“I know what you will say,” I went on. “That the love of the gods must always outweigh the love between man and woman. You’ll tell me that in time I will forget; that the pain will go away. But it won’t, Ciarán. This love is deep and long-lasting. It’s as vibrant as the notes of a harp, and as enduring as the heart of stone. It’s as big as the sky and as broad as the ocean. It’s as grand as a high mountain; it’s as lovely and delicate as a single drop of dew.”

Ciarán smiled. “You seem unusually ready to put words in my mouth,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “But it seems obvious what advice you would give me. You’ve devoted years of your life to the gods. If it weren’t for the fact that Conor is your brother and that you’d never challenge his authority, you would have been chief druid long ago. You are respected throughout Erin for your scholarship and your wisdom. You’re not going to counsel me to drop it all and run off to get married.”

“True, Sibeal, I would not do that. I rarely tell anyone what to do, least of all a fellow druid.”

I waited for him to say The answer lies within you, or There is learning even in loss.

“Sibeal,” he said, and I saw a look on his face that I had never seen before, a look of the most profound sadness, “I’m going to tell you something I’ve never told anyone else. Not one day goes by, not one, when I do not mourn Niamh’s death. Not one hour passes when I do not wish my life had been different, and that I had not lost her a scant three years after I found her again. Every moment of the day she is in my thoughts, tossing her hair, glancing at me over her shoulder, dancing on the sward, cradling our child in her arms. If I could have her back I would quit the brotherhood without a second thought. She was the light of my life. She was the other part of me. We were young when we first saw each other, as you and Felix are, and from the first meeting of our eyes I was changed by her. We loved each other in the way you spoke of, with body and spirit, forever and always. Oh, Sibeal, I know exactly what the two of you are feeling. And I also know what it is to experience a lifetime of regret for a path not taken. Death robbed me of that path. I had no choice. But you are blessed, Sibeal. You do have a choice.”