I cleared my throat, and both men spun around to face me where I stood to one side of the hearth. “I’m sorry,” I said. “There was no good moment to interrupt. I was waiting in case Father needed me.”

Johnny gave me a nod of acknowledgment. “Well?” he asked Aidan.

“You want this hunting party to set off immediately, I take it?”

“The longer you leave it, the colder the trail will be. Before you assemble your group, talk to Clodagh. Clodagh, tell him everything about that last conversation with Cathal, will you? Every detail you can remember. Something you believe insignificant could be a vital clue. Aidan, you haven’t answered me.”

“It seems I have no choice.”

“Your choice is to obey me or to take yourself off home to Whiteshore. If that sounds blunt, circumstances demand it. Give me your answer. I, too, must make a swift departure.”

“I’ll do it. You may say that’s a choice, but we both know I won’t go home and turn my back on him.” Aidan hesitated. “Johnny?”

“If you have questions, be quick with them.”

“I want to take part in the counterattack. I don’t want to be left here as a household guard. Lord Sean’s men can do that capably.”

“You know I don’t make bargains,” Johnny said. “Do what you’ve been asked to do and we’ll discuss it afterward. Believe me, I understand your difficulty. Dealing with these things is part of the discipline of being a warrior, Aidan. It is an opportunity to show what you are made of.”

Aidan stood in stony silence as my cousin left the hall. Then the two of us looked at each other.

“You’re a loyal friend,” I said, and my voice came out sounding choked.

“I don’t know how I can bring myself to do it,” said Aidan. “Self-discipline is supposed to be the key element of our training. At times like this, I have grave doubts as to my ability to summon it. Perhaps he’s right. Perhaps I don’t belong at Inis Eala.”

I reached to take his hand. “Better if you’re the one to do this,” I told him, not quite sure if I believed it. “You can explain to Cathal. You can make sure he understands that Johnny is prepared to hear what he has to say.” I thought Cathal might be no more prepared to explain himself to Johnny than he had been to me. After all, he’d left without a word to anyone else. Even his best friend hadn’t been warned. Looking at Aidan’s white face, his stricken eyes, I saw how cruel that had been.

Aidan put both his hands around mine. “Since Johnny has laid this on me, I must do it,” he said. “And I must go quickly. What he said . . . about Cathal and his conversation with you . . .”