I get Badb’s body properly cleaned, and cover her body with a light blanket. I will need to retrieve her best dress in the morning, but first fall exhausted onto my pallet. I immediately fall into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Cathal invades my thoughts and dreams as a dim light enters my hut. I throw my arms around his neck in an impulsive hug like the one I gave him last night in the Inn. Only this time, he doesn’t brush me off. Instead he pulls me even closer and covers my mouth with his.

I wake with a start. While I’ve thought often of Cathal, my imagining has never been so vivid. I get up and wash my face and try to clear my mind. My day will be too full to dwell on such ideas.

I change into a clean dress and go out into the clean morning air. I head for the Dunn of the Cean Fine in search of proper attire for Babd.