The neat-faced woman, the eldest sister, sits by my pallet. The dark-skinned man stands behind her, his hand on her shoulder. Young now. Her husband? He moves to slip an arm behind me, lifts me, raises a cup of water to my lips. Gods, I’m thirsty. I could drink an ocean.

“Slowly,” he says. “A little at a time. That’s it. Rest now.”

I understand him. But the tongue he speaks is not the language of my thoughts. It is the same as the raven man used. Have I strayed far from home?

The woman fixes her emerald eyes on me. “What is your name?” she asks with careful enunciation. She gestures toward herself. “Muirrin.” And to the man, “Evan.” Then back toward me. “What is your name?” As she says this she points at me, brows raised.

I cannot answer. I have no answer. I close my eyes.

The two of them talk to each other. I catch some of it, not all. The man speaks of a ship, and someone called Knut who may know me. The woman says I do not look like a Norseman. They talk about my chest, my breathing.

“Perhaps we can get him through this,” Evan says. “Let us hope Sibeal’s heroic effort was not in vain.”

“Sibeal would give the credit to the gods,” says Muirrin. They speak further, then she goes away, her footsteps soft on the earthen floor. I let my lids fall over my eyes. Perhaps I will sleep. Is it night or day? Perhaps I will wake in terror again, not knowing what it is that sets such dread on me. Something unthinkable. Something unspeakable. It is gone from my mind, along with everything that makes sense of this day, this hour, this moment. Breath to breath. I cannot remember my dream. I cannot remember how I came to be here. I cannot remember.

~Sibeal~

Gareth insisted on carrying me all the way back to the settlement, although I could have walked perfectly well once I recovered from the faint. The man I had rescued was taken straight to the infirmary. Clodagh bustled me off to the bathhouse, where she made me soak in a tub until I was glowing pink all over, then stood over me as I put on clean clothing. She dried my hair in front of the bathhouse fire, which served the dual purpose of heating water and keeping the place warm. Biddy brought in food and drink on a tray, and the two of them refused to let me go anywhere until I had finished it all.

“I don’t think you realize what a fright you gave us,” Clodagh said, watching me with her arms folded. “The least you can do is be sensible now, Sibeal.”