The Star Child (The Star Child Series) (10 page)

“The scary stuff?”

“Just rumors. The Pagans believe in a single supreme being.”

“If that was the case, why did they worship a sun god and a horse goddess?”

“You seem incredibly well informed for someone who did not know the basic premise of Paganism a moment ago.” A smile played at her lips as I shrugged. “Paganism held the belief that there was one god, but that all of the other gods were representatives of that one being. Think about it: can you think of no other religion that has a similar structure? Saints are earth-bound representatives of one God. However, so were the Pagan gods; it was believed that they could come to Earth and interact with mortals. Their roles would be to guide them, provide them with knowledge, while still helping the being that they worshipped.”

“That’s where the sun and the horses come in?”

“Yes,” she admitted, “though the assignments do tend to change with the development of man. For example, horses do not play the same role in this day and age.”

“What, there’s a god of technology now? Is that why my password keeps getting reset?” Sarcasm dripped from my tongue. Remorse made me cringe; I was too harsh with her, for I sensed that she was struggling with something.

To see the crease on her pale forehead, to know that I’d upset her mattered to me more than it should. “Look, I’m really sorry. That was disrespectful.”
Way to go, brainiac
. “So, tell me more about the Pagan gods.”

After collecting her thoughts, she took my hand. “Although that is an important part of this discussion, the reason that I brought you here is because I need you to know who I am. There is no time. Before we can be together, you need to understand about me and my family.

CHAPTER SEVEN

FAMILY TREE

“We just met again and you want me to meet your family?” There was no way I was ready to examine the “before we can be together” part.

“Kellen, you cannot deny that there is a connection between us. There always has been.” She touched my hand.

My skin tingled in reaction and I looked into her eyes. There was kindness there, and patience, but also fear.

“No, I won’t deny it, but it’s confusing. I’ve dreamed of you my entire life, heard your voice in the air when it shouldn’t be there, sensed your eyes on me when I’ve been alone. But I don’t understand any of this.”

There
was
a connection between us, and I didn’t understand it. Otherwise, why would I have dreamed of her and longed for her all these years? Right, she
made
me dream of her, apparently.

She looked away from me then, but I caught her chin with the tips of my fingers and gently turned her face back to mine. Slowly, she met my eyes again. When we first met, I believed that our connection existed because she had a family, which was something I wanted desperately. Now, as I stared into her eyes, there was definitely more to it than that.

Mine.
The thought that popped into my head was random, powerful, and immensely disconcerting. Withdrawing my hand instantly, I remained stationary, transfixed by her as I was. “Why do we have that connection? Who are you
really
?”

“I am afraid to tell you, afraid that you will want to leave.”

On one hand, I couldn’t imagine why she’d want me with her. We’d only come in contact twice, after all. Yet it also made perfect sense that she would, as though we were only waiting to come together. Suddenly I felt very old, as though I’d been waiting for her for centuries.

“And you want me to stay with you?” My words were a whisper.

“I’ve always wanted that.”

Immediately, I was amazed at my intense need to kiss her, to touch my lips to her own. I shook it off, though; she could have been playing me for a fool.

“I’ll listen and do my best to understand,” I said, making the promise against my better judgment.

Calienta had a cute Cupid’s bow shape to her mouth. Every now and then, I’d catch her smiling at me with her head tilted forward and her piercing eyes looking up at me from beneath the cover of her lush lashes. She showed that small smile of hers now, as she walked to the furthest corner of the room.

“Then let me show you my history and our future.”

Without fanfare, she stepped forward and touched the first picture, which depicted a beautiful woman with dark hair.

“This is the story of the Mother Goddess, Danu.” As she stepped away, I did a double take as a white light instantly replaced the image on the wall.

It shimmered for a moment before a movie displayed. For a split second, I noticed that the lights had dimmed minimally to allow for better viewing, but that was all that I had time to notice before the film began. Initially, I couldn’t help but be blown away by the beauty of the woman in the image, yet she was clearly depressed, weeping as she gazed out over the sea.

“Many centuries ago, the Mother Goddess, Danu, whom the Celts believed to have created the Earth, was lonely and longed for children. After so many years of watching over the children of the world, she found that she desired a family of her own. She decided to create a companion for herself.”

As Calienta spoke, the scene before me changed and Danu was now walking through a forest barefoot. Her woolen dress stood out against the backdrop of greenery. After she’d walked for some time, she came to a clearing and lay down upon the grass. Shortly thereafter, a man entered the same clearing. He didn’t speak but stopped in his tracks. Danu stood up, prepared to defend herself, but her posture changed when they locked eyes. Both of them faced each other and took several steps forward.

The scene changed from the glen to the palace of the earlier scene once more. This time the man was with her. Calienta continued her narration.

“She took a mortal for her mate, a farmer who gazed at the stars. His name was Bilé. He was a beautiful man, both inside and out. She appealed to her creator to make him immortal, and he came to her palace in the clouds. Together they had three sons.”

The screen faded on the happy, beautiful family that had flashed before my eyes. Before I could ask questions, however, she was on to the next drawing.

“Shall I continue?” She touched the next image after I’d nodded my consent.

This image depicted three teenage boys. They were taking turns throwing a massive boulder, trying to determine who could throw it the farthest. They laughed and joked with one another.

“I am the victor!” cried a tall boy, the oldest.

Calienta smiled and continued with her story as the trio played in front of us. “Her sons were Dagda, Ogma, and Cian. All three were very kind and they lived in peace for many centuries. Occasionally, when the mortals were in trouble or at war with evil forces, these Children of Danu, and eventually their children and their children’s children, would come to Earth to offer their assistance and guidance.”

The screen faded and we moved to the next image, which depicted a serious battle. Calienta touched the wall and a small screen came to life.

The slaughter was immense. Villages were burned, entire families killed. There were several rather tall individuals who were right in the middle of the fray. Each was uniquely beautiful, with pale skin and richly colored tresses, a patchwork quilt of colors as they fought on the brown, dying grass.

The one closest to me had possibly the reddest hair imaginable. She turned her head and her beautiful blue eyes met mine for a split second before she turned and raised her sword of gold.

“After five hundred years together, a terrible battle began amongst the mortals. Danu and her family were compelled to become involved. By this time, all of her sons were married with grown children or grandchildren, and their numbers were large. They snuck down to Earth in the night, prepared to fight for the people of Ireland. However, the opposing army was alerted to their plan by Arawn, the lord of Faerie.”

When a black creature, more shadow than man, appeared on the screen, I pulled back. He floated through the air, whispering to a group of men who were sleeping in the clearing.

“When the Children of Danu arrived to aid the mortals who were on the side of good, they found that the opposing army was expecting them, along with Arawn and his army.”

The beautiful women and men were attacked and overpowered. Their battle cries echoed in the room, the vibrations from the clashing of swords reverberated through the ground on which we stood.

“They were cornered and forced into the Underworld, from which they could not return. I believe your kind calls them faeries or leprechauns today. The Underworld was known as Faerie from that point on.”

“I don’t understand. These are the gods and goddesses that you speak of, right? So don’t they have powers? Couldn’t they wipe out the entire opposing army?”

Calienta took a moment to consider my question before answering. “When an immortal visits Earth, even to help the mortals, it exacts a price. Immortals were not meant to walk this planet, and therefore lose their power if they are here for long stretches of time.

“Arawn also aligned with one of their own, which gave him the strength to deplete their powers even further.”

The scene changed, and a handsome young man who seemed vaguely familiar to me was running, first through the forest, then through the air and, finally, through the clouds. He ran until he reached a throne and threw himself at its feet, weeping.

“Only one immortal escaped,” she continued. “Lugh, the Sun god, was able to return to the heavens.”

One man appeared on the screen alone. He was fair-skinned with copper-blond hair that framed his face in curls. His hair wasn’t long; it simply ended where his rust-colored beard began. The cheekbones on his proud face gave him an aristocratic appearance.

Calienta began to narrate again. “Though he was truly distraught over the loss of his family, he could not save them. He went straight to Danu and Bíle and begged for help.”

“What happened? Did she save them?”

Calienta smiled, obviously noting that I was getting into the story. “She refused to interfere with what had happened, despite her own pain—afraid of the price it would exact.

“Arawn expected that Danu would seek to save her children. Our legend says that he created a backdoor to the heavens via a portal that is known as the Ellipse. He snuck in at night and murdered both Danu and Bíle. Lugh was distraught to find his family completely decimated, and he wept at the loss of them.”

The murder was portrayed directly in front of my eyes. Lugh stood on the screen, powerful, enraged, now the god of destruction as he raised his hands above his head.

“Lugh went back to the site of the battle and the winning army. Once there, he unleashed a mighty flood which killed all of the opposing army, though Arawn escaped. Yet there was no triumph for him, no sense of peace.

“Revenge did not bring back his family. He tried several times to save the Children of Danu. Finally, after about half a century, he got to the point where he could free them; however, they had turned from goodness under Arawn’s rule.”

Caricatures of the immortals that I had seen before came up out of a hole in the earth and tried to force Lugh back with them. He fought them off and returned home, defeated.

Calienta continued her narration. “Lugh was later visited by Síl, who came to him in a vision. He is the highest of all immortals and the creator of Danu.”

Síl appeared as a mortal in this meeting, but a slight transparency to his person suggested otherwise. His eyes, a brilliant, piercing ice blue, bore into the back of Lugh’s head, the latter having fallen to his knees as soon as he’d realized the significance of his company.

“It pained him to see Lugh searching for his family again and again, but though Lugh pleaded with him, Síl could not take action and could only guide.”

Calienta moved to the next drawing, touching it again in a movement that I had come to expect; the flickering images no longer surprised me.

There was a different Lugh now, one who seemed older, wiser. He was holding hands with a young woman with whom he seemed infatuated.

As Calienta spoke, there was a hint of pride in her voice. I glanced at her briefly, but her eyes were on the screen. The images changed abruptly to those of lush green valleys, abundant crops; hundreds of sheep grazed throughout the land.

“At Síl’s words, Lugh decided to start again. Síl created the goddess Brigid from a mortal, with the intention that she would be Lugh’s mate. She was beautiful both inside and out as a mortal, and became even more glorious as an immortal.

“With the arrival of Brigid came peace and prosperity.” She gestured to the images of the sun and farmland. “It was clearly a love match and they had three children together: Rowan, Cabhan, and…Calienta.”

My breath hitched as I recognized the face of Cabhan. I’d seen it before in mirrors and outside of Gran’s house in the night. The enormity of what she was saying started to sink in, and all thoughts of this strange young man were lost as my eyes flashed to hers and back at the screen.

The images of three young people, not more than six years apart from oldest to youngest, appeared. They were looking down on a dark blue sky filled with stars. Calienta once more touched a slim finger to the screen.

“Each of us had a job to do, since there were so few of my family left. We were given the job of making the stars shine at night, even if they would be hidden by the clouds.”

“Star child,” I breathed as the screen came to life. Gran’s words from so many years ago were coming back to me.

“Yes, that is probably how your gran would have known me. That is the name that the mortals gave to us, but the accuracy ends there. The part of the rumor about us setting mortals on fire is utter nonsense.” She smiled as she spoke.
She was messing with me!

There she stood, on screen, with Lugh, Brigid and two other young children. I’d have known her anywhere.

“What’re you trying to tell me? That you’re a
goddess
?”