‘You must tell whatever tale you please,’ muttered Flidais. She was deeply unsettled, as well she might be. It must be almost unheard of for a prince to reprimand his lady before a table full of guests. With the hand-fasting so close, was Oran starting to panic? I’d have to speak to him in the morning, if the opportunity arose, and warn him to keep up the pretence that nothing was amiss, or I’d never get Flidais to talk.

The promise of a tale kept most of the household in the hall once supper was over. Men moved tables aside and benches were set by the hearth. Oisin had a little harp and one of the fellows had a whistle, so there was music first. Then the druid told his tale, one I had never heard before, about a sad creature that could live neither entirely in the water nor entirely on the land; a being that dwelled all alone in a seaside cavern and cried by night for a companion in its solitude. But there was no companion, for it was the only one of its kind in all Erin.

Some eyebrows went up as the druid’s tale unfolded, for it was indeed sorrowful, and after Oisin’s earlier suggestion of a story suited to a hand-fasting, this one seemed an unlikely choice.

But Master Oisin struck me as a subtle man even by druidic standards. This odd tale might turn out to be exactly right for the occasion.

‘The local people, fishermen and the like,’ went on the druid, ‘were becoming weary of the creature’s moaning and wailing. They were losing sleep, and fisherfolk keep early hours. They spoke of creeping up with spears and ridding the cave of its occupant forever. But the wise woman of the settlement warned them that such violent action would put a curse on the place, and the noise would likely continue, night after night, even when the cave was empty. One of the women said maybe there was another creature like this one somewhere, and shouldn’t someone go out and look for it, for who could say with certainty that it did not exist on some lonely island or in the bottom of a well or in some other mysterious place where earth and water met? Not in Erin, maybe, but in a realm close by? And one or two of the men liked this idea, and said they might put out in their boat and go on a quest to find it, but their wives pointed out that they could be looking for a long time, and who was going to catch the fish they would have caught if they’d stayed at home as sensible folk should?

‘So they were in something of a dilemma, as you can understand. Perhaps you can help me here, Mistress Blackthorn.’