“They care little whom they cast aside,” said Conor. “But in this game there is, as I said, a far greater goal than we can well comprehend. Perhaps I am wrong. Time will reveal it. Your part in it, I trust, is over, and your path now straight and true. There will be a family here, and good years. But there is one thing you must remember, if you forget all else. There is no good or evil, save in the way you see the world. There is no dark or light, save in your own vision. All changes in the blink of an eyelid; yet all remains the same. If you wish to know what is to come, you should ask Finbar. Now, enough of such gravity. You had better go and rescue Lord Hugh from Liam’s clutches, before he suffers more. Go on, off with you.”

Red had answered them well enough, for now. That he would stay, and watch over me, and make himself useful. That he had skills they might employ, with the husbandry of livestock and the management of crops. He could fight, if that were necessary, but there was one thing he would not do, and that was take up arms against his own kind. It must be understood that he would not do this, on any account. Father nodded, satisfied. Donal growled that it was all very well to talk; a good solid bout in the practice yard and they’d see what he was made of. Red, as I had known he would, took up this challenge immediately. He suggested that perhaps that afternoon might be a good time. Donal’s eyes lit up. Liam, tight jawed, was not saying much at all. Then I advanced into the hall where they stood, and a sweet smile curved Red’s mouth as he saw me, and a warm light awoke in his eyes, which must have been a reflection of my own. I went to stand by his side, and each of us slipped an arm around the other, for it was not possible to be so close, and not to touch.

“Very well,” said Liam. “If it suits you, you can show us your skills today. Sure you’re up to it?”

“I think so,” Red replied gravely.

It was not, perhaps, in his best interest to retire upstairs with me beforehand, but there was no preventing it, for our bodies spoke to one another in a way that could not be denied. We were, I suppose, making up for lost time. Later, I lay on the bed wrapped only in a sheet and watched him as he dressed somewhat reluctantly.

“Won’t you be tired?” I asked, smiling. “My brothers are adept in the arts of war, and they’ll be keen to prove a point. Are you sure you can cope?”

He slipped his tunic over his head. “Today, I could take on three giants, each bigger and uglier than the last, and think nothing of it,” he said. He was already starting to talk like one of us. “Stay there, I’ll be back before you know it,” and he touched his lips to mine, and drew them away with some difficulty, and went out, buckling on a borrowed sword belt.