But Branoc was done. ‘No, my lord,’ he muttered. Perhaps he had realised at last that Oran was not some jumped-up princeling but a person of real authority.

‘Master Tassach, do you have anything to add in Branoc’s defence?’

‘No, my lord. I believe Branoc has been offered a fair hearing. It was his choice to speak on his own behalf. You might consider, on determining what is to unfold, that this is a highly skilled craftsman with a great deal to offer the community, and that prior to the events in question his abilities were much valued.’

‘Thank you, Master Tassach,’ said Oran, rising to his feet. The crowd rose with him. ‘I will retire to consider the matter. Aedan?’

Aedan addressed the assembled folk. ‘Refreshments are served in the courtyard. Please leave the hall in an orderly manner and return promptly when we ring the bell.’

The prince and his party filed out. The hall emptied quickly; there was nothing like the prospect of food and drink to get folk moving. I turned my head to see if Conmael was still there, but could catch no sight of him.

Fraoch came over to fetch Emer. ‘Coming?’ he asked Grim and me.

Standing in the middle of that throng, with everyone talking non-stop about Branoc and Ness and the fire, would be a kind of torture.

‘In a while,’ Grim said. ‘Need a bit of quiet first.’

The smith nodded; he was getting used to us, since we had been staying in his house. He put his arm around his sister and shepherded her out of the hall. I heard him say, ‘I’m proud of you.’

The place was empty but for a guard on each door, and the two of us.

‘You know what I want more than anything?’ I said.

‘I could guess.’

‘I’d like to be out in the woods somewhere, sitting by a little fire, with the moon shining down and only the night birds for company. Somewhere far, far away from folk. Somewhere I can forget what wretched, flawed creatures men and women can be.’

Grim nodded. ‘Not all of them, though,’ he said.

‘Enough of them to make me want to turn my back on Winterfalls and any other poxy village Conmael thinks I should live in.’ Grim was right, of course; there was Emer. There was that lady, the prince’s aunt, who had intervened so wisely in the matter of the mauled sheep. I might even add Prince Oran to the list, provided he brought this to the right conclusion.

‘Living at Fraoch’s getting to you, is it?’

‘You know it is.’

‘Soon as I’ve got the thatch on we can move back.’