The day before our departure, Clodagh came to see me late in the afternoon. I was in my little chamber, going through my meager store of belongings for the twentieth time, trying to match the small size of bundle allowed on the boat with what I might need for the range of possibilities that lay ahead. Rune rods or a second warm shawl? Ceremonial herbs or a roll of linen in case I had my monthly courses before we got home? And what about Svala, who might also need the linen but would likely not think of it? She knew we were leaving in the morning; I had made that clear to her earlier, showing her the sun passing across the sky, the time of sleep, the dawn rising, the boat setting out. In the fisherman’s hut, the items of clothing she had been given by Biddy and others had lain carelessly heaped in a corner, along with a kettle, a ladle and a jug. I had seen no sign of packing.

Clodagh did not come through the infirmary, but tapped on my door. “Sibeal, I need to talk to you.”

I let her in, and with her I let in a wave of anxiety. “What’s wrong?” I asked, setting aside the awkwardness that had lain between us. I motioned for her to sit beside me.

Clodagh lowered herself slowly onto the bed. She glanced toward the curtain and lifted her brows.

“Evan’s gone over to the practice yard to bind up a wound,” I said. “Gull’s out somewhere with Felix. And Muirrin’s feeling sick. She’s gone to rest.”

Clodagh was as solemn as I had ever seen her. “I need a favor, Sibeal,” she said.

I kept working, attempting to fold a garment with the same degree of precision as she herself might use. “Go on,” I said.

“I want you to find Cathal and talk to him in private. I think he’s at the seer’s cave again. This is tearing him apart, Sibeal. He needs help, and this time I don’t seem to be able to give it.”

Whatever I had expected, it was not this. “If I ask questions about the voyage now, will you answer them?”

She simply looked at me. I could see she had been crying.

“I’ve been thinking perhaps he feels he should come with us, out of the same kind of family obligation that made Gull volunteer,” I said. “I did wonder if you were upset that night because Gull put his hand up, and you thought that meant Cathal would be next. I understand all the reasons why he shouldn’t come, Clodagh. I’d never suggest he leave the island, even though he has some abilities that could make all the difference out there. Nobody expects him to risk his whole future on another man’s mission.”

Clodagh grimaced. “Isn’t that what everyone in the crew will be doing?”

“You could put it that way, yes. But nobody else has Mac Dara to contend with.”