‘I don’t really know Grim. Only from Mistress Blackthorn. I met him just once. His dog found me that night. He helped save me.’

‘A fine man, strong in body and spirit. A man who will stand by folk in trouble. Between them, he and Mistress Blackthorn would keep you safe.’

‘Safe,’ Cara echoed, wondering if he meant she needed protecting from her own father. What about Aunt Della? Did she know all about this? Had she, too, told lies from the first? ‘Maybe it’s not true,’ she said. ‘Maybe it’s all some sort of misunderstanding.’ Knowing as she spoke that it wasn’t. The hollow, sick feeling in her belly seemed to confirm it.

‘Remember the two paths. Be strong, child. Do what you know to be right.’

They sat there a while longer, not talking. Then Master Oisin offered to escort Cara over to her sleeping quarters, but she said there was no need, it was not far and she would like to be on her own for a little.

She hadn’t really thought about what would come next, but once she was outside under the open sky, dark though it was, she knew she could not sleep indoors, not tonight, not after hearing that story. The only place she wanted to be was high in the yew tree, cradled safely in its branches and sheltered by its canopy. Nobody would miss her. Mhairi would assume she was with Blackthorn. And she’d told Blackthorn she’d be in the women’s quarters. As for guards, there were some about, despite the late hour, and there were still lamps lit in the main house and – a surprise – over in the stables. Maybe someone was travelling tomorrow. Not Master Oisin, who walked everywhere, but someone who would be riding.