Daybreak was never so harsh or startling. Without warning, a bolt of light pierces my eyes, painfully shrinking them to squinting cinders. It has been so long since I saw the sun, it takes me awhile to realize that the black hood has finally been jerked from my head. Momentarily blinded by the unaccustomed glare, I cry out in confusion.

When the slashing edge of dazzling sunlight dulls into an ordinary midday glow, the first thing I recognize is Morann's face. He is staring curiously at me with his head slightly to one side, in the way that one might stare at a strange beetle. As soon as I see that face, my struggle to remember him comes to a chilling end.

If I didn't know him, I might think him a handsome man. His large, luminous sky-blue eyes shine like rare gems from below a smooth and lofty brow topped with a rebellious thatch of thick black curls. His cheeks are ruddy but the rest of his skin is pearly pale, made paler still in contrast with his dark cloak. In his hand he holds the hood I've worn for - how many days now? He continues to stare at me as he lets the hood drop onto the road.

The rag that has bound my mouth is gently undone. Morann puts a water-skin to my lips. Eager to quench a raw thirst, I gulp several swallows before the bitter taste tells me I've made a stupid mistake. I spit the last of it into the sacrificer's face.

Morann laughs, of course, and offers more. "Drink, Flidais! It will ease the pain. You will go to your ancestors on a glittering cloud, not a raft of agony. Drink!"

With every shred of willpower I can summon, I try to cough up Morann's potion but its no use.

"We're almost at the border!" someone shouts impatiently.

Another one replies laconically, "No need to be too hasty. We want them to follow closely."

Morann kicks the horse that we are sharing. He holds me tightly but not uncomfortably. While we ride, he tells me what is to become of me. "A noble death for a noble woman," he proclaims and kisses my neck. "This is where the noose will cut into your tender flesh. Your blood will be spilled to bless the ground. I am always quick with my knife, which is very sharp. Then what? The axe? In what order will the triple death be done? Do you know, wise one?"

A burning nausea swells in my belly. Numbness creeps into my limbs. I struggle to keep awake. The landscape comes alive around us in a swirl of green and blue. I recognize these hills, which will soon flatten out into the boglands near Dun Ailinn.