Nessa’s heart was pounding. There was no right way to say this. “Before I do that, I would thank you for giving Rona refuge here. I don’t know how that came about, but it is no longer safe for my folk to wander abroad, and I recognize that your kindness has probably saved her life.” She turned to Rona. “I said thank you,” she told the wise woman in her own tongue. “For putting up with you, that is. You’re a stubborn old woman, and too brave for your own good.”

“It was no trouble,” Margaret said gravely. “Your friend makes undemanding company, and she’s earned her keep cooking for the men, though I could do without her herbal teas. Now go on. I need your account of yourself. They say you are King Engus’s close kin. I did not know that the day I came to your dwelling. You must have thought me somewhat ill-mannered.”

Nessa managed a smile. “No, my lady. I thought you a little misguided, but courageous and open. You’ve given me no cause to change my mind, even though your people have cut down my own with heedless savagery. I need your help tonight. I must make my way to Somerled’s hall. I must be there by dawn. I need a horse, and I need you to let me pass unhindered.”

Margaret’s eyes widened. “That, surely, would be the height of folly,” she said. “If you are indeed Engus’s kin, you should go anywhere but there. If Somerled knew you lived, he would see you only as an enemy and a threat to his authority. You should leave the islands forever. To travel to the settlement spells only death or captivity for you. Why would you do it? You do not seem a foolish girl.”

“I can explain. But…this will be very shocking to you; it will distress you greatly.”

“I can’t consider letting you go unless you tell me what you’re doing,” Margaret said gravely. “My husband was chieftain here. I have a certain responsibility.”

Nessa could not hold back a flare of sudden anger. “Forgive me,” she said, “but is not that responsibility somewhat shadowed now that your husband’s men have hacked down my kinsmen and taken my kinswomen captive? You should hang your head in shame that our good king was burned in his hall, and the ancient seat of the Folk made into a bloody killing field, only because your husband’s people chose to set foot on these islands. This place has been our home since the time before memory. You tell me to leave forever. It is I who should bid you leave, I think. Your responsibility should have been to stop those acts of slaughter. It is too late now.”

Margaret stood very still. Her lips were a thin line. The restless hands clutched and twisted together.