“How could this have happened?”
“I could not say. Though it is almost certainly connected to whatever visited you in the mere.” Her lips twisted into a dark smile.
“You think it was my fault?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Simply… peculiar.” She considered him. “I have seen many things in my dreams. Some have come to pass. Others… Well, not everything the Moon gives us is sure. But one thing is certain—I have never seen a thing so great as to bleed my eyes from their pits.”
He swallowed heavily. “In my dreams… I see a terrible war. Invaders from beyond the sea.”
“War?” She gave a thoughtful trill. “Inmydreams, I see a sunless sky and a great victory.”
Victory? That could not be further from his vision. And he wondered… who was right?
“I always knew you were special,” she said, dipping a horsetail brush into an open bowl of paint.
“I do not wish to be special,” he said. “All I want is for the Vaich to listen. I believe my dreams are a warning. That they tell of what’s to come. And what has been before.”
“Before? How profound.” She lifted his chin with the crook of her finger and began to color the corner of his eye.
“Do you believe me?” he asked.
“I believe that you were called here for a reason. And that reason has yet to manifest.”
“Then help me convince the Vaich.”
“Should he listen, what would you tell him?”
“The truth.”
She hummed, admiring her work. “The An’Atherin do not enjoy to hear truths. Even less when they come fromourmouths.”
“But I could help him to prepare.”
“Seems a mercy he does not deserve.”
“He?” The druid shook his head. “His fate will be all our fates, if nothing is done. Should I damn every man, woman, and child to death for one man’s pride?”
She smiled. “It would make a riveting story.”
“With no one left to tell it,” he said. “The druids of the past spoke of the coming of ships. If my musings are fact, then the Naém may tell us how to elude them as we once did.”
“It is curious, don’t you think? Your people can see across history, yet you have never heard of such creatures.”
It was true. But he supposed even the druids’ memories were subject to time. Maybe his dreams weren’t certain. Yet, he could not ignore the piercing dread in his heart; the fear of a cycle repeating. If he could only return to the trees… but without the Vaich’s permission, his paths to the Fáoth were few.
“I will find out, one way or another. I’ll convince him to let me go to them—”
“And what shall you do if he does not?”
“What other option do I have?”
Hirí put down her brush. “The Vaich is young, and yet untested. He, like all men, clings to power. But if you insist, there are other ways to tame a beast.”
The druid bristled. “Thatis not to be considered.”
“No?” She chuckled. “I see. You find his manner abhorrent. Perhaps his bedside shall be otherwise?”
He scoffed. “I’m not interested in seduction. I would have him listen honestly.”
