Arriving at the cave entrance, Bee was surprised to see a young woman sitting under the gnarly tree, the lone survivor in this harsh landscape. Expecting an ambush, she took hold of her dagger’s hilt before stepping out into the glaring sun.

  “You won’t need that,” the girl said, turning milky eyes in her direction.

  How can she see if she’s blind?

  “Who are you?”

  “Sit, Bechuille, we have much to discuss.”

  Bee was surprised again when in moments she found herself seated in front of the white ashes of a dead fire, opposite the blind girl and the tree. It was as though she’d had no control over her actions, nor memory of them.

  What can she want? Something unsavoury, no doubt. Dagda up to his usual.

  The girl was beautiful or would be if not for the paleness of her skin. If Marbh was like a ceramic mask, this girl was almost translucent. Where the lips of pale-skinned women were accentuated by contrast, this girl’s lips were grey, dry, puckered almost.

  Like a corpse, Bee thought, which caused the girl to tilt her head, as if listening to something Bee couldn’t hear. She’s not been here long. The ashes were fresh, and her skin was not burned by the desert sun. There was no sign of the Maidens’ bodies, and Bee wondered where they were.

  Taken by the wolves Finn claimed never come here, she supposed. Or else, I’m somewhere other than the Kingdoms.

  “We’re in the Kingdoms, Bechuille,” the girl said. “This is the Cave of Cats. Dagda had the Ban Sidhe bodies removed before he sent me here.”

  So, she don’t need to see. She’s inside me head.

  Bee felt her anger rising. Another of Dagda’s vassals sent to taunt her, no doubt. This white apparition wasn’t here to dupe her into some unsavoury action, but whatever her intention, it would not be good.

  “I was here before you,” the girl said, a crooked smile speaking of her small victory.

  “But Dagda could have predicted me coming here. Whatever that was,” Bee waved back towards the cave entrance, “it was planned. And there’s nowhere else I could run.”

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  “That’s very close to the truth, Bechuille. Your argument with your master wasn’t planned. However, I foresaw your fight and your arrival here. I’m a seeress.”

  “I don’t believe—”

  “Which is my bane,” the girl interrupted. “I am dead and cursed. My foretelling will never be believed.”

  “Forget foretellings. I don’t believe anything yer telling me. It’s horseshit.”

  The girl bowed her head. The crooked smile remained as she put her hands in her lap and waited.

  “Who are ye?” Bee repeated.

  “My name is Cassandra.”

  “And how do ye come to be here, Cassandra?”

  “In my world, I was murdered by a jealous queen called Clytemnestra. Your God rescued me from… I think you call it Tech Duinn. Hades where I come from. My old world is on the same plane where Dagda found the humans for his conquest. Brutal warriors who would not be stopped.”

  “I’d thank ye to stay out me head, so I would.”

  “I’m sorry, Bechuille. I have no control. I can see the thoughts of all those around me, which is why Dagda sent me here. Here I can read futures uninterrupted by the noise of a thousand minds. And, of course, the Cheerful God can scheme in private.”

  “Yer not here to foretell Dagda’s idea of me future?”

  Cassandra tilted her head and smiled genuinely. The crookedness had fled. “I can see why you would think so, but no. I will tell you what I foresee, and you won’t believe me, not yet. There will come a time when you recall this moment and realise it was true. When that time comes, all I ask is that you remember your duty.”

  “There’s that word again: duty. What does it mean?”

  “That, too, I shall tell you.”

  “What then is this foretelling?”

  “Soon, your brother, the rebel, and the God will discover the rebel’s hideaway is no more. Ash and bodies are all that remain. The rebel will vow vengeance on Balor for ordering the annihilation of his people. His revenge will start events that could lead to the destruction of the Fae. You are destined, with a horse warrior, to save humanity, which, at the same time, will determine the fate of your people. The horse warrior will fight an Undead Captain, and the outcome of that battle will decide the fates, both human and Fae. For that battle to happen, you, Bechuille, must release the demon horde. That is your duty. Releasing the horde.”

  When the seeress finished and tilted her head, Bee was tempted to say she didn’t believe her. Glaring at the alabaster skin, she thought the girl’s curse to be highly convenient.

  “Well, if that’s all,” she said, rising and wiping the dust off the seat of her pants. “I have a long walk ahead.”

  “Yes. You will walk to Falias, where King Ochall will give you a black stallion. With the new pulley system in place, the stallion will be lowered over the wall across The Gap, and you will go to your friend, Eogan and begin life as a smuggler.”

  “If ye say so,” Bee said, while wondering how the girl could possibly know about Eogan. Must be some trick or other. If she’d used draíocht I would have sensed it.

  The girl tilted her head, the crooked smile once again in place. “Remember, Bechuille, to do your duty.”