A bird cawed overhead. I glanced up to find a large raven gliding through the wind toward Wexford. Ailish had also noticed the bird, by the upward tilt of her head. It sailed over the gate tower, which now stood directly in front of us like a giant stone maw. The guards must have recognized Henry from earlier, for no one challenged our approach this time.
We fell silent once inside the walls to keep from being overheard by the numerous sailors and fishermen milling about the streets in search of a warm hearth and supper. Though the impending confrontation with Carmen never strayed far from my thoughts, anticipation for a different battle weighed heavy on my shoulders when we finally reached the inn. I resented having to play peacekeeper between two grown men when the real threat lay miles away. To his credit, I assumed Henry would attempt to be reasonable, unless, of course, any more threats were made against me. Then I could only guess at which limbs would need mending. As for Sean, the presence of Lugh’s blood should settle his quarrel with Henry, but considering my brother’s stubbornness and deep-seated hatred of all things English, I feared even the sun god would prove insufficient to the job. My only real hope was that Justine was present and could use her particular gift to help maintain order.
With a sigh, I pushed through the door into the inn, wanting to gather my wits while Henry returned the horses to the stables. Warmth met me. Hunger gnawed at my stomach from the scent of roasting meat. At first I was surprised that my appetite had survived the day, until I recalled how little Ailish and I had eaten since breakfast. We moved in unison toward the adjoining dining room, apparently in unspoken agreement on the matter.
“We’ll request some supper first,” I said, “and see if my friends have arrived yet. Then we can ask around for Sean. One of the serving girls may know where he’s gone for the night.” Part of me hoped he would be easy to find so I could get on with the inevitable mediation. Another part wanted him well out of harm’s way on the road to Kildare, or wherever he considered home these days.
Ailish nodded and patted her own grumbling stomach. “I be hungry enough to eat a horse—” She stopped abruptly.
I stopped as well and took in the flush of heat that tinted her usually pale cheeks. “What is it? Are you feeling unwell?”
She tilted her head in the direction of the dining room. “The whole place be overflowing with Brigid’s blood.”
A low rumble of voices came from just out of sight—far too many for my three companions. “It appears we won’t have to search for Sean and his men after all.”
“There’s a piece o’ luck, though I’ll be taking me supper upstairs if’n you don’t mind. Too much heat ruins me appetite.”
The contention would ruin mine. “I’ll join you once I speak to my brother.”
A serving girl came around the corner, a full tray of empty tankards balanced in one hand. “Yeh’ll have to take yehr suppers in the kitchen tonight or go to the tavern. Some lady buttered me master’s palm to spare the tables for a private gathering.”
“They’re expecting us,” Ailish said, her confidence admirable for someone about to walk into a room full of mortal enemies.
The girl shrugged beneath the weight of the tray. “Then I’ll not waste me breath to tell yeh what happened to the last lad who went in there uninvited looking for a hot meal.” Her gaze rested on us just long enough to make sure her words found purchase before resuming a hurried path to the kitchen.
I faced the doorway and prayed one last time to find Justine around the corner. “Let’s get this done with—”
A lady’s laughter drifted from the room, infused with a familiar musical charm that reminded me of a hundred little silver bells. Catria... My spine stiffened as the blood drained from my face.
“Damnation,” I cursed under my breath. An image popped into my head of the aged couple hobbling into the inn earlier, and I cursed again for having dismissed the sight.
Ailish peered at me. “You’re not expecting that one, eh? The one with the lovely laugh?”
For a split second, I debated cutting a hasty retreat from the inn and the lovely laugh that belonged to the most powerful goddess born alive. Nora alone kept me in place, and the absurdity that I would face a witch but run from one of my own kind.
“Remember the woman you asked about? The one who takes in orphans?” I threw a thumb toward the dining room. “That’s her in there.” It had only been a matter of time before she had caught up to me. I should have considered myself lucky for the five-day head start.
“Lady Cate Dinley.” Ailish repeated the name I had shared in Seamus’s cart. “I thought she be a friend o’ yours.”
“She is,” I said through gritted teeth.
Ailish shifted her weight to one foot. “Not by your tone, she’s not.”
“Our relationship is...complicated.”
The serving girl rushed past again, ale sloshing over the rims of several full tankards in her haste toward the dining room. We watched in silence until her skirts disappeared around the corner.
“Did you speak true about her being Brigid’s strongest descendant?”
“Oh, she’s that by far.”