“No!” She struggled to sit; gave up and lay back on the pillows. “It must be time for me to go. The sun is already low in the west.” There were knives prodding into her head.

“Kinart can wait a bit longer,” said Rona, coming into view behind Eyvind’s shoulder. She, too, was looking pale and tired; a night without sleep takes its toll on an old woman. “You’re worn out, you look like a wee shadow. Take your time. If needs be, I’ll go out and have a word with your cousin. You’ve time to rest a bit, and tell us what you’ve seen. Then you can go, if you must.”

“My uncle made me promise. Rona, he wants you to come with me. And I think he’s right. It’s not safe for you here, not anymore. There is…” A shiver coursed through her body, for all the warm blanket. “There is a bad time ahead, the darkest of times. Will you come?”

Rona shook her head. “Me, settle on the Whaleback? Hardly. I’m not afraid of dying, Nessa. I’m an old woman, I’ve done what I have to do here, and I’ll go when I’m called. You’re the priestess now, lass. The ancestors will watch over me, and I over them, as long as it’s meant to be.”

“That’s just it,” Nessa whispered. “I don’t think you’ve done it yet, not all of it. I was asked if you are strong. I think there is another task for you, Rona, but I fear for you if you stay here unguarded. There is…there is an empty future for us, for the Folk and the islands, if we cannot be strong enough.”

“We?” queried Rona, eyes shrewd.

“You, and me, and…Eyvind.”

“Ah,” said the old woman. “We were right about him, then. Will you tell him?”

“I don’t know how. It sounded as if…it sounded as if by helping us, he would sacrifice himself. I don’t want to send him to a certain death, Rona. How can I do that? He’s not even one of us. It’s like using a warrior whose only part in a battle is to rush in first, and die.”

“Tell him. I’ll go out and have a word with Kinart. I’ll let him know you’ll come as soon as you’re strong enough.”

The door creaked open and shut. She must sit up, must summon her strength, for all the piercing pain in her head and the leaden weight in her heart. Now she felt bile rising, she was going to be sick. Curse it, this wasn’t fair at all…

“Here,” said Eyvind. He held a bowl for her, one hand on her brow as she retched helplessly. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “It’s all right. You’ll be better soon.”