Kern slips out of the fishwive’s hut before the dawn breaks lest Sia awaken and begin to dote over him begging him to break the fast with him. He has tarried too long at the Crannog, and the Lady is likely already preparing to charge him with another task. That is, the Lady and the Lady’s daughter, Mai.

Mai is filling her mother’s role all too quickly for Kern’s liking, and he isn’t certain that will bode well for him should Siobhan decide to pass on this mortal coil anytime soon. He supposes there will always be a place for himself at the Brugh, but Mai is nowhere near as housebound as her mother always has been, and seems to more willing to try out the mystical arts. What need does Mai have for a messenger, especially one who wasn’t truly a part of the family, when she can carry the messages herself and not have to worry about whether they got through?

Perhaps he’ll search out Siobhan’s neice, Siofra, and see she and her husband Pol need an able hand. Last he’s heard she had yet another mouth to feed to add to her litter of children and likely hasn’t a moment to spare to help Pol tend to the crops.

No sense worrying about a future that hasn’t happened, Kern considers. To take his mind off of it, he begins to whistle, making up the song as he walks along the trail.