"What will you try?" the beaked man asked. "We can't have him work
metal or do healing here and now."
"Try him at games," said Aine. "He said he was a master of them too,
didn't you, boy?"
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"I've knowledge of many," Lugh replied, a bit less humbly than before.
With his first success, his confidence had grown immeasurably. "I'd say
I was a fair hand at most of them."
"Oh, a fair hand, is it?" Bres repeated mockingly. "Then, let's see you
try that hand at the chess boards." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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