Blade of Fortriu by Juliet Marillier

duty? What choices would you make? What path would you follow?”
    Ana was silent a long time. Faolan busied himself with the fire, setting on sufficient wood to keep it going without creating too much of a blaze. When he looked up he saw the glint of tears on her cheeks.
    “I don’tknow,” she said in a whisper. “Not this one.”
    “But you don’t seek to change your direction.”
    “I’ll do what is required of me.” She blinked a few times, scrubbing her cheeks, and squared her shoulders. The royal blood, Faolan thought, was never more evident than now; it shone through the tears, the drawn pallor of her face, the undressed hair and hastily donned shawl. “In my case, there is nochoice,” Ana went on. “I imagine it’s different for you. You can determine your own future. You are answerable only to yourself.”
    There was no possible response to this. He could not tell her the truth. To do so was not within the rules by which he survived, the strictures that allowed him to go on. This conversation should never have begun. He thought that he had crossed the river successfully.Now, it seemed that crossing had plunged him in over his head.
    “What is it? What did I say?” She was quick. Even in the dark, she had seen something change in his face.
    “You should try to sleep,” Faolan said. “There’s more of this brew; pass me the cup, I’ll refill it.”
    They sat on a while in silence, save for faint snoring around them and, beyond the safe circle of firelight, the mysteriousnoises of the forest. Ana held the cup in her elegant, pale hands; even after the riding, the living rough, her nails were glossy, perfect ovals. His own were broken, filthy, gnawed to the quick. A killer’s hands. There was a time when it had not been so. Once, his hands had plied a different craft.
    “Who was Fionnbharr?” Ana spoke after a long silence.
    Her question took Faolan unguarded andhe answered without thinking. “A traveler. He was enchanted by a woman of the daoine sidhe , a fairy woman, and journeyed out of this world for nine and ninety years.” Too late, he realized what question and answer had revealed.
    “I see.” That was all she said. As women went, this one was remarkable in her restraint. For that he was deeply grateful.
    “You know Gaelic?” he asked her, thinking thathe must guard his tongue more carefully in future.
    “A few words only. We spoke the Priteni tongue at home but there were Christian monks on our home island. They were of the same origins as yourself.”
    “You should sleep,” he said again. “If you need to go into the woods before you retire, I’ll keep watch for you. No need to wake the girl.”
    Ana nodded. “She sleeps soundly, doesn’t she? Thankyou. When will you sleep?”
    “That needn’t concern you.”
    “I disagree. After all, you’re supposed to be leading this party; our safety depends on your being alert.”
    After a moment he realized that she was teasing him; there was a little smile on her lips, a dimple at one corner of her mouth. Her face was still streaked with the marks of her tears. The sight was incongruous. It made him feel veryodd. Possibly she was right. What but extreme weariness could play such havoc in his head?
    “I’ll sleep when the last shift goes out. As we won’t be riding on for a day, there’s plenty of time.”
    “You are human,” Ana said. “You should remember that sometimes.”
    “Are you giving me orders?”
    “Didn’t you call me meek? The meek don’t give orders. I merely point out what may be useful. You’re the onewho is in charge here. Shall we go?”
    They walked a certain distance into the forest. He waited while she disappeared to perform her private functions. At one point he flinched as a bird passed close by his face, its appearance so sudden he had not time to evade it. The creature alighted in a tree nearby, a blur of feather and shadow. Its beak was inimical, its strange, wild eye like that of aseer in