“Except one,” I said.

Mac Dara nodded. “Except my son,” he said. “He takes after me, no doubt, and is skilled in pleasing women. But he’s not for you. His future lies elsewhere. Now tell me, where is he?”

Somehow, remarkably, it seemed that Cathal had managed to conceal himself from the eagle eye of this Otherworld prince, even in the heart of his own realm. But then, if he was Mac Dara’s son, perhaps he had uncanny powers too, not merely an exceptional ability at scrying but all manner of other talents thus far untried. “I don’t know where he is,” I said. “He suspected he was being lured into a trap. He decided not to come any further. I expect he’s well on the way home by now.”

For a moment I saw a look on Mac Dara’s face that terrified me, an anger on the brink of spilling out into such violence that I feared for my life. Then he composed himself. “I see,” he said. “He won’t get far; I have sentries everywhere. Forgive my ill temper, please. I have waited so long for this day. It is disappointing that I cannot yet welcome my son back. But I mustn’t delay you unduly, that wouldn’t be fair. You’ll be wanting to convey your brother home. I’ll take the changeling instead.” He held out his arms.

It was too quick, too easy. He didn’t want Becan, he’d just said so. This had to be a trick.

“Not so fast,” I made myself say. “I’m not giving Becan up until I see Finbar. I need to be sure he is well and has not been harmed.”

Mac Dara clicked his long fingers. Almost immediately a young woman entered the pavilion, a pretty human girl of perhaps seventeen, clad in a countrywoman’s garments. Two women of the Tuatha De escorted her, each of them wearing a hooded cloak of gray. The girl had a baby in her arms. Her expression was curiously blank, and it troubled me.

“Place the child on the seat there,” the Lord of the Oak said crisply.

She obeyed, scuttling over with her eyes downcast. The very air felt full of peril. Making myself breathe slowly, I knelt beside the infant to examine him, holding Becan with one arm as I used the other hand to loosen this child’s shawl.

It was Finbar. I saw it in an instant and had to restrain my urge to snatch him up immediately. This was a realm of trickery and deception. Mac Dara was utterly untrustworthy. I must exercise caution; I must not rush something so important.