Prophecy, Child of Earth by Elizabeth Haydon Read Free Book Online Page A

want to see peace come to this land, do you not? And the violence which is presently killing and maiming many innocent women and children; that is something you'd like to see ended ?
    Jo was staring at her intently. Rhapsody shook off the memory. "I'm going to find the dragon to give her back the claw dagger, in the hope she won't come and lay waste to Ylorc, and all the Bolg in the bargain," she said simply. "This journey has nothing to do with the Cymrians."
    'Oh." Jo took another bite of her muffin. "Does Ashe know that?"
    There was a warning note in her sister's voice that Rhapsody heard, a fluctuation to which she, as a Singer, was sensitive. "I assume so. Why?" An awkward silence took up residence between them. "What aren't you telling me, Jo?"
    'Nothing," said Jo defensively. "He just asked if you were Cymrian, that's all.
    More than once, in fact."
    Rhapsody's stomach turned over in the grip of cold to rival the chill that the land still held. "Me? He asked you that about me?"
    'Well, about the three of you; Achmed and Grunthor, too."
    'But not you?"
    A blank look crossed Jo's face as she considered the question. "No, he never did. I think he assumes I'm not. I wonder why that is."
    Rhapsody rose to a stand and brushed off her trousers and cloak. "Maybe you're the only one of us he doesn't think is an arse-rag."
    Jo's eyes sparkled wickedly. "I hope not," she said, looking innocently up at the sky. "Grunthor's certainly not an arse-rag, either." She laughed as a shower of snow and dried leaves flew into her face. "Seriously, Rhaps, I mean, have you ever even met a Cymrian? I thought they were all long dead."
    The sky was lightening at the horizon to a thin gray-blue. " You've met a Cymrian yourself, Jo," Rhapsody said flatly, beginning to pack up the remains of breakfast. "Lord Stephen is of Cymrian descent."
    'Well, I guess that proves the arse-rag theory," said Jo, wiping the crumbs from her mouth with the back of her hand. "I meant an old one, one of the ones who lived through the War. The kind that lives forever."
    Rhapsody thought for a moment. "Yes, I think so. I was once almost trampled on the road from Gwynwood to Navarne by the horse of an obnoxious soldier named Anborn. If he is the one mentioned in the history we heard, he was Gwylliam's general in the War. That would make him fairly old. The War ended four hundred years ago, but it went on for seven hundred."
    Jo had been there when they had opened the library vault and found Gwylliam's body. "Guess the old bastard didn't look that bad, then. He didn't seem dead a day past two hundred." Rhapsody laughed. "Was he the one who started the war when he hit his wife?"
    'Yes; her name was Anwyn. She was the daughter of the explorer, Merithyn, the first Cymrian, and the dragon Elynsynos—"
    'The one you're going to see now?"

    'Yes—who fell in love with him and told him the Cymrians could come live in her lands, where no human had ever been allowed before."
    Jo popped the last muffin into her mouth. "Whyys diggeeay wanddadoo dhat?"
    'The king of Serendair, Gwylliam—"
    'The same stiff we found?"
    Rhapsody laughed. "The very one. He had foreseen that the Island was about to be destroyed in volcanic fire, so he wanted to relocate the bulk of the population of his kingdom somewhere they could maintain their culture, and where he could remain their king."
    'Power-mad arse-rag."
    'So they say. But he did save most of his people from certain death, brought them safely halfway around the world and built Canrif—"
    'Now there's an accomplishment. A fancy place with indoor plumbing that the Bolg don't bother to use."
    'Stop interrupting. The Bolg overran it later. He and later Anwyn built an extraordinary civilization out of very little, and reigned in peace over an era of unprecedented advances until the night he hit her. That incident was called the Grievous Blow, because that single slap between the Lord and the Lady started the war that destroyed about a quarter of