Naamah's Kiss - Jacqueline Carey [228]
What the future held for us, the gods alone knew.
I watched the river unfurl like a ribbon before our boat, green and unending, and thought about what the princess had said. It was not entirely true that the unlikely confluence of deities who begot me had given me no guidance. My diadh-anam flickered steadily within me, a divine compass telling me that I was where I was meant to be, no matter how very, very far from home.
Of course, I'd been sure it was telling me I was meant to be with Raphael, too.
It had seemed so right. The unlikely collision of our meeting, his unhesitating acceptance of me, the way our gifts intertwined. Stone and sea, I'd been so sure! And I'd been so, so very wrong. The destiny that the Maghuin Dhonn Herself laid on me, Naamah's gift, Anael's gift, Master Lo's teaching…
I didn't understand what it all meant.
Patience. The dragon's voice rumbled through my thoughts, tinged with a profound fondness and amusement only an immortal creature could muster. You are very young. Live. Learn. Love.
Startled out of my reverie, I smiled. "I am trying."
He poured an immense surge of affection into me. You are doing well. Remember, the journey is more important than the destination.
"Old Nemed said the same thing," I said aloud.
Yes. You would do well to remember the wise-woman when the time comes.
"What do you mean?" My voice rose. "What do you know?." The dragon fell silent, his thoughts turning misty and vague as they did when he dreamed and drifted. With the exception of the veiled princess, everyone on the boat stared at me. I cleared my throat. "Ah… forgive me. It is only that the dragon said something unexpected, and now he will not tell me what it means."
"It may be that he cannot," Master Lo said philosophically. "He is a celestial being, Moirin. Like sages, they speak in riddles."
"Why?" I demanded. "It's very irritating!"
His eyes twinkled. "Sages do so to instruct, to prod the lazy mind into thought. I suspect dragons have their own rules."
Yes. The dragon surfaced to agree. Such as forgiving the follies that budding sages committed in their youth.
That, I declined to translate.
"Speaking of lazy minds…" Master Lo glanced around the boat. "Many sages claim the journey and the destination are one and the same. Perhaps, with the Lady Chan's gracious permission, we might use this time to examine Sakyamuni's teachings and the search for enlightenment undertaken by those on the Path of Dharma, and how it compares to the path of those following the Way?" He stroked his shorn chin. "It seems fitting."
Snow Tiger inclined her head. "Of course, Venerable One."
* * *
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
I learned a great deal during our time on the river. Most of all, I learned that I was unsuited for following the Path of Dharma.
"These are the Four Noble Truths taught by Sakyamuni, the Enlightened One," Master Lo said in his tranquil voice. "To live is to suffer. The origin of suffering is desire. It is possible to cease suffering. To do so one must walk the Path of Dharma, shedding all mortal attachments."
I squirmed.
He bent his gaze on me. "You disagree, Moirin?"
"It is not what you taught me, Master," I said, temporizing. "You said all ways lead to the Way."
"So I did." He folded his hands in his lap. "And this is one way among many. I do not claim to be what I pretend in guise, and yet I have some knowledge of the matter. Are you so wise that you will reject it at a glance? Or will you listen and hear?"
I sighed. "I will listen, of course."
I liked the tale of the Bhodistani prince whose father had kept him so sheltered that for many long years, he did not know that such things as sickness, age, and death existed. At the same time, I thought he took the revelation overly hard. Surely, I thought, not all of life was suffering.
"You find it hard