Donagan got the provisions out of his saddlebag and we sat down on the grassy bank to eat and drink. Deaman’s bread was very good; Iobhar’s mead washed it down well. Chewing with enjoyment, I noted the things I loved about this place, and imagined sitting here with Flidais by my side, sharing them with her. The stillness; the way Dreamer’s Pool had a kind of glow about it, not only the sunlight filtering down through the autumn canopy, but a light that seemed to come from within, from the water itself. The tiny insects that danced on the reflective surface of the pool. The neat curls of the ferns that fringed the water, the glinting droplets hanging there. The pebbles on the shore, smooth and shining, each different, each beautiful. The place was a poem in itself. She and I would come here with Bramble. We could pretend that this was our own private place where nobody could find us. Here, we could forget that one day I would be king of Dalriada, and that she would be queen. We could be no more than a pair of lovers enjoying each other’s company. My mind drifted further, and I drew it back sharply. I would not dishonour my sweetheart, even in my daydreams.

‘Let Aedan see this Blackthorn for you,’ Donagan offered. ‘It’s appropriate for your steward to deal with such matters. I’m taking it that all you want is to be sure she has the appropriate skills and experience, and that she and the fellow will look after the cottage. It sounds as if the people are happy with her.’

‘Donagan?’

‘Mm?’

‘Whom would a young lady like Flidais want to attend her, supposing we were fortunate enough to be blessed with an infant? A court physician, or a wise woman like this Blackthorn?’

Donagan gave me a sideways look. ‘Are you speaking of a confinement? You can hardly expect me to have any expertise in that. It’s a matter for women.’ After a moment he took pity on me and added, ‘I believe your mother would say you need not concern yourself with such things at this point, if at all. And she’d add that if you insisted your child be born at Winterfalls, and not at Cahercorcan, she would ensure the court physician took up residence here well in advance of the expected birth. As an alternative, you might engage your own physician, who would be permanently attached to your household.’

‘What do the women of the village do?’

‘Without the services of a midwife,’ Donagan said, ‘I imagine that they assist one another, and that some of them die. Their infants too. It’s unsurprising that they’ve embraced Blackthorn, unknown though she must have been to them.’

With a sudden chill I realised my attempts to be the friend of my people had been sorely lacking. How could I have overlooked something so important?