woman’s lips lifted slightly in an ironic half-smile as she took a sip from her goblet. “Indeed, Lord, I have no desire to foster contention between you and your brother princes. Yet it is as I have said: I have little choice but to stay, if what you have told me is true.”
“True it is: the ravens have seen what comes. Finvarra’s ships have already passed onto the Sea Road, no matter that the Tracks are weak this season. He intends, I am certain, to lay siege to Tir-Nan-Og unless I relinquish you.”
An eyebrow lifted delicately. “And will you withstand this siege?”
Lugh’s face was grim. “For a while. I will seal the borders, if need be. Once, already, I have done so.” Morwyn dipped her fingers in the pool and watched the drops trickle through them, a gleam of diamonds in the waning light. “Long has it been since Faerie went to war.”
“And now—forgive me, Lady—over so small a thing as the lives of a pair of half-mad twins.”
“—who happened to be littermates to the King of Erenn!”
Lugh shook his head. “That, I expect is but an excuse. Finvarra, I doubt it not, grows weary, as do I. The years weigh heavy when they have no end. Sometimes any change from boredom is sufficient.”
“What of the Lands of Men? Would it not profit both of you more to turn your attention there? They are a threat; the matter of myself a mere legal bother.”
Lugh sighed heavily. “In that you echo your one-time lord’s thinking but never mine. We could not win such a war and remain unchanged. I doubt we could win it at all.”
“Yet you have just spoken of change as a thing desired.”
“But there is change and change.”
“And none of this addresses your problem.”
“True, and I can find no simple solution. I have cast the Runes and read the Tracks, and all I have found is thunder. Even Oisin is baffled.”
Morwyn set down her goblet and folded her arms decisively. “We must therefore trust to our own devices! Well then, there are two things I have to tell you: One is that I would not bring war upon one who has given me succor and greatly honored my son—thus, if I can find a means to accomplish it, I will leave. But the other thing is more fell, which is that to which I alluded before: the reason we may already be too late.”
Lugh’s eyes narrowed abruptly. “I think it is time you told me.”
The Fireshaper took a deep breath. “There is a secret known to my people that I have learned by certain means that we employ, of which I should not speak lest it mark me a traitor…”
“I would not have you do that ,” Lugh told her, “whatever may be your reason.”
“That is for me to decide, a matter between myself and my conscience. But the news I bear is this: For a very long time, Finvarra has been building a navy in secret. Human wrights he has employed, as well as the dwarf folk.”
“All this I have heard,” Lugh said. “Finvarra’s fondness for ships is widely known.”
“Ah yes, but what is not so widely known is that he has had other aid as well: the aid of my mother’s people.”
Lugh’s mouth became a thin, hard line. “Powersmiths!” he whispered. Then, louder, “What kind of aid?”
“With keel and prows, with sails and oars—and with Power—such Power, Lord, as will render the seas open at any season!”
Shocked silence was Lugh’s only response.
“What this means, of course,” Morwyn continued, “is that you may not have as much time to prepare as you had expected. That is why it may already be too late for me to leave your country.”
“I have ships as well,” Lugh said heavily.
“Ships swifter than the Winds Between the Worlds?”
“Far swifter, and also of Powersmith crafting. Who do you suppose built the airy navy that found you on the mountain in the Lands of Men?”
“But Finvarra’s ships are newer—and far, far faster!” Lugh gnawed his moustache thoughtfully. ‘This is all ill to speak of, Lady: yet there is one thing you may
“True it is: the ravens have seen what comes. Finvarra’s ships have already passed onto the Sea Road, no matter that the Tracks are weak this season. He intends, I am certain, to lay siege to Tir-Nan-Og unless I relinquish you.”
An eyebrow lifted delicately. “And will you withstand this siege?”
Lugh’s face was grim. “For a while. I will seal the borders, if need be. Once, already, I have done so.” Morwyn dipped her fingers in the pool and watched the drops trickle through them, a gleam of diamonds in the waning light. “Long has it been since Faerie went to war.”
“And now—forgive me, Lady—over so small a thing as the lives of a pair of half-mad twins.”
“—who happened to be littermates to the King of Erenn!”
Lugh shook his head. “That, I expect is but an excuse. Finvarra, I doubt it not, grows weary, as do I. The years weigh heavy when they have no end. Sometimes any change from boredom is sufficient.”
“What of the Lands of Men? Would it not profit both of you more to turn your attention there? They are a threat; the matter of myself a mere legal bother.”
Lugh sighed heavily. “In that you echo your one-time lord’s thinking but never mine. We could not win such a war and remain unchanged. I doubt we could win it at all.”
“Yet you have just spoken of change as a thing desired.”
“But there is change and change.”
“And none of this addresses your problem.”
“True, and I can find no simple solution. I have cast the Runes and read the Tracks, and all I have found is thunder. Even Oisin is baffled.”
Morwyn set down her goblet and folded her arms decisively. “We must therefore trust to our own devices! Well then, there are two things I have to tell you: One is that I would not bring war upon one who has given me succor and greatly honored my son—thus, if I can find a means to accomplish it, I will leave. But the other thing is more fell, which is that to which I alluded before: the reason we may already be too late.”
Lugh’s eyes narrowed abruptly. “I think it is time you told me.”
The Fireshaper took a deep breath. “There is a secret known to my people that I have learned by certain means that we employ, of which I should not speak lest it mark me a traitor…”
“I would not have you do that ,” Lugh told her, “whatever may be your reason.”
“That is for me to decide, a matter between myself and my conscience. But the news I bear is this: For a very long time, Finvarra has been building a navy in secret. Human wrights he has employed, as well as the dwarf folk.”
“All this I have heard,” Lugh said. “Finvarra’s fondness for ships is widely known.”
“Ah yes, but what is not so widely known is that he has had other aid as well: the aid of my mother’s people.”
Lugh’s mouth became a thin, hard line. “Powersmiths!” he whispered. Then, louder, “What kind of aid?”
“With keel and prows, with sails and oars—and with Power—such Power, Lord, as will render the seas open at any season!”
Shocked silence was Lugh’s only response.
“What this means, of course,” Morwyn continued, “is that you may not have as much time to prepare as you had expected. That is why it may already be too late for me to leave your country.”
“I have ships as well,” Lugh said heavily.
“Ships swifter than the Winds Between the Worlds?”
“Far swifter, and also of Powersmith crafting. Who do you suppose built the airy navy that found you on the mountain in the Lands of Men?”
“But Finvarra’s ships are newer—and far, far faster!” Lugh gnawed his moustache thoughtfully. ‘This is all ill to speak of, Lady: yet there is one thing you may
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