‘It was bad. So bad I have to go up there, to Wolf Glen, and talk to my father. Today, if you’re not too busy.’

I opened my mouth to tell her I couldn’t go with her, but I swallowed the words. I passed her a steaming cup. ‘Drink some of this, then tell me the story, if you will.’

It came out quickly, almost too quickly for me to follow. The monster, the child held hostage, the blessings conveyed by the different timbers, the creature’s vengeance. The sting in the tail. The story did not exactly parallel Cara’s own situation. But it was close. Uncannily close. There was no human mother in Master Oisin’s tale. In Cara’s, it seemed to me Suanach might be the key.

‘So I have to go. I have to talk to him. To both of them, if I can.’

‘Your father and . . .?’

‘My two fathers,’ Cara said. ‘Can you come today? Master Oisin said I should take someone with me, and I don’t want anyone else coming, not a guard or Mhairi, and the sooner I do this the braver I can pretend to be. If you’re with me I might be able to get words out. The right words. I don’t know what they are yet.’ When I did not reply straight away, she said, ‘Master Oisin would have come if he could, but he’s travelling on today. And I want you.’

I set down my cup on the table. My own worries crowded back into my mind. ‘I’m sorry, Cara. I can’t come with you. Not today, and not for quite a few days ahead.’

‘But . . . why?’

Did she have to look at me like that, as if I was her best friend and had turned against her for no good reason? ‘I can’t tell you why. I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. I may need to travel at very short notice. That’s all I can say.’

‘Travel where?’

I just looked at her. Felt myself getting angry. Made myself breathe slowly. To her, this was every bit as important as Mathuin’s fate was to me. ‘You have a choice,’ I said. ‘Take someone else with you, or wait until I can come. Nothing’s going to change up at Wolf Glen if you leave this for a short while. You are safe here in the prince’s house. Speaking to your father about this will be opening a box of trouble.’

‘But I have to –’

‘I understand that. If I were in your shoes I’d be wanting to rush up there and get it done. But remember, whatever results from this, it’s going to hurt someone. It may well change your whole life. You need to have me with you, and a guard as well.’

‘Grim’s there.’