.
shared a canopied tent, while the men fended for themselves. I supposed Fionn would wait until they reached Tirconnell to consummate the marriage. For my sister’s sake, I hoped he would wait.
We said our farewells. There was no time; no privacy. Fionn was eager to be away. I hugged Niamh and looked into her eyes, and they were empty, like the eyes of a lovely image carved in pale stone.
‘I’ll come and see you,’ I whispered. ‘Just as soon as I can. Be strong, Niamh. I’ll hold you in my heart.’
‘Goodbye, Liadan,’ she said in a tight little voice, and she turned so that Fionn could help her onto her horse, and they rode away without a word more. I did not weep. My tears would help nobody.
With the men of Tirconnell departed, the atmosphere thawed a little. My six men at arms had done exactly the job Liam had given them, surrounding me, grim faced, on the road so that I was protected from any possible attack; maintaining a watchful, well-armed guard at all other times. Now, as they readied horses and baggage for the return to Sevenwaters, one cracked a joke, and the others laughed, and one asked me quite gently if everything was all right, and whether it would suit me to leave by mid-morning. Was I tired? Could I ride maybe half a day before we stopped to rest? I said yes, for I wanted nothing more than to be back home, and to start mending the hurt of this last painful time. So I sat on a flat-topped stone and watched them as they made their orderly preparations. The sky was heavy with clouds; it would rain before sunset.
‘My lady!’ It was one of the villagers, a young woman with a worn, lined face, her hair caught back in an old green kerchief. ‘My lady!’ She was running towards me, breathless in her haste. Liam’s men were good. Before she was anywhere near, there were two of them right beside me, hands on sword hilts. I stood up.
‘What is it? What’s the matter?’
‘Oh, my lady,’ she gasped, holding her side, ‘I’m so glad you haven’t gone yet. I’m still in time. It’s my boy, Dan. I heard – they say you’re the daughter of a great healer. My lady, Danny’s got a fever on him that won’t go down. He shakes and trembles, and talks nonsense, and I’m afraid for him, I am so. Won’t you come and cast your eye over him, just quickly before you go?’
I was already hunting around for my small pack, for I never travelled without a healer’s basic supplies.
‘This is not a good idea, my lady.’ The leader of the men at arms was frowning. ‘We should leave directly, to reach a safe place of shelter by dusk. Liam said, straight there and straight back.’
‘Have you no healers of your own?’ another of the men asked.
‘None such as the lady here,’ the woman said, with a thread of hope in her voice. ‘They say she has magic in her hands.’
‘I don’t like it,’ the leader said.
‘Please, my lady. He’s my only boy, and I’m out of my mind with worry, for I don’t rightly know what to do for him.’
‘I won’t be long,’ I told them firmly, picking up the pack and starting back towards the village. The men glanced at one another.
‘You two go with the lady Liadan,’ the leader barked. ‘One at each door, and let nobody in or out, save this woman and the lady herself. Eyes and ears open, weapons drawn. You, stand guard where you can see the path by the cottage. You, down the bottom of the track. Fergus and I will guard the horses. Keep it quick, my lady, if you please. You can’t be too careful these days. Lot of rabble around.’
It was dark in the cottage, which was no more than a windowless hut of mud and wattle, roofed with ragged thatch. A shielded candle burned by the boy’s pallet. The guards did as they were told. The one at the back door I could not see; the other stood just outside the front, where he could keep a watch both on me and on the entrance. I felt the boy’s forehead, touched my finger to his wrist where the blood pulsed.
‘He is not so very sick that a herbal tea, administered correctly, may not help,’ I said. ‘Here, make this up, one handful in a large cup of hot water. Let it infuse till the colour is a deep gold; then strain it well, and let it cool until you can put a finger in comfortably. Give the boy a cupful twice a day. Don’t try to make him eat; he will take food soon enough, when he’s ready. This summer fever is quite common. I am surprised you –’
I saw the boy’s eyes change as he looked over my shoulder and beyond me, and I saw the woman back away silently, a mute apology on her worn face. I tried to rise and turn around, but as I stood up a large hand was clapped over my mouth, and a muscular arm seized me around the chest, and it became clear to me that I had been neatly trapped. Iubdan’s training had made sure I would not be without resources in such a situation. I sank my teeth into my captor’s hand, so that his grasp loosened for an instant, just long enough for me to raise my foot sharply to catch him between his legs. If I expected him to let me go, I was wrong. He sucked in his breath; that was all. I tasted his blood. I had marked him. But he remained silent. There was no cursing. Only a tightening of his grip. Where were my guards? How had he got in? Now even the woman was nowhere to be seen. The man began to move, trying to drag me to the back door. I made my whole body limp; he would have to carry me, to get me out of there. I felt the pressure ease from my mouth, just a little, as he shifted his hold. I drew a deep breath, ready to yell for help. An instant later, there was a sickening blow on the back of my head, and everything went dark.
My head was on fire. My mouth was as dry as chaff in a summer wind. There was scarce a part of my body that did not ache, for it seemed I had been dropped to the ground and left where I fell, one arm under me, my body sprawled face down on the hard earth. I was not tied up. Perhaps when I worked out what was happening, there would be some chance of escape. They had taken the little knife from my belt. That was no surprise. I lay still, eyes closed. I could hear birds calling, many birds, and a breeze in leaves, and water running over stones. Well out of doors, then, somewhere in that vast wooded area beyond the village. It was no longer full day; when I opened my eyes just a crack I judged it was approaching dusk. How long, I wondered, before someone raised an alarm? How long before somebody came out to find me? It had been an efficient blow, calculated to put me out of action and keep me silent for long enough, without any permanent damage. In a way that was a good sign. The question was, long enough for what?
‘They’ll be back by sunset.’
‘So?’
‘So who’s going to tell the Chief, then? Who’s going to explain this? Not me, that’s for sure.’
‘Pity we can’t keep it quiet. Get him called away on some mission, as far away as possible. She showing any sign of coming round?’
‘Not a twitch. Sure you haven’t killed her, Dog?’
‘Who, me? Kill a little woman like her? With my tender heart?’
Then there was an awful groaning sound, like a man in deathly agony. This shocked me so much I forgot to pretend, and sat up quickly. A mistake. The pain in my head was so bad that a wave of nausea hit me, and for a moment all I could see was whirling stars. I held my hands against my temples, eyes shut, until the throbbing began to subside. The terrible groaning went on.
‘Here,’ said a voice. I opened my eyes cautiously. A man was crouched next to me, in his hand a cup. The cup was plain dark metal. The hand that held it was even darker. I looked into the man’s face, and he grinned, showing gleaming white teeth, of which one or two were missing. His face was as black as night. I stared, forgetting all my manners.
‘You’ll be thirsty,’ he said. ‘Here.’
I took the cup of water and drained it. Things came into focus, slowly. We were on a flat patch of ground, by a little stream, where the bushes and trees grew less densely. There were great moss-covered rocks, and thick ferns on the bank. It had been raining, but we were protected by overhanging willows. There were two other men there, both now standing, hands on hips, looking down at me. All three of them were extraordinary; the stuff of fanciful tales. One had half of his skull shaved clean and the other half left alone, so the hair there was long