He brought my hand to his lips. Then he stood up, and his face changed from that of a lover to that of a warrior. “Tell me first,” he said, “what power this charm has.” His fingers went to the necklace with its little white stone.

“The same as the green glass ring,” I said. “It’s a charm of selfless love; it protects you from harm.” I hesitated, a little embarrassed. “Actually, Ciarán said I’m your talisman; the necklace is extra. I think that means Mac Dara can’t hurt you if you’re with me. But he wouldn’t want to hurt you, anyway.”

Cathal’s smile was grim. “True. He has plans for me. Clodagh, the bird that screeched outside—is it one of these friends?”

I nodded. “He knows the way out. He’ll lead us.”

“Anything else I should know?”

My mind leapt from Willow’s last story to my discussion with Ciarán to what Mac Dara had revealed about the attack on Glencarnagh. There was no time. “Your mother,” I said, choosing the most important thing. “I heard a tale about her, a true tale. She didn’t kill herself, Cathal. She died trying to protect you from Mac Dara. She sent you away to keep you safe. And she . . .” I halted, seeing from his expression that this was not a surprise. “You know,” I whispered.

“I have learned much in this place,” Cathal said, and gave me the sweet, uncomplicated smile that he offered so rarely. “Things my father has never dreamed of, Clodagh. I have seen a boy fishing, and a woman on a bridge with her heart in her eyes. I have seen that my mother possessed a capacity for love equal to yours, and the same extraordinary strength of will. I thought that she had failed me. I believed her weak. It was my joy and my sorrow to discover how wrong I had been.” He cleared his throat and added, “We’d best move without delay. Any more surprises?”

“I have a charm that I can use to conceal us, but only for a short time. I’m supposed to save it until we really need it. Cathal, the spell—the one about setting foot inside the door—that’s vital to our escape. There’s another part to it.” I told him the rest of the verse. “That means there is a way to break the charm, impossible as those lines sound.”

He lifted his brows. “We must make them possible. But first we must reach a portal. You realize he could decide to seek us in his scrying mirror at any moment? I don’t imagine he trusts you any more than he trusts me, the son who refuses to fulfill his expectations. On the other hand he won’t imagine you have so many tricks up your sleeve. You wouldn’t have something to disable the guards, I suppose?”