‘Ah,’ said the prince. ‘But won’t the two of you be looking for somewhere to stay while your cottage is being rebuilt? I understand the arrangement with Fraoch is only for the short term. I can accommodate you here; it would be an appropriate gesture of thanks. And if you are here, in the house, you’ll be perfectly placed to . . .’

‘Spy?’ Blackthorn sounds the way I feel, very uncomfortable with this idea. Though it makes sense.

‘To talk, in a natural way, with those others you mentioned, Flidais’s waiting women, my own folk. That should give you time to win Flidais’s trust.’

‘Just over a turning of the moon, I think you said.’ Blackthorn’s frowning. ‘You expect a lot of us.’

‘It would not be necessary for Grim to be here all the time; he could continue his work on the cottage. Even stay elsewhere, if you prefer.’ Prince Oran gives me a glance, and looks a bit surprised. What I’m thinking must be written all over my face. If I’m not with her, I won’t sleep. If I can’t sleep how can I do a good job on the cottage? Anyway, I’d worry about her, is she all right, who’s looking out for her and so on. Not that I want to stay here either. But it’s not for me to say yes or no.

‘No,’ says Blackthorn. ‘If you want answers in one turning of the moon, you need both of us. I didn’t solve the puzzle of Ness’s disappearance on my own. Besides, we need to talk to the men of the household too, in particular the guards who rode here with Lady Flidais. That’s best done in casual conversation, and they’re more likely to talk to Grim than to me.’ She looks at me. ‘You can still go and work on the cottage some of the time. And it’s not as if we’ve had no offers of help.’

‘Niall has one of the farm cottages vacant,’ the prince says. ‘That would allow you some privacy.’

That’s good. A cottage to ourselves means we can shut the door on the prince’s folk when we’ve had enough.

‘I must clarify,’ he goes on. ‘Flidais and I will be expected to travel to court at least seven days before the hand-fasting, perhaps earlier. So we have something less than a full turning of the moon. After that it would be too late to . . . to change the plan.’

‘Just as long as you understand,’ says Blackthorn, ‘that the answers we give you might not be the ones you want.’

‘I accept that,’ he says, getting to his feet. ‘I know you’ll do your best.’