Lightning… that must have been what freed her. I am what freed you. The voice was no longer in her head, but it still had a disembodied, otherworldly tone. It was coming from under the twin tree to her oak, where the shadows were the deepest. Of course, Precious One, whom did you expect?
The Goddess who betrayed you? His laughter brushed against her skin, and Rhiannon wondered how anything that sounded so beautiful could also feel so cruel. The god waited until the pain receded again, and then the shadows under the tree stirred. A form moved slightly, so that it could be more easily seen in the fading daylight. Rhiannon felt her breath catch at his beauty. Though his body was not fully materialized in this world and had the transparent look of a spirit, letting her see through it to the shadows beyond, the sight of him made her forget that she was swollen with impending birth.
Tall and strongly built, he was imposing even in spirit form. His mane of dark hair framed a face that should have inspired poets and artists, and not the terrible stories whispered about him in Partholon. His eyes smiled at her and his face was suffused with love and warmth. I greet you, my priestess, my Precious One. Can you see me now? He was absolutely magnificent—everything a god should be. And suddenly she could not believe she had wasted all her life worshipping Epona, when she should have been kneeling in supplication at this wondrous god's feet. It is difficult for me to hold corporeal form.
In order for me to truly exist in the flesh, I must be worshipped. There must be sacrifices made in my name. I must be loved and obeyed. That is what you and your daughter will do for me—you will lead the people to find me again, and then I will return you to your rightful place in Partholon. The night was suddenly filled with the sonorous sound of drumbeats. Rhythmically, like a heart pulsing blood through a body, the glade was wrapped in a deep, vibrating pulse.
At the same moment Rhiannon was gripped by the overwhelming need to push. Her back bowed and her legs automatically came up. She gripped the gnarled roots, trying to find something, anything that would anchor her straining body. Her wild eyes searched the shadows where Pryderi had materialized. Faintly, she could see his spectral form. The beating drums were getting louder.
Within the resonant sound, she could now hear chanting, though she could not make out the words. Pryderi's form flickered and, with a horror that mirrored the pain that threatened to tear apart her body, she watched his beautiful face ripple and re-form. His sensuous mouth was seared shut. His nose became a grotesque hole. His eyes were no longer smiling and kind.
They glowed with an inhuman yellow light. Then, before she could take another sobbing breath, the apparition changed again. The eyes became dark, empty caverns and the mouth ripped open to show bloody fangs and a slavering maw. Rhiannon screamed in fear and rage and pain. The drumbeat and chanting got louder and closer. Pryderi's image shifted and he was, once more, the inhumanly beautiful god, only this time he was barely visible. I cannot always be beautiful, even for you, Precious One. Though his changing visage terrified her, she was even more afraid to face birth alone.
Those who approach are forcing me to leave. I cannot battle them tonight. I do not have the strength in this world. Then his eyes blazed into hers and his body almost solidified. Rhiannon MacCallan, I have sought you for decades. I have watched your unhappiness multiply as you were shackled to Epona. You must make your choice now, Rhiannon! You have seen all of my forms. Will you renounce the Goddess and give yourself to me as my priestess, my Chosen and Incarnate?
Rhiannon felt light-headed with pain and fear. Her eyes flicked wildly around the grove, searching for some sign of Epona, but she saw nothing of her divine light. She had been abandoned to the darkness—a darkness that had been pursuing her for years. What choice did she have? She could not imagine existing were she not the Chosen of a deity. How would she live if she did not have the power such status afforded her? But even as she made her decision, Rhiannon could not bring herself to openly renounce Epona. She would accept Pryderi. That would have to be enough for the god.
I will still give myself to you," she said faintly. Do you pledge your daughter to me, as well? Rhiannon rejected the warning that whispered through her soul. With a roar that made Rhiannon's heart tremble, Pryderi's spirit dissolved into the shadows. Pain bowed her body again and all Rhiannon knew was that she must push. Then strong hands were supporting her. She gasped and opened her eyes. The man was ancient. His face was deeply furrowed and his long hair was white. There was an eagle feather tied within its length.
His eyes…Rhiannon focused on the kindness in his brown eyes. The darkness is gone. It is safe for your child to enter the world now. She pushed with everything within her pain-racked body. Then to the beat of the ancient drums her daughter slid from her womb. And as she was born, it was Epona and not Pryderi to whom Rhiannon cried.
T he old man used his knife to cut the cord that linked daughter to mother. Then he wrapped the infant in a home-woven blanket and gave her to Rhiannon.
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When she looked into her daughter's eyes, it seemed to Rhiannon that the world shifted irrevocably. Deep within her soul she felt the change. She had never seen anything so miraculous. She hadn't felt like this ever before in her life. Not when she'd first heard Epona's voice—not when she'd experienced for the first time the power of being a Goddess's Chosen—and not when she'd seen Pryderi's terrible beauty.
This, Rhiannon thought with wonder, touching her daughter's impossibly soft cheek, is true magic. Another round of contractions wracked her, and Rhiannon gasped. She held her child close to her breast and tried to concentrate on nothing but her while she expelled the afterbirth. Somewhere Rhiannon heard the old man calling orders to another, and understood the urgency in his voice.
But the drums continued to beat their ancient rhythm, and her daughter felt so right in her arms… Rhiannon couldn't stop staring at her. The child gazed back with wide, dark eyes that continued to touch her mother's soul. With a strangely detached observation she realized that he had knelt beside her and was holding a bundle of cloth firmly between her legs.
How odd that she hadn't felt him do that. Actually, she could feel very little of her body, and was relieved that the pain had stopped. Then her thoughts focused on what he had said. Her name is Morrigan, granddaughter of The MacCallan. I will remember her name and speak it truly. There is too much bleeding, and it does not stop. I have sent someone for my truck, but it will be hours before we can reach a doctor. Your spirit has been healed, but your body is broken beyond repair. She only knew a terrible sense of loss. She looked down at her newborn daughter who gazed back at her with such trust, and traced the soft face with her fingertip.
She would not see Morrigan grow. She would not be there to watch over her and be sure she was safe and… "Oh, Goddess! What have I done?
Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? Learn more about Amazon Prime. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Divine By Blood by P. Divine By Blood Partholon 3 by P. Divine By Blood Partholon, 3 4. Morrigan Christine Parker finds that turning 18 carries a heavy weight when you're the only daughter of Rhiannon MacCallan, disgraced high priestess to the goddess Epona, in Cast's down-home follow-up to 's Divine by Choice.
After Rhiannon betrayed Epona, the goddess bestowed her favor on Rhiannon's look-alike, Shannon Parker. Rhiannon promised her allegiance to the ev Morrigan Christine Parker finds that turning 18 carries a heavy weight when you're the only daughter of Rhiannon MacCallan, disgraced high priestess to the goddess Epona, in Cast's down-home follow-up to 's Divine by Choice.
Rhiannon promised her allegiance to the evil god Pryderi, but recanted after Morrigan's birth, giving the child over to Epona's protection and the care of Shannon's parents. Now Morrigan comes of age and learns more about her heritage from her adoptive grandparents and the wind-borne whispers of Pryderi and Epona. While visiting the Alabaster Caverns State Park and exploring her power over rocks and crystals, Morrigan is unexpectedly transported to the mystical realm of Partholon, where she must find Shannon and fulfill her destiny.
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To ask other readers questions about Divine By Blood , please sign up. Lists with This Book. June 18, The first 2 novels in the series where more entertaining I can only read about a pampered priestess for so many page The good: I can only read about a pampered priestess for so many pages before I want something substantial to happen. If you kill off one man but let his double live to have children, how could there be mirror images in the next generation? With the rate Ms. I know this is light fantasy and not supposed to be taken seriously, but how difficult could it be to incorporate a little common sense?
For example, if one double is killed the other dies of a heart attack or in a freak accident. The side story that leads to the climax was barely given any pages, especially in the latter section of the book. Though the first book in the Patholon series was a light escape, the qualities of the subsequent books have discouraged me from ever again picking up a novel by P. Jan 14, Lori Whitwam rated it it was ok Shelves: The third in the Partholon series by P. I gave the first one a four, the second a three, and this one a two.
In this one, the "two Rhiannons," one in Partholon, one in Oklahoma, have both had daughters on the same day, naturally. Morrigan grows up in Oklahoma, raised by Shannon's parents. At age 18, they tell her her heritage, and that it was the "real" Rhiannon, not Shannon, who had been her mother. Rhiannon had renounced the dark powers as she died giving birth to Morrigan, but the g The third in the Partholon series by P.
Rhiannon had renounced the dark powers as she died giving birth to Morrigan, but the grandparents always warned Morrigan to be careful which voices she listened to. She ends up in Partholon, as the Light Bringer I just couldn't like her. Spoiled, temperamental, power-hungry teenager, not a strong and deeply interesting character. Barely any of Shannon's story, and her daughter.
Things happened too neatly, too "patly," though I did sort of like the way they resolved the two mirror-images of the men meant for Morrigan in Oklahoma and Partholon, though even that may have been a little too neat. There are two more books, not technically part of the series, taking place a couple of hundred years later than these. I think I'll give the first one a try, and see if the lead character is someone as interesting as Shannon was.
Divine By Blood
I love Shannon and ClanFintan but we hardly got to see them in this book. Morrigan was a bratty teenager who was hard to connect with. Not the best of the series by far. This time around we find that even with Clint's sacrifice Rhiannon managed to survive. With the help of the evil spirit that has been chasing her she breaks free and finds herself about ready to give birth. At the last minute Rhiannon finally does the right thing and rejects the evil to save her daughter at the expense of herself.
With her dying words she asks the Native American men to take her daughter to Richard Parker her pseudo father. Back in the Partholon Shannon is giving birth to her ow This time around we find that even with Clint's sacrifice Rhiannon managed to survive. Back in the Partholon Shannon is giving birth to her own daughter and all is well with them. Fast forward 18 years and the daughters are now grown women. Shannon's daughter, Myrna, is plowing her own path by marrying a human man, the result being she will not follow in her mother's path as the Chosen.
While Rhiannon daughter, Morrigan has always felt like she didn't belong in OK.
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During a chance trip with friends at a cave Morrigan discovers some of what she was missing. The result is Morrigan freaking out and running for the only safe place she knows, the cave. Here her life takes a turn she never expected as she is transported to the Partholon.
While in the Partholon Morrigan discovers many new things about herself, her family, and both worlds that she lives in. With the darkness still chasing her, having never really given up she must face the same battle that Rhiannon and Shannon have, while still remaining true to herself and what she believes in.
This was a great way to wrap up the fate of 2 women and their families that have been so closely woven together in whatever world they were in. Apr 16, Traci rated it liked it Shelves: This book is okay. It was decent enough that I could get through it by reading in my free time, but not good enough for me to watn to recommend it to a friend, either.
I'm not sure if it's because I read a lot of this author's stuff, but I'm finding that the protagonists are all the same. I know that's not something specific to this book, but after a while, I'd like to read something a little different. It was the same white, middle-class, I-love-lavender Oklahoma girl who "just feels different" This book is okay. It was the same white, middle-class, I-love-lavender Oklahoma girl who "just feels different" but doesn't really have any problems other than she's "misunderstood.
Or maybe the House of Night friends are carbon copies of these; either way, the result is that I felt like I was reading the same book. There wasn't enough conflict, just the same white, middle-class, I-love-lavender Oklahoma girl finding out that everything she thought she knew was a total lie and having to fit in a new place. Not by trying to make friends, of course, but by dropping in and upsetting the status quo on her very first day. And then surprise, there's a lackluster "confrontation" with a "dark god" and then And that's about it.
There weren't as many grammatical errors or typos in this novel as the last I read by this author, which made me happy, but I just don't see anything unique and original about this novel, either. Jul 30, Gina rated it really liked it Shelves: A wonderful continuation of this wonderful and unique story!!!! Yet, instead of being respected as the daughter of the goddess Incarnate, Morrigan feels like a shunned outsider.
Divine by blood / P.C. Cast - Details - Trove
In her desperation to belong to Partholon, she confronts forces she can't fully understand or control. And soon a strange darkness draws closer. Enter your HarperCollins account username and password. Please note that your username is an e-mail address. Download your e-book s from your bookshelf.
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