“But—but I spoke, I spoke before the shirts—I did not keep silent! How is it that you are here, and the spell broken?” Still I could not believe that, after all, they had been saved. Are not the dooms of the Fair Folk set out and determined in every cruel detail, so that the least slip, the smallest deviation from the rules brings the whole thing collapsing around the hapless victims? How was it the spell could be undone, when I had cried aloud before ever the last shirt was slipped over Finbar’s neck?

“You could not see it,” said Conor gently. “But these things have a way of working themselves out, when it is time. Have you forgotten the wind, the sudden wind that whipped that last shirt from your hands and up into the air? Who is to say that wind did not let this garment drop over Finbar’s neck, an instant before your cry rang out? The spell really is broken, Sorcha; all but…”

We both turned to look at Finbar. I thought, this tale will live a long time, and will change over the years as it is told and retold. But he will always bear the evidence of its truth. He will never come back, not fully. He will always be torn between that world and this, neither completely of the one nor of the other. It will be his curse and his blessing.

“Jenny, how are you? But perhaps I should call you by your real name, Sorcha, is it?” Lady Anne had moved closer. “I can hardly believe what I have seen; and yet I must believe it. Father Dominic is right; it is a miracle, and we have been blessed to witness it. And now you have your voice back, by God’s will. My dear, you have turned this household upside down today.”

“I—I’m sorry.” I looked up at her. She seemed different; behind her calm words was a barely suppressed excitement, and her eyes were alight with joy.

“It is I who should be sorry, for I misjudged you terribly. I never thought to see such astonishing sights. One might have thought it a trick of the flame and the smoke; the sudden change, as feathers became flesh, and the long necks and wild eyes of those birds transformed themselves into six young men. I have to say, the people of my household have been both frightened and confused by this, and will take time to recover. The sudden appearance of these brothers of yours right in their midst, as fierce a band of Irishmen as you would ever see and with scarce a rag of clothing between them—that shook them badly. One thing we can remedy. I have a man fetching suitable garments, and food and drink. I can scarce come to terms with this myself; for my people, it will be a night long remembered.”

“There’s blood on your gown,” said Cormack, frowning. “Are you injured, Sorcha? Are you hurt?”