Faolan's Canon History

[reticence]

The Bridei Chronicles do not have a wiki themselves so I will summarize its canon & events myself. The Bridei Chronicles are the fictional telling of the upbringing and rising into power of Bridei son of Maelchon, king of the Picts from 554 to 584. The character that I am applying for is that of Faolan, Bridei's bodyguard, assassin, translator, spy, and friend.


THE DARK MIRROR
Faolan is born in Erin as the second son of a brithem. In that time Ireland had no regular central authority for law and therefore the laws of the land were judged entirely by the jurists or the brithem. Faolan's family is of a branch of the Ui Neill - both the high kings at Tara and the kings of of the Gaels in the Priteni land come from the Ui Neill Family. It has two branches, one in the northwest and one in the east, and because it consists of many chieftains there are many feuds over land and dominance. He has three sisters: Daire, Liobhan, and Aine, and one brother: Dubhan. They are closely related to a warlike chieftain by the name of Echen, but Faolan's father wishes to keep his community secure and peaceful, wanting no part in the territorial wars. The family is quite prosperous, and avoids involvment in the dispute for long enough to be complacent. Children and women have no fear for their own safety and young men felt free to learn craft and trades other than war, such as music, which Faolan in particular has a talent for. When he reaches a certain age, his father finds a master bard who needs a lad to train and Faolan goes off with the bard to polish his skills on the job. When he returns from traveling, however, his home has changed.

His father made a judgment that went against Echen - one of his henchmen was found guilty of some crimes and exiled, depriving Echen of the tool that he was. So Echen exacted revenge, burning down a house, stealing cattle, killing livestock out in the field. Faolan's mother loses five of her breeding cows, and then the husband of his oldest sister Daire is found hanging in the barn - the shock of it causes Daire to lose her unborn baby. Echen could not believe that the brithem, his own kin, would have made a judgment against him, even if it was the right judgment to make. The family does not just take the attack however, they take a stand in return. The men of the village form a force to guard themselves, with Dubhan as their forerunner. He stages a coup, and while Echen is in the district being entertained by a local landowner, Dubhan and his men steal horses and weapons from his encampment, killing a guard in exchange for the life of the brother-in-law that Echen took. Echen is displeased with these actions, however, and brutally beats some of the young men of the community until they name Dubhan as the one who was their ringleader. That night, as the entire family is gathered, Echen and his thugs storm into their home and break through their peace.

Dubhan does not deny what he is accused of, and so they beat him but he still will not apologize. So they threaten the family. They hold knives to the sisters' and grandmother's throats, and offer Faolan a choice. Dubhan is marked for death, so the question is not there, but in how many he will take with him. If he will slit his brother's throat, Echen offers to order his men to release every person in the chamber and do no more harm, provided the family never interferes in his affairs again. And if he refuses, Echen will kill Dubhan and then the others as well. Faolan stalls in his decision making and to prove himself, Echen puts a knife in his grandmother's chest. His father cannot watch him or advise him, his sister yells for him not to. But Dubhan himself instructs him to go on, how to do it right, tells him that he's strong and that he can do it. Faolan idolizes Dubhan, he is his hero, he always does what he asks, and so he does as he's told here again. When the deed is done, Echen orders his men to search the house for anything of interest. And what they find is Aine, the youngest sister, who had gone to bed early. And so they take her, advising that Faolan has a real future and it isn't as a musician, knocking Faolan out as they go. When Faolan wakes up, he is possessed by hatred and all he can think of is rescuing his sister and revenging his family. But his parents have other plans. They have packed a bundle of food and clothes for him, as well as his harp, and he is to leave and never return. And his father forbids him to go after Echen or try and rescue Aine. He gives away everything that reminds him of his family and trades his father's ring as a passage to Fortriu, the land of the Priteni, to leave them all behind, believing he has destroyed his family. From there, he earns his keep being a sellsword, earning his keep by following orders and slitting throats, as he puts it.

He goes back, after some time, not to where he lived but to Laigin. Echen's henchmen tried to recruit him when they hear of all of the useful skills he has developed since he left, but Faolan refuses. So they throw Faolan in a prison known as Breakstone Hollow, a dark, horrible place of torture, humiliation, and debasement. One loses all hope inside Breakstone, and if a man manages to get out, they emerge changed from it. Faolan describes it as a place that makes a man either turn away from the existence of gods or obsess over their existence. Faolan is definitely the former. It is a place where one's own survival and escape becomes the only important thing, above the concerns of anyone or anything else in there. Men die of despair in Breakstone, Faolan says, but he lived because he was already beyond despair. It made him a poor bard but a very good killer. Once he got out, he refused to work for Echen, but he worked for almost everyone else, as long as they paid well. It is from there that Faolan comes back to Fortriu, the land of the Priteni, and comes into the employ of the king there.

In order to understand Faolan's journey, it is also necessary to understand that of Bridei's. Bridei is the son of Maelchon, a king, and he is a son of the royal blood of the Priteni through his mother's line. He is roughly of the same age as Faolan, and comes into the tutelage of Broichan, a druid, at a very young age, with the distinct goal of raising him to be the perfect king who is both brave and wise, and also a king of the old religion. This is significant. That is because the land is separated by two kings - Drust, son of Wdrost, the king in the north, known as Drust the Bull, is a king of the old religion. Broichan is a druid on his council. He is raising Bridei to be able to replace Drust the Bull. Drust, son of Girom, known as Drust the Boar, king in the south, has a claim to the kingship as well, for he is also of the royal blood line. He is a Christian however, and has been known to persecute anyone who practices the old ways in his lands. If he were to take the land of the north as his own as well, there is a great fear for what should happen to the old ways.

Therefore, Bridei is raised in the old ways by a druid. And he is perhaps too serious and scholarly because of this, but he enjoys learning, probably because his lessons are some of the only times Broichan pays attention to him. Broichan teaches him about the old ways and supplies him with tutors for his other subjects. When Bridei is very little, he finds a baby on the doorstep of Pitnochie, the house in which they live. He knows that The Shining One meant for him to find her and that they have some greater purpose together, and despite the fact that she is obviously fey and there are stories against such things he takes her inside and puts a key to the house into her cradle, putting a charm on her so that no one will turn her out until it is too late. This fey baby is Tuala, who it is later revealed in the series is Broichan's daughter, fathered on his first druidic sojourn through the forests with a woman of the Good Folk. She will eventually come to be Bridei's future wife and queen of the Priteni as well.

Bridei, it is deemed, is too serious growing up in Pitnochie alone, and so he comes to spend some time in Raven's Well, a settlement owned by Talorgen, another councilman to the king, who happens to have several young sons and daughters to lighten Bridei's spirits. It is on one of these visits, when Bridei is eighteen years old, as Bridei and Gartnait, the young son of Talorgen and then Bridei's best friend, are patrolling the boundaries of Raven's Well that they come across a bit of trouble. Men in the woods, spies from Dalriada, the land of the Gaels. Bridei and Gartnait intend to capture them, for spies will be full of information and a task such as this as done by two young men such as them will not go unnoticed nor unrewarded. Gartnait runs them down as Bridei stands back and shoots them with his bow and arrow, catching one in the leg and the other in the shoulder. Bridei chases down the man he shot in the shoulder, noting that "he [is] young [...] perhaps not so very much older than himself, although his eyes [have] an old look about them". Bridei and Gartait secure their respective captives and lead them back to Talorgen and Donal, Bridei's friend and mentor, where they are praised for their find. At dinner, Talorgen mentions that the prisoners died under interrogation from their arrow wounds although Bridei finds that hard to believe especially about his own captive, for his wound did not seem all that bad. But he puts it out of his mind.

Bridei's life goes on. He goes to fight in the spring campaign, earns himself a reputation for being a strong and clever leader, and Donal is poisoned and dies when he takes a drink from wine intended for Bridei. Tuala goes off to Banmerren, what is essentially the Old Religion's version of a convent, and Bridei is left feeling very alone. He must speak to Broichan about what his intentions are and about the reason that Tuala left for Banmerren, and so he leaves for Caer Pridne, the fortress of Drust the Bull, where he knows he will find Broichan. As they are talking, however, Bridei sees a face he remembers from before and comes very close to attacking him. It is the man that he remembers capturing in the forest with Gartnait. Broichan stops them both with magic before either can get at the other and introduces this man to Bridei. This man, it is revealed, is Faolan. He is now to be Bridei's bodyguard. With Donal having been killed when the intentions were to kill Bridei himself, there is great need of it. As Broichan puts it, "He has an ear at every door, a foot in every camp. With him by your side, there's a passable chance you will remain safe. If you do as he tells you."

Faolan explains that he was returning from a mission when Bridei caught him that day, with a man with information. Talorgen knew him when Bridei brought him forth, and therefore he was not killed or tortured that time at all. He was revealed as a spy however, and therefore has been called back to court, since his face is a little too well known in those parts these days. He pulls down his shirt to reveal the nasty scar from the arrow that Bridei shot him with, proof that he really is who Bridei believes him to be. And so Bridei comes to an understanding about Faolan, and the other man comes to be in charge of his protection. Garth and Breth, his other men at arms, soon fall into line under Faolan's instruction.

Bridei is told by many, including the king himself, to value Faolan's services for they are priceless, although he is troubled by them. He does not understand why a man would come to spy against his own people. They reassure that he will be able to trust Faolan. "Faolan is his own man," they say. "One hires him on the understanding that he will carry out the required work according to his own rules." Faolan assures Bridei that he is interested in keeping him alive until he becomes king and his job is done, then he can dispense of him if he so feels the need. Bridei has started to suffer from headaches and Faolan learns of these, reprimanding Bridei for not wanting his company, but offering to watch from the shadows if need be instead.

And then time draws on. Drust the Bull grows sick. Faolan watches over Bridei while he sleeps at night and gathers information about who might be plotting against him during the day and does not seem to tire. Bridei and his councilors meanwhile try to gather the court in his favor. One day, Faolan comes to Bridei to present him with the idea that they are to have a day off, so that they should go off on a day's ride just the two of them, so that Bridei might get some time away from the court to himself. When Bridei questions his motives, Faolan reveals that he is hoping to draw an attack on them and Bridei points out that this is not sounding very relaxing, but Faolan reassures to trust him. It seems to Bridei the next day that Faolan is trying to tire him out. They ride along the shore and speak of whether Drust the Bull might live to see the next Gateway ceremony, an important ritual for the people of the Old Religion and one that the King or someone of equal standing must be strong enough to uphold. They ride until they come upon an old ritual spot and Bridei has issues stopping there but Faolan sees it as a good resting place and so they stop and rest. While they are resting, the women of Banmerren approach a close-by ritual spot and they must hide to keep from being detected, for men should not see such things. Tuala is among these women, and Faolan reveals he knew that they would be out in this very spot today, and was wondering if Tuala, who he had learned of through his own means, might be the source of Bridei's woes and the cure to his ailment.

So Faolan offers him a choice - he sees that Bridei is hung up on Tuala and will not be the man he needs to be if he remains this way. He asks for a plan from Bridei. He points out that Bridei needs to solve his dilemma with Tuala in order to move on with his plans to be king. He forces Bridei to admit that he loves her. And then the pair of them start to work on a plan. They must wait until the Gateway ceremony, during which Bridei plays an integral role. Bridei forms the plan that he will escape to Banmerren under a cloak of concealment, a spell that Broichan taught him to be able to use. Faolan has his doubts about it, but he agrees to try it in the end. The pair of them sneak out, Bridei makes his climb to meet Tuala, and the two of them confess their feelings for one another, agreeing to meet again the next full moon, even though he tells Faolan that the matter is settled then.

From there, winter comes early, and Faolan's plan to bring an attack out on Bridei on their customary public rides together is foiled, as they can no longer go out on them due to the weather. This frustrates Faolan, as he must make a new plan. The king, meanwhile, grows more and more ill, and eventually dies. Thanks to the efforts of Bridei and the council, there are now only two contenders for the throne: Bridei himself, and Drust the Boar. The next full moon, Bridei leaves on his own for Banmerren to meet with Tuala without Faolan as an escort this time, purposely giving him the slip. It is while he is out on his own like this that an attempt is made on his life by three assassins, knocking him out cold right away. Fortunately for Bridei, Faolan is trailing him and manages to kill two and capture the third. It's a little too much for him, and luckily for him the druid Uist happened along to assist in the capture. While Bridei lies unconscious for the next thirteen days, Faolan spends time watching over Bridei's unconscious form, changing his linen, brewing his droughts, helping to wash him, and also in interrogating the prisoner. As Uist puts it, "Faolan has achieved what the most powerful men in Fortriu couldn't do; he's virtually assured your victory." Faolan covers for Bridei, telling the druids tending him that this had been his plan all along and though the druids think it a bit rash, they have achieved the best end goal so they praise Faolan for it. Only Bridei knows, when he wakes, that Faolan is covering for him and made the best of the awkward situation that he put him in. It is over this time and this exchange that the two of them become friends.

Bridei learns that Tuala, thinking he has cast her aside, has left Banmerren and is being led back into the forest to chose a life among the Good Folk. Though he is not yet recovered from his attack, he sneaks off into the night after her and eventually, Faolan himself is sent to track him. Faolan is very capable at tracking and eventually finds him in the scrying pool called the Dark Mirror, fishing him out and reviving him. But their task is not over yet. Tuala and Bridei are being led through a series of tests conducted by the Good Folk and Faolan must help Bridei find her before she flings herself off of the top of a peak called Eagle Scar in the final test of their bond. The Good Folk are coaxing Tuala to jump, and Bridei breaks their spell, but it is Faolan who stands at the peak and takes her hand to bring her back to safety. Faolan sees to it that the pair of them are safely down the peak and brought to the nearby settlement of Pitnochie to be cared for. There, Bridei speaks to Broichan and makes a decision - he will only put his name forward for king if he can marry Tuala and have her be queen by his side. Broichan eventually agrees. They all return to Caer Pridne and the vote is taken - Bridei will be king. Once this decision is made, Bridei offers Faolan a position as adviser, councilor, and companion, rather than the offer of translator, assassin, and spy that Faolan has put forth. Faolan stands there and thinks on it for a long moment, before he finally refuses. He says that he does not have it in him to offer more than his expertise. But he will stay on as his protector. And Bridei knows that he is not truly turning aside his friendship, just uncomfortable in changing the role he has in his life then.

And thus Faolan positions himself and stays, as Bridei's friend and adviser in private but assassin/spy/etc. to the eyes of the rest of the court (that knew of him at least).


BLADE OF FORTRIU
Five years pass like this (the time between the end of "The Dark Mirror" and "Blade of Fortriu"). Faolan spends much time both in court and out in the field spying for the court. On this particular occasion he returns with some news about how Bridei would do well to ally himself with Alpin of the Caitt, fierce warriors of the north that are not of the Priteni nor of the Gaels, and he should make a deal with them better than the one that the Gaels are going to make, for the upcoming conflict they are going to have. Faolan returns to White Hill, the fortress Bridei has built for himself and then moved the court to as well, with this information, and then after meeting with him privately, a decision is made. It is determined that they are going to wed Ana, a young woman that King Drust had as a hostage from the Light Isles since she was a child, to this Alpin as part of the deal. She is beautiful and fair and he would be a fool to give her up, being a widower himself, although they will have no way of sending a message ahead in regards to this matter before they send the party that way as well, due to the nature of the timing. It is also determined that a member of Bridei's court will accompany her on this trip and act as her protection as well as assess the situation - that person, Bridei reveals, will be Faolan. Faolan is shocked at this decision, for it means he will not be around to accompany Bridei onto the battlefield, but Bridei has made it knowingly. He does not want Faolan to fight against his own people, whether he has any issues against the matter or not. As Faolan puts it, "nursemaiding spoiled princesses and their bride-chests over the vastnesses of Caitt territory was not the kind of task he relished", and Ana has some qualms against the idea of being sent to a husband before his answer has been given, but the decision is made.

Faolan drills Ana on riding for the long trip ahead to an extent she thinks excessive until they set off - within the first day of the journey, she realizes how necessary his drills had been. The pair of them seem to take their frustrations out on one another - Faolan seeming to be cool and withdrawn to Ana, and Ana the pampered princess to him. She feels like she has something to prove to him, although she cannot quite explain why. From time to time she observes him and he surprises her with his almost melancholy, or when he actually offers her choices in the decisions of how they proceed in their travels. Five days in they stop at Abertornie and they must replace Ana's original maidservant for another, as she is very unsuited for the ride that they are undertaking, not even having been able to withstand one day of it without tiring. They exchange the first maidservant for another at Abertornie and continue on their way - Creisa is a comely young woman who may not be all that trained in being a maidservant but she knows how to ride a horse at least. She enjoys flirting with the men however, confusing Ana at times and frustrating Faolan with her mannerisms.

Their journey continues days until one day when Ana appears pale and snippy, but Faolan does not question it, because there is rain coming and he wants to get further in their journey before it hits. So he pushes them on, but Ana is obviously lagging. He gets angry with her for stalling right about the time that she collapses on them and Creisa reveals that she has her period and is suffering from severe cramps. They must cross the ford before dark, however, as the rest of the party has already done so, and so Faolan takes her on his horse with him. Cursing himself for not having noticed that she actually had something bothering her, rather than just some trivial ache, he realizes Ana's strength. And as he holds her against him, as she presses herself closer, Faolan finds himself falling for her in ways he never thought he could again. Unconsciously he sings to her as they cross, and only once she comments on it does he realize that he's done it. Once they have safely crossed and settled, he asks her what path she would choose for herself, if she had a choice, and she replies that she does not know. This becomes a theme of their conversations. She realizes he is not the man she thought he was, after this crossing of the ford, and he falls in love with her, that feeling touching on emotions that he thought he had buried forever.

From there, they travel to another ford. They are working out how to cross when they are attacked, one man killed and Faolan shot in the arm with an arrow almost right off the bat. From there, they rush to cross, Faolan taking Ana at the lead, on his horse. Once they cross, he gives her his knife and instructs her to go find higher ground, turning back to help the rest of the party. And then down the ford, a dam breaks loose, burdened by the weight of the excess water from the rain, and a large wave of water comes. Ana watches as it overtakes the entire party and sweeps them all away, horses and all. She thinks all is lost before she spots Faolan clinging to a branch a little way out in the middle of the swirling water, holding on for dear life. She devises a plan and makes a bridge out to him, before instructing him to let go so that he can catch the bridge and she can catch him and help him drag himself up. It is one of the hardest things she has ever done but she manages it and together they haul him out of the water towards safety. They find camp in a cave nearby and must huddle together for warmth, as the only things they have left are mostly soaked. He gives her his clean clothes and together they share the blanket for warmth, and he sings her to sleep, unconsciously. They camp this way for six nights, and as Faolan recovers and heals, it becomes more and more difficult for him, to lie with her at night and keep his attraction for her to himself.

They are stopped by a stream and Ana is washing herself when a party of men come upon them. Faolan springs to Ana's aid but when they question who she might be, Ana, trying to protect him, introduces herself and says that Faolan is her bard, much to Faolan's surprise and horror. Surprise, because it is a good strategy for making him seem innocuous, and horror because it hits way too close to home for his liking, although she does not know that. This man eventually introduces himself as Alpin of Briar Wood, however, and now Faolan must keep his cover or else prove them a liar. This means that Ana must now negotiate the dealing herself, without actually knowing the full story of what she is negotiating for herself. She curses herself for her cover but they must stick with it. Alpin proves himself a rough and crude man, angering Faolan and offending Ana almost every other moment she speaks to him. And Faolan must hang back and stay away, for he is only a bard and he should have little to no dealing in her business. The only reason he gets away with as much as he does is because he is the sole surviving member of the party that set out from White Hill with her. He is housed with the servants, where he can gather useful information. And then Alpin takes him on mission with him to exact revenge against the Blues, the men who attacked them at the ford and a rival clan of the Caitt. Faolan is not armed during the raid save for a knife in his boot, and is there mostly to be able to observe and be able to compose a song about Alpin's prowess. Alpin comes into an awkward moment and Faolan, seeing no other choice, pulls a knife from his boot and throws it at his captors. A knife that he tells Alpin he had from the kitchens for working on the harp that they intend to make him play eventually. They laugh it off, and claim that that could have been no lucky throw, but otherwise leave the incident well enough alone.

When Faolan returns from their outing, he is given a harp, and contemplates how long he can feasibly take to repair the thing. From there, Ana and Alpin request his presence for negotiating the terms of this treaty, for he is the one that will carry the news back to Bridei so he'll need an honest account of the happenings. Ana does a good job of presenting her case, but it is good that Faolan is there for her, as he is the only one who knows of the significance of mentioning Alpin's holdings in the west as a term in the marriage treaty as well. Alpin grows uncomfortable at the mention of these lands, Dreaming Glen, for he says that they are his brother's, and yet he speaks for his brother on all decisions regarding this matter. He mentions that his brother is ill - a sickness of the mind- that he must be kept in confinement, but does not elaborate further. Ana grows uncomfortable with this, for she has met the brother, Drustan, who is being held in his brother's very halls, and she sees no madness within him the way Alpin has implied. She excuses herself, after which Alpin makes it very clear that Faolan is not to speak to her in private, personal bard or not, for he is a man and she is to be his future wife. So Faolan goes about slowly repairing the harp that he was given and trying to maintain the image of the bard that he is supposed to be.

Two turnings of the moon pass as the druid takes his time to get there to perform the wedding ceremony. Faolan is not once allowed to speak to Ana in private, per Alpin's orders. Ana, meanwhile, holds private meetings with Drustan, whom she has met by sneaking through Alpin's private chambers, and who she can speak to if she sits in a remote corner of the garden, and she begins to fall in love with him. She learns of his strange ability, that he can see through the eyes of birds, and the two of them fall even more in love with one another. Faolan, meanwhile, is given a lot of time to investigate Alpin's household, gaining the confidence several members as he did. He makes sure the harp is difficult to mend and escapes having to sing for a long time by developing a cough, which people assume is from the cold water at Breaking Ford. Faolan finds this whole process going rather slowly for his liking, and so while accompanying the household on a hunt Faolan sneaks away from the party to go searching for Deord, Drustan's caretaker, so that he might talk to him in person about Alpin and Drustan's past. Especially concerning the mysterious murder of Alpin's former wife and unborn child, supposedly by Drustan himself. He comes across Deord in the forest even before he returns to the settlement and the two of them speak. Deord is a Breakstone man as well, and thus the pair of them are bound together, sworn to help one another when at all possible. Faolan tries to get his answers out of Deord in regards to Drustan but in the end it is Drustan himself, who swoops down in the form of an hawk and then transforms back into man, who has the answers he's seeking. As far as he knows, he killed Alpin's wife. He believes that he deserves his captivity. He also sees his brother as a brutish man and hesitates to ask Faolan to take her away, treaty or no. He sees that Faolan loves her as well. He has Faolan promise not to tell her of his abilities and Faolan returns to the hunting party, not knowing what to make of their exchange, with the ghosts of his past fresh in his mind.

Faolan returns and of course is expected to compose a song about the hunt. Ana realizes the position she has placed him and sorely regrets it, although she does not realize how much she is asking from him, for she does not know his back-story. He sings his hunting song for the household and they are impressed, asking for another song, this time with the harp, and Ana asks for the song from before - thinking that she's doing him a favor. So he sings that, while playing the harp beautifully, and he is made to play long into the night. He surprises her with his abilities, all the while breaking his own heart as he comes closer and closer to the man he used to be as he plays, opening up old wounds and unburying memories he had tried to lose for good as he does. He plays well but Alpin suspects him of being more than he seems, which is of course not wrong. When the night draws to a close, Faolan makes his way into the courtyard to weep. The night of playing his harp and singing for the house has proved too much for him. He does not want to remember his past. "Such things were best left where they were, locked inside, not to be spoken. Almost, but never quite, forgotten."

Faolan has eyes everywhere, and has gained the trust of the man who keeps the dogs, which is how he catches news of Alpin getting a secret visitor. A Gael, but not the druid that they are expecting that night. He is sitting, thinking hard about the wedding and concentrating so hard on putting songs together for it that he does not notice Alpin's men approaching and grabbing him, to take him into Alpin's quarters. It would seem that Alpin's Gaelic visitor has seen him, as a spy in Dunadd, and now Alpin knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that Faolan is more than he seems. He suspects Faolan of being a double-crosser, supplying information to the Gaels as well as for Bridei, especially since he looks so much like one of the Ui Neill household. He decrees that Faolan will play for their wedding, witness the signing of the marriage treaty, and then be sent off, and in the meanwhile, he will be kept locked in the kennels. Alpin summons Ana into his quarters to sign the marriage treaty with the druid present, and also presents to her the idea that Faolan is a traitor, bringing Faolan in himself and forcing him to "reveal" himself to her as a spy for the court of Dalriada, and reveal Bridei's military plans (although he fudges on details as much as he can so that they can be at the advantage still). He is sent back to the kennels with Ana believing this is true. Faolan, however, is paid the big bucks for a reason, and soon breaks his way out of the kennels, making his way over to Ana's room, intending to take her and run away while they can. Ana refuses, saying that she cannot leaves "him", and in that moment, Faolan realizes that she knows Drustan and she loves him. So he knocks her out and throws her over his shoulder, because they need to get out one way or the other, and go to Deord and Drustan to seek help to get out. There must be some secret way, as Deord had taken Alpin out into the woods before without the household knowing about it. He takes her to Deord and Drustan, and Drustan frets over her as he holds her and Faolan hates him for it. Deord was apparently anticipating a moment like this, however, as he has supplies packed for Faolan to run, although they did not expect him to take her. They are short in supplies, but they give him a potion to give to Ana that will make her sleep until they are well out of danger. Drustan bids Deord accompany them away - he cannot allow her to marry his brother. But Drustan believes himself too dangerous and not worthy of the freedom, after what he supposedly did to Alpin's first wife, driving her off a cliff to her death (although he admits he cannot remember it, as he was in bird form then) and refuses to accompany at first. He finally only agrees to follow in bird form if he can. And then they set off.

Faolan and Deord flee through the forest bearing the unconscious Ana on their shoulders. They cross streams and many paths, but Alpin has hounds to track their scents. Eventually, Deord sends Faolan up the edge of a cliff underneath a waterfall, with Ana on his back as she slowly regains consciousness. They are to wait there until it is safe to go on, while Deord throws the dogs off of their track. Faolan knows that it is suicide for Deord, but the other man goes willingly and so Faolan must accept his decision. Safe in their cave on the cliffs, Faolan tells Ana that he is not a spy against Bridei, that he knows of his work for Gabhran of Dalriada and he merely had to play along for Alpin. Ana acknowledges this. But still she refuses to leave willingly, for she cannot leave Drustan. Faolan tells Ana that Drustan had the choice to come with them but he did not, and Ana comes to the conclusion that he must not have wanted to come with them when he sent them away and sheds tears for her loss. Faolan waits, uncomfortable with the fact that Deord is out there without them, and as soon as Drustan appears in hawk form to keep Ana company (though she does not know it is Drustan, for she does not know of his ability to transform yet), he goes out to find the man, where he has been left to die by Alpin. He holds him and sings to him as he does, promising him that he will look out for Ana and Drustan and that he will tell his family what happened to him, promising to go on a mission in the future to Cloud Hill in Erin. And then he buries Deord and returns to Ana and Drustan in the cave. He tells them of the news of Deord's death and the pair of them set off, following the path that Drustan and his birds lead them on.

When they camp that night, Ana once again frets over Drustan. Faolan just sounds tired when he reassures her that he is sure that Drustan is safe - probably because he knows Drustan is right there with them, just in hiding in bird form. As they are camped and Ana is making herself comfortable, that is when she begins to ask Faolan about his past. And so he tells it to her, although the only way he can get through it is with her encouragement and by putting it in the form of a tale. At the end of it, she tells him he is the bravest person she knows. She also tells him he needs to go back home, if he wants to truly make peace with his past. They travel more. Drustan the hawk disappears on them for a long while as they camp in an abandoned shepherd's hutch, and Ana despairs that she will never see Drustan the man again, still not knowing that the hawk and the man are the same. Faolan is bitter about her sadness and she accuses him of being jealous. When he does not argue against this idea, she realizes that yes, he is, and that he does love her, and has done for some time now, even though she did not notice herself. She apologizes for not having seen it before, but is still despairing the loss of Drustan. So Faolan instructs her to stand up with Deord's leather glove and whistle for the hawk. It comes when she calls it and that renews her spirits. Faolan is still in a prime mood so when the mention of dreaming of Drustan comes up that night as she settles down to lie with the birds (including Drustan), he comments sarcastically on it. She tells him not to mock her, for her dreams are all she has, and then goes to sleep. That night, Faolan picks up a rock and contemplates throwing it at the hawk and ending this, never having to see her with him again, and the dark desire to do so fills him with rage. But instead he calls out to Drustan the hawk and tells him that he should just tell her and put her out of her misery because she is wasting away without him, and that if he is not doing so then he is a coward and he does not deserve her. The bird ignores him.

They continue on their journey and Faolan is convinced that Drustan is leading them in circles, suggesting to Ana that they lose him and go their own way, but she refuses, for the birds are the only thing she has left of Drustan. They camp on the side of a hill, and hearing wolves in the distance, know that they are in danger. They build up their fire but it is not enough to keep the wolves at bay, and eventually they are taken upon. Ana and Faolan must fight them off with fire and knife, and as Faolan himself is bitten and attacked he calls on Drustan to stop being a coward and help them. And this time, Drustan as a man comes to their aid. Eventually, they are safe once more, but Faolan has a few nasty bites including one on his shoulder and several on his leg, causing his knee to not want to bend. Drustan gives no explanation from there, despite Faolan prompting him to, and Ana does not ask for one. From there he starts to lead them towards the coast, although the going is slow. They stop to rest and for Drustan to gather herbs for Faolan's leg, and Ana sleeps. Faolan tries to keep watch but the events of the night before catch up with him and as he dozes, that's when Alpin comes upon him. He wakes with the other man's hands around his neck. He plays dead so that Alpin will leave him be, although this means he goes after Ana next. Drustan returns with the herbs, and the memory of Alpin attacking Ana triggers the memory of Alpin attacking his former wife - it was not him that killed her at all, but Alpin himself. Drustan lunges at Alpin but before he can even touch him, Faolan throws his knife and kills Alpin in one blow. He tells him later that he wants to spare him the memory of killing his own brother, even if his brotherwas one such as Alpin.

From there, they are a lot more relaxed, and Ana and Drustan are happy, although Faolan is wretched. He tells himself that he had no business even entertaining the desire for her, that she could never have been his because he's a Gael and an assassin, he'd destroyed his family, he's Ui Neill. But his heart cares nothing for logic and still keeps telling him that he should have thrown that stone when he had the opportunity. Of course, a moment comes when Drustan is kind to him, when he cares for him, when he says that he honors him as a brother for he has been Ana's protector and companion, and Faolan can see how happy she is now that she has him, and all that really matters to him in the end is her happiness. She tells him, after Drustan goes off looking for food, that Drustan told her about his ability, and she was surprised at first but she sees it as such a gift. He wishes them all the happiness. It takes them until the beginning of fall to make their journey back to Fortriu. As soon as they are washed and taken care of, Faolan sets off for White Hill. But he tells Ana he will not still be there when she arrives, that he cannot be there while she is there with him, and if it means quitting the service of Bridei, his friend, then so be it. What pair of lovers welcomes a constant observer, he reasons. As Faolan leaves, Ana realizes that she has grown to love him as well. But she must chose. And "in this cruel game of three, one must be destined to walk alone." Ana will always chose Drustan first. They chose to go after him, although not without taking a night to make love for the first time, now that Faolan is not close by. When they return to White Hill, they tell their tale and then ask news of Bridei. Bridei's councilors ask to speak to Faolan in private, and recount a vision that Tuala had in the scrying pool of Bridei being killed by an unknown young foreign man on the battlefield. Even Broichan's augury contained a warning of death. Faolan curses himself for not being there to go with him, and curses himself for not being able to help more, but in the end they send Drustan in hawk form to fly and arrive faster than any man could go on foot. And indeed he still arrives just in time to save Bridei from what turns out to be Hargest, Alpin's bastard son. As Drustan is gone, Faolan and Ana talk, and she weeps for him. He holds her the one and only time he will ever be able to. And promises her he will stay until Bridei returns.

It takes Bridei another month before he returns to White Hill, and it's close to the festival of Gateway when he does. Faolan spends much of that time away from court but he promises to return when Bridei does. As soon as he does, he speaks to Bridei and asks to be released from his service. He tells him that he has failed his mission, and when Bridei does not accept this as an excuse he continues. Bridei wants to know why, he thought Ana and Drustan and Faolan were very close, to which Faolan responds, "We are close. We are friends. She loves him. He loves her. I love her. That is the simple truth, and I beg you to let me go." Faolan says he will go back to Laigin to tell Deord's family of his loss, as he promised the dying man. And to reconcile his past, as he promised Ana. Bridei sees Faolan as his friend, although the other man refuses to put such a label on it, and will not just let things pass like that. So he gives him a mission of his own, one that will keep him in his services but give him the time and space that he needs. There is a Christian cleric that goes by Colm whom the king Gabhran has offered an island, one of Fortriu's. Bridei wants Faolan to gather any and all information about him to bring back to him, whether he will take more land if that much is given to him, what his true intentions are, that sort of thing. He gives Faolan an excuse to be away. And Faolan takes the offer, although not without seeing what the other man is doing and thanking him for it. So Faolan says his goodbyes, sheds his tears, and sets off to Laigin across the water with three missions to give him purpose again.


WELL OF SHADES
By the start of the third and final book, Faolan has traveled home across the sea to Ulaid, to a place called Cloud Hill, where he had promised Deord he would tell his sister of his passing. The only trouble is finding his sister in order to do as much. Eventually he locates an inn who points him in the direction of a ramshackle little hut where the sister (Anda, he learns her name to be) and her husband are supposed to live. Upon arriving there, however, he is greeted by a half-starved dog, and a half-starved teenage girl, the latter of which seems more ferocious about keeping him out of the hut itself. He tries to get information out of the girl and eventually learns that no, in fact Anda is not her mother but her aunt, which makes her Deord's daughter. A daughter that Faolan did not know that Deord had. Feeling that he owes her, he tells her that her father has died. This seems to make the once-defensive girl, Eile as she introduces herself, lose whatever hope she might have clung to. The place seems a poor one but he can't understand why. He cannot understand why she is starving in this hut when the people in the town seem to be fairly well off, although perhaps that is the way of poverty. Perhaps Anda and Dalach, the uncle, really are that poor off.

This being Deord's daughter, and Deord having given his life to save his own, Faolan cannot help but feel responsible for her well-being. Even though Anda and Dalach are out, he decides he wishes to return and speak with them when they return as well. He is not without his resources himself, having no wife or children to provide for and a hefty sum of money stowed away from his work. Just as he has made this decision, Eile drops a fire iron and wakes Saraid, a sleeping child in the next room. She urges him to leave before he scares her so he does as he is told, though he consciously leaves her with his knife and a promise to return later.

And return he does, bringing a few supplies with him to share for their conversation. Dalach demands just what he is going to provide in Deord's absence, since Deord never provided for Eile at all after he dumped her on them and ran away. Faolan tries to defend Deord's choices to them, being a Breakstone man himself. He tells them the story of Deord's heroic death and how honorable a man he truly was. "Selfless courage never put bread on the table," Dalach replies. Faolan decides to leave some silver to provide for Eile, but advises that there is a Christian community not far off and that it might be wise to send her there. He offers to escort her there himself but Eile quickly refuses and Dalach suggests they need her around the house as an extra pair of hands. As he's leaving, they warn him that a bridge is out, and also about the widow Ui Neill in the area. Faolan questions that, as they used to be Echen's lands, but Dalach informs him that Echen has died and left his widow in charge of his lands. He hesitates to ask for his knife back as he leaves, but decides to leave it with her in the end when she does not offer to give it back herself.

Faolan travels inland through the rain, attempting to decide on whether he should go to Fiddler's Crossing as he had promised Ana, or on to Comcille as he had accepted the mission from Bridei. Eile's situation weighs heavily on his mind, as he stays in a little shelter near the broken bridge as he tries to work out where to go from there. As luck would have it, that puts him at exactly the right place to be, as he wakes in the middle of the night to find Eile trying to cross the makeshift bridge with Saraid strapped to her back, terrified and looking like she's about to dump both of them in the water. He manages to get them off and safe, back to land and his hut but quickly ascertains that she is covered in blood. Slowly he convinces her to get changed, to eat something. He tries to get her to take a sleeping draft but she protests even that, claiming she needs to get away. This is when she reveals the truth of her story. That Saraid is her daughter, and her daughter by Dalach, born when Eile was only twelve years old. Saraid is three now, and Eile sixteen, but Dalach's abuses started long before and continued up until that night, when Eile used Faolan's knife to kill him and run away with Saraid. She'll be wanted for murder, and probably be killed for it, regardless of Dalach's crimes. But Faolan swears he'll protect her, no matter what. That he will stay with her until she doesn't need him anymore. Because he was her father's friend, and he owes it to her and to her daughter to see them safe. And in that moment he makes up his mind to take her to Fiddler's Crossing and to his father, the brithem, a law man, who will hear her case and will see justice here.

The next morning, a few men stumble upon their little shelter looking for a girl of Eile's description. Faolan pretends that she is his wife, though they aren't satisfied with his story until he reveals that he is in fact the son of the brithem from Fiddler's Crossing -- the surviving son. The story is infamous in these parts, and it quiets them as no doubt he looks the part (since it's actually the truth). He helps the men repair the bridge to cross the river, where a cloaked figure seems to be directing the operations. As soon as they set foot on the ground across the new bridge however, the men quickly jump on Faolan, beating him unconscious and strapping him to a horse. The cloaked figure is revealed to be a severe woman, who with some begging agrees to take Eile with her as they go -- to Blackthorn Rise.

Faolan wakes partway through the journey, still strapped to the horse. He can only assume these must be Echen's people who have attacked him -- he'd know that blue and black gear they are wearing anywhere. Once they arrive at their destination, the woman instructs the guards to lock him up and make sure he has no chance of escape for he has a reputation for doing so, and Faolan cannot help but wonder if perhaps this is a prelude to another sojourn in Breakstone. He learns from the guards that the woman is known as the Widow, which he supposes means that she is Echen's widow. Odd, as he did not know he had ever married. He reasons that someone at the bridge must have told her who he was. He wonders where Eile is, and where they have taken her. Meanwhile, Eile speaks with the Widow, who listens to her story and seems to be very interested in her connection with Faolan. When she asks the Widow where they have taken Faolan, she insists that Faolan is now miles away, and has left her behind. But the truth of the matter is that Faolan is still there. And is kept there for some time, as it is.

Faolan hides all his silver and equipment that hasn't been taken from him in his cell before it is noticed and taken too. He decides it is perhaps unwise to attempt an escape as his chances of dying just as soon as he was out of the cell are high, and besides he is not certain where Eile is or where they've taken her. He has a duty to her, and he will not abandon her here. Faolan counts the days he is held in the cell, expecting a summons to explain why at each one and trying to keep his mind and body fit at each one. Forty-five days gone by and he decides at fifty he will take action if she does not call to him.

But Eile is there, believing Faolan has left. She has found herself a place in the household of sorts, helping with the household chores. One day she is in the garden hanging out the wet laundry with Saraid when the Widow's two ill behaved boys come by to torment the little girl. They throw mud at Eile's laundry and tear off Saraid's doll's head. Eile does as any good governess might do and reprimands the little boy with a slap, which earns her a call to the Widow's chambers. There she is reprimanded herself, and Saraid, who bit the little boy for tearing the doll's head off, is sentenced to a lashing. Eile is horrified. The staff, having fallen in love with the little girl, know there is only one thing to do. That evening, they show her a way out. In the midst of the commotion, Eile swears she had heard a voice calling out to her, a voice that sounded like Faolan's and she asks another worker in the house about whether it could be him or not, who informs her it is better to stay away from that story between the Widow and Faolan if she knows what is good for her. So off she goes to Fiddler's Crossing, for her own justice, and -- if she is right -- for Faolan's.

On the fiftieth day of his incarceration the widow finally sends for Faolan. As he is brought before the Widow and he tries to wring the story from her as to why she is imprisoning him, why she cares so much to make him suffer, he cannot help but feel as though he has seen this woman before. Faolan tries to ask where Eile has gone, for he had heard her crying out the other day, but the Widow insists that she has left, and that she must be back at Cloud Hill by now, facing her punishment. Faolan demands answers, demands her to imaging how Eile must feel when the answer dawns on him. The Widow claims to know exactly how Eile feels, for she too has been abandoned to an abusive relationship by her father and her brother. The Widow, who was once Aine, Faolan's baby sister, taken by Echen on that fateful night. She holds it against him that he never came to rescue her and he tries to defend himself, that he couldn't, that he didn't know she was still alive, that he left the country, but none of his excuses are good enough for her. Echen, her abuser, is the only one who also showed her kindness, over even her own family, she claims. When Faolan does not feel remorse for her suffering, when he still seems to want to rescue Eile, she throws him back in the dungeon. But not before telling him that his actions caused a ripple of destruction in their family. That their mother is long dead, their father a mere shell of himself. Their eldest sister she says fled to the nunnery, their other sister full of bitterness at her lot, with their grandfather on his deathbed. He will never be forgiven, she assures him.

Eile, meanwhile, has made it all the way to the brithem's house, where it is quickly apparent that the Widow's words are not the truth. Liobhan, the other sister, is hardly consumed by bitterness, but in fact happily married with a young son. At the mention of news of Faolan, after all these years absent, Liobhan takes her into their family house where Eile tells them of her story. She tells them that she was hoping their father might clear her name, when they were captured. She thinks that Faolan is still being held captive. They in turn tell Eile their own story, of how Faolan was forced to kill their brother Dubhan, after Echen killed their grandmother. How Echen did not leave their home empty-handed that night, but instead took Aine with him, who grew into the Widow as Eile met her. Their father believed her beyond saving and thought they'd be killed for the attempt. Faolan's mother really did only live a season after that, and their oldest sister Daire went on to the priory. But Liobhan met her husband Donnan, and they had a son together, Phadraig, and life went on. Aine blames Faolan for what happened to her most of all however, they tell her, because she thinks that he should have done something to save her. Once their father returns, they go over the details of what has happened with him and formulate a plan -- they must get Faolan out of there.

Faolan, meanwhile, has lost all hope. He had had a reason for carrying on but Aine had taken that away from him when she had revealed what he had done to his family, his failure. Faolan finally decides to take off his shirt and fasten a noose for himself out of strips of fabric from it, for there is nothing left for him, and it is at the moment when he has fastened the thing to the bars intending to hang himself that Eile calls out to him across the garden. They're coming to find him. Here to rescue him. Faolan destroys the noose he had created and waits for help to arrive.

Back at Fiddler's Crossing the brithem takes Eile aside to discuss her situation with her. The law is clear on the matter of unlawful killing, but there is such a thing as the eraic, the body-fine as it is called, a sum payable for unlawful killing. No doubt her aunt Anda would be willing to accept this payment in lieu of her own death. But the price is high, and if one pays it for another, they enter into a sort of debt-bondage to that person up until the point when it is paid off. The brithem needs to be sure that Eile understands the law, because Faolan has agreed to pay it for her and he even has sufficient silver to do it. Eile agrees to it -- as she explains, she has a daughter, she has little choice than to accept it. When she speaks to Faolan about it after, she thanks him for it, but questions why he would do such a thing. It's too much, for a nothing like her. So Faolan gives her his truth in response. She saved his life, the say before. He might have killed himself, if not for her bravery in mounting the rescue for him. He had given up. And she gave him reason to hope again.

All too quickly, Faolan must leave Fiddler's Crossing again. Tearfully, he says his goodbye, promising to make his way home one day, before they set their way on their journey. They make their way to Dunadd, where they run into Brother Suibne and Brother Colm, on Faolan's second mission. Faolan and Eile helped them sail, brother Colm taking an interest in him and what information he might give them about Fortriu. Faolan identifies himself to Colm because Brother Suibne is among the number and he knows him. His original mission to spy, instead he negotiates as he travels, unable to conceal the nature of his quest from the monks. After they reach land in Fortriu, Eile starts to question where they are going and what her purpose is there. She does not speak the language of the Priteni. She suggests that he leave her behind with Saraid to fend on her own but he is clearly not having it. Eile has had food, she is healthier and happier, and she will be far too attractive to any passerby on the road as far as he is concerned. She has a hard time believing that, thinking she is roadside rubbish. He makes her promise not to ever call herself that. She questions what she is to do in this court of kings and queens, be a servant? Scrub floors and wait on tables? Faolan reassures her that it won't be like that. Because she is friends with him, there are options. She might attend Fola's school, or Ana and Drustan might welcome her into their household, or Tuala might find her a position at court.

Eile asks him what he does at court, and he hedges on the subject. She keeps pushing about personal details, about the woman he said had forced him to return back to his home to make peace with his family, and finally he relents on that. He tells her of their travel together, and how she is now engaged to someone else. She asks him if he ever slept with Ana and he replies that he has not, nor is it an appropriate question to ask. He reassures her that normally what is between a man and a woman is not as hurtful as what was between herself and Dalach, but she is not certain she can believe his word, that of a man.

Saraid catches a fever while they are traveling, and both she and Eile develop an awful cough. The pair of them by now have developed an understanding, traveling together for so long. He offers to gather herbs for a draft for her, and is in the woods doing so when he hears her crying out. He is not quick enough, with his injured knee, to get to her all that fast. Luckily for her, Faolan recognizes the men as being of Broichan's household. They are surprised with how familiar Faolan has grown with a young woman, though they do not tease him -- Faolan has a reputation in these parts for a reason after all. They pass information of Carnach having gone home for the winter because he has disapproved of Bridei's peaceful ways. They inform him also that Broichan has disappeared, but in his absence Ana and Drustan have taken up residence at Pitnochie, though they'll be moving on soon. Faolan decides they will detour to Pitnochie once Saraid is feeling well enough to do so. When sharing this information with Eile, she has another few moments of doubt. She does not speak this language, what will she do here. Faolan promises he will not go on without her. He reassures her that she will be able to trust another again, but she does not believe him, so she asks him if he might be the one to teach her how to do so, as a man. Faolan doesn't know what to say, and though he does not turn it down, he does not accept -- he makes her promise not to ask another man such a thing, and to ask him again when she really wants such a thing, when she knows she is ready. Besides. Faolan knows that his next mission is to deliver his message from Colm to Bridei, and that there will be another mission from there. Yet he suddenly feels like a coward for doing so.

When they finally make it to Pitnochie, they are met by Drustan, who speaks Gaelic, much to Eile's relief. He explains that Ana has not been well -- she has had a miscarriage not long ago. It was early still, but she is early still, but she is still recovering. Eile is interested to meet this man who her father spent so much time with in his life. Time that she did not get to spend with him herself. They meet with Ana, who is charmed by the little girl and by the change in Faolan. Drustan shares that Bridei requested Ana and he travel to white Hill. Ana will be well enough to go by boat in seven days or so and suggests that Eile go with her and Drustan then. There is a grand celebration planned at White Hill in commemoration of the victory against the Gaels, and Ana and Drustan are planning on their handfasting. Faolan, unfortunately, needs to go on to White Hill straight away.

Later when they are alone, Ana remarks on the difference in Faolan and he tells her of his trip home and of his travels with Eile. He admits to her as well that while he cannot say he no longer loves her, the nature of that love has changed. He is happy for her in her happiness, and he wishes her and Drustan well together, as his friends. Unbeknownst to Eile, he asks Ana if she would take Eile with her and Drustan to their settlement in the north, but of course Ana insists that that will be Eile's choice alone, when the time comes. Later that night, Faolan goes to Eile's room to say goodbye to her, and the next morning he is off to White Hill. As soon as he is there he realizes his absence has been sorely missed. He passes his information on to Bridei and Bridei has information for him -- and a new mission as well. He will not be there when Eile returns as he had promised, nor will he return before Ana and Drustan leave on their travels. But he has no choice. He leaves on his mission for Bridei, for that is his job.

The mission is simple. Travel south and discover whether Carnach really has switched his loyalties or whether he is on some mission of his own yet unknown in Circinn. The longer he is away, however, the less he learns, and the more he regrets leaving. The more he misses Eile. The more he dreams of her. In his absence from her presence, Faolan is starting to realize that he has feelings for Eile. As he travels into Circinn, he comes to wish for the dreams more and more, despite the distraction that they represent. While indulging himself in such a dream, Faolan is captured by Bargoit, a man working for the King Drust of Circinn, and by Carnach. He is interrogated though he poses as a simple farmhand, and though Carnach knows him he makes no sign of recognizing him. They speak in code together, Faolan recovers what little information he can from the other man, and then they beat him and leave him by the side of the road.

Faolan eventually manages to limp home to White Hill, where he goes immediately to share his news with Bridei. Carnach is not the traitor they think he is, if his interpretation of their conversation is correct, but they will have to take this on trust. When he learns that Eile is still at court, rather than gone north with Ana and Drustan, Faolan rushes to the garden to find her. Unfortunately he stumbles across her playing a game with Dovran, another guard, and Saraid and Tuala's son Derelei and is overcome with such a jealousy he can hardly think straight. But the moment passes and they are reunited once more. Faolan apologizes for leaving, and something has changed in the dynamic between the pair of them. Faolan knows he has fallen in love with her, but he does not know whether he can admit it to Eile without scaring her away. Later that evening, Faolan is coaxed into singing a song about Sorry, Saraid's doll, to get her to sleep. Then Eile tells her a story of a house on a hill, and after putting her to bed they finally have a chance to speak without an audience. Faolan admits his feelings to her. And she admits that she feels differently for him than any other. She wants to try the experiment she suggested to him earlier with him, but not here and now. They will plan it right, for the next night, for things to be perfect. Faolan contemplates asking her to marry him, but she stops him from doing so, wanting to know whether things will work physically between them before she gives him any answer.

Faolan and Eile agree to spend the day apart so that the night will be all the sweeter. Faolan helps Bedo and Ulric use Bridei's dog Ban to search for a missing hair pin in a field, as the two boys have reason to believe the pin was used to startle a horse that wound up spooking and killing a young maid that was a friend of theirs. If they find this pin, it means that the young princess of the Light Isles is a suspect in the murder, rather than it being a simple accident like originally suspected. They find the pin after a long's days searching, which does not bode well for the princess at all, yet as they are riding back they find Sorry in the forest. Which makes no sense, as Eile and Saraid both would have been within the castle walls. Eventually they locate Saraid as well, who is too shaken up to talk. Bringing her back with him they discover that Eile, Saraid, and the king's young son Derelei have been missing since the morning. Quickly talk begins to spread, for Eile was a Gael and yet because she was Faolan's friend and good with children, she was entrusted to the care of the young Derelei. They search the whole night through and when it's clear that they will not locate either Eile or Derelei this way, Tuala proposes she uses her abilities as one of the Good Folk to search for Derelei through other means, and transforms into a creature of the forest to search for him that way.

The next day it is revealed that Breda, the princess from the Light Isles that they were investigating yesterday, had seen Eile go with the children in her traveling clothes out the front gate. The men are up in arms as to why she had not thought to tell them this sooner when there is a child missing. Faolan tries his next best source of information -- Saraid. But Saraid is very tight-lipped on the subject. The next day of searching in the woods proves little finding, and Faolan is disheartened by the news of what was seen, for it cannot be true. Luckily, the woman watching over Saraid sees fit to look for Saraid's outside boots and locates Eile's there as well. She was not wearing her cloak and boots as Breda suggested. When he discovers that it was Breda who said it, he becomes afraid for Eile's life. Suddenly he is convinced that Breda might have done something to her, that she may very well still be within the walls of White Hill. Faolan nearly causes a scene, accusing the princess of murder in front of the court. They bring up the matter of the pin and the death of Breda's maid, and Breda's other maids testify against her character. They also tell the court that she told them to lie and corroborate her story when in truth they had seen Eile and the children with Breda earlier that day. A search party is gathered together in the garden where the maids said that Breda had eaten sweets together with them.

In the garden they locate a hidden door to an old well, the chain locking it sticky with blood. Just in the door they find Eile on the ground, cold, tired, and exhausted from the ordeal she has had, obviously being struck over the head and thrown down the well before climbing out of her own sheer force of will alone. There is no sign of the child Derelei, which is a blessing. When Eile wakes, she can't remember what happened to her, not from the blow on her head, and all that Saraid says is that Derelei is in the woods. Faolan searches again the next day for him, while Eile grows troubled at all the rumors spread about her and Faolan being Gaelic spies at court. They decide together that the easiest way to quell those rumors is to tell the court the truth of their story. They do this at dinner the next night, and clear their name in front of all there gathered.As their story is shared with the court however, Breda sneaks into the dining room where the children are fed and steals Saraid away from her maid. As soon as this is revealed, chaos ensues, and men are running off in every direction trying to locate Breda and the girl, for who knows what might be done to her. At last they are spotted on the parapet wall above the gate. Faolan runs to try and get to them, tries to reason with Breda, but the young woman pushes Saraid off the wall into the darkness below, and Faolan nearly kills her for it, if not for the guards nearby.

As luck would have it, that is at the same time that the druid Broichan and Tuala are returning to White Hill with little Derelei in tow. Tuala transforms Saraid into a little bird and catches her in her fall, bringing the little bird back to Eile to transform back into Saraid herself. Saraid accuses Breda of pushing her, and then all bets to her innocence are off. The three of them return to Eile's chambers a happy family and the next morning, Faolan and Eile make love for the first time and she is not scared of it at all. Like a wedding night, they call it, for in fact Faolan has asked her for her hand and she accepts.

Later that day, Faolan is proven right in his assumptions when Carnach returns to court, with news of what he had been doing in Circinn. Gathering information, as Faolan had suggested he had done. After Faolan leaves their meeting, Carnach suggests to Bridei that Faolan's talents are wasted as a bodyguard, that he would be better utilized as a strategist in Bridei's court instead. It seems that Faolan has similar thoughts in mind for when next he approaches Bridei it is to gently inquire as to whether he remembers their first conversation on the subject, when Bridei offered him the position of "councilor, adviser, and companion" and Faolan had refused. His current role mixes very poorly with the duties of husband and father and besides he points out, his knee isn't what it used to be. Bridei of course embraces Faolan like a brother and accepts the suggestion immediately. Though he says that there is a matter to be resolved. Eile deserves compensation for the near-fatal attack she had suffered while watching over his son, he says, and he has in mind just the thing -- there is a little cottage standing vacant on a holding near the settlement below the walls of White Hill. It would allow Faolan the space for his independence but also still keep him close to do his duties. It is the little house on the hill that Eile had always wished for, and for the pair of them and their new little family the future is bright.