“What?” Irial grabs her hand and makes her turn to face him. “You’re the Fire Princess?”

Croi shakes her head. “No, I’m just the child he had with Mabh. Ceara is the Fire Princess; I have no desire to take over the position. You should tell your mother that Mabh is probably not dead. She is probably the rebel leader whose soldiers have infiltrated the Caisleán.”

Irial’s face grows taut. “She’s not dead? How is she not dead? Didn’t her brownie mother report her death? You don’t know for certain that the rebel leader is Mabh, do you?”

“I don’t, but who else other than the kin who birthed me would do such a thing to me?” Croi asks. “She considered me nothing more than an extension of her body, so she felt comfortable casting a Glamour spell on me that would hurt me. Who else but she would cast a summoning spell on me, knowing the pain the spell causes? No one else even knows I exist other than her and Monca. As for Monca’s report, you know kin have more than one way to lie. Who is to say the brownie mother didn’t simply suggest that Mabh was dead instead of saying so? If she appeared with bloody clothes and a newborn baby, who would question her about the life of the mother? Everyone would assume without asking.”

Irial’s eyes are hooded as he considers Croi’s words. After a while, he asks, “Did the Tine King accept you as his?”

“Does it matter if he did? I don’t accept him. I don’t want him.” Croi is shaking from the force of her utterances.

Irial puts his arms around her, holding her close, trying to comfort her. Croi stays in his embrace for a few moments before pulling away. She doesn’t want to get used to his warmth.

“I’m all right. Just, the healer the Tine King called said that the magick required to piece me back after the Glamour breaks is no longer in this world. So my minutes and hours have become finite.” Croi offers Irial a watery smile.

“Are you giving up that easily?” Irial demands.

“If not? What am I supposed to do, Irial?” Croi gets to her feet and marches away from him. “Do you think we want to die?”

“We?”

“The one inside me. The Tine side of me. She has lived all this while in the darkness while I, oblivious to the truth, have been nothing but a pawn on the chessboard that is my life. I don’t know what Mabh wants from me, but I daresay I will find out at the Saol ceremony.”

“Do you think she’ll appear there?”

“Don’t you? If it were me, there is no way I would let the ceremony pass without creating chaos.”

Irial gets to his feet and walks over to Croi. “My mother probably knows that Mabh isn’t dead. She’s waiting for her to make a move. That’s why she lessened the number of soldiers in the Caisleán. That’s why she walks with no guards.”