His name was Éogan. Emery found out the next day when she joined Tess and Cathbad and all of the Red Branch Knights in Conchobar's hall, not for a feast but for an audience. They stood before him, all of them, as he sat on his too-large throne attempting to look intimidating. The stranger from the night before was by his side, but everyone else was on the floor, looking at Conchobar on his platform, and beyond them were the king's soldiers and the men who had arrived with the stranger, differentiated by their all-black ensembles. The King seemed uglier than Emery remembered, even from only two days ago, but that was presumably because she now understood his intentions with her sister.
Cullen was absent, and Emery, anxious and relieved at the same time, wondered how that was possible, whether the King was all right with it, but her question was answered when Conchobar asked loudly where his nephew was, and Bricriu, bowing as low as his prematurely hunched back would allow him to, responded, "Back to Dun-Dealgan, my King," uncharacteristically offering no further explanation.
Conchobar looked to Emery, who gave him a blank stare in reply, and the King shrugged it off, although his blistering expression revealed he thought more of Cullen's actions than he was willing to say.
Emery herself was astonished at Bricriu's announcement. She stood there in turmoil, though none sensed it but her old serving woman, crouched behind her. Had Cullen really gone? How could he have left her? Of course, what evidence had she given him that she wanted him to stay? But then her heart leapt at the possibility that he might have gone to check on Naoise and Deirdre, to perhaps move them somewhere safer—oh, but what if he were caught? Conchobar would surely want his head in that case! It would certainly be treachery to so shamelessly thwart the King's wishes. So how could Cullen do such a thing without informing her? Deirdre was her sister, after all. And—
Tess suddenly elbowed her, and when Emery gave a bit of a yelp, her friend rolled her eyes toward the King. Emery realized he must have been talking to her. "Oh, I'm sorry—what were you saying?"
Conchobar scrunched his nose to show his annoyance, then turned to the man standing beside him. "You see, Éogan? His woman is addled."
The eye-patched, black-garbed brute grunted his agreement.
"I asked you about this sister of yours. Did you know she's the lover of a traitor to the King of Ulster?"
Emery gaped, sought the right words. He'd been so blunt! "I--I know she thinks she loves Naoise, and--and I know--at least I think I know that he loves her. But there can't be anything wrong with that. Two people in love should be together." She couldn't believe the words coming out of her mouth. On the one hand, she absolutely believed that two people in love should be together. But on the other, she didn't think one of those people should be fifteen, no matter the fact that Deirdre was only slightly younger than she was when she'd met Setanta.
"But when you came to me, Lady Emer, it was to free your sister from this traitor, am I not correct?"
She really didn't like the word he was using for Naoise--traitor. "I--I thought she was too young." Emery looked at the ground, but then she caught herself. "I was wrong, though! I thought he'd kidnapped her or lied to her, but now I realize that it's not true; they seem to love one another. So you can call all of this off, all right? I am so, so sorry for having you bring all your Knights here, but now I know that my perceptions were incorrect, as usual. You know me--addled." She said the last part jokingly, making circles near her head with her finger, hoping Conchobar would laugh along with her and lighten the mood, but he was clearly not in good humor.
The King glared at her, pulled on his thick black beard. "Your husband, Lady--why did he leave without you?"
The question took her by surprise. "I . . ."
"It seems to me that I have multiple traitors amongst my Knights, and surely it's my own nephew's doing. I've allowed him free reign for too long; he's turned my own against me, incited rebellion. You call him your leader, do you not?" The Knights before him muttered a bit but had no actual response. Standing, Conchobar veritably yelled, "I am your King! You owe--you swore--fealty to me, not to my nephew!" He was so loud that dust and debris sprinkled from the rafters above. "You make a choice--all of you, do you hear me? Right now. You uphold your oath to me, or you turn your back on your King and on Ulster--you join my nephew in his treachery!"
"No!" Emery cried, terrified at the turn the conversation had taken. "Cullen's not--he isn't--!"
"What the Lady is trying to say," Cathbad thankfully interjected, jumping forward and inclining his head and shoulders, "is that Cuchulain left last night not to help Naoise but to return to Dun-Dealgan because . . . she has broken his heart, my King. The Lord--Lord Cuchulain--he could not bear to be near the Lady Emer, as she has rejected him after he made every effort to find her."
Emery stared at the druid along with everyone else. Was that true? She saw Tess step nearer and take hold of Cathbad's hand and, while Conchobar mulled over the druid's words, Tess shook her head at Cathbad. What messages they were sending one another, Emery couldn't guess, but she was thinking about what Cathbad had just told everyone more than she was thinking about their signals.
"I will wait five moons, druid," Conchobar finally replied. "You bring me Cuchulain as well as those brothers and the Lady Emer's sister." He made a motion with a flick of his hand, and suddenly some of the soldiers behind moved forward and took hold of Tess. "If you fail to bring them all, I will execute your woman."
Emery was speechless, but she tried to move toward Tess only to be deterred by Cathbad as the druid slipped between the two of them. "I--I will fulfill your request!" He assured the King. Then he turned to Emery, entirely panicked. "I beg you--do not make this worse." He looked back to Conchobar. "Do I have your word that you will not harm her if I fulfill your request?"
"You do."
"And the Knights--they are freed from answering you, until I can prove your nephew's innocence?"
"Until you bring him to me."
"Yes, yes. I will do so." Cathbad gave a pained glance to Tess, a pleading look to Emery, and then, wrapping himself in his cloak, disappeared from sight.
After Cathbad had gone, Conchobar turned to the forbidding eye-patched man at his side. "Follow the druid to Dun-Dealgan. The fool will no doubt reveal the location of this Naoise. You'll know what to do." Éogan nodded brusquely and left the hall with his men. The King then turned to the rest of the Red Branch. "You remain here at my leisure; I advise you to choose your actions wisely until Cuchulain returns. As for you--" he turned his eye on Tess but rather than speak to her directed his comment to the soldiers at her back "Escort them to the Lady Emer's dwelling. Do not let them leave."
The girls were pushed along, and Emery made sure to give each of the Red Branch an evil look for neglecting to do or say anything in support of Cullen, though Cearnach bent and growled, "You are not alone, Lady" as she passed, and Keltar gave her an encouraging nod. What they intended or whether they intended anything at all, she couldn't say.
The minute Tess and Emery were alone in their roundhouse (with the exception of the latter's serving woman crouched by the fire), Tess broke down. For all the maturity she'd displayed over the past couple of days, she was still the old Tess at heart, trying to believe the best of everyone and everything, but there wasn't much to be happy about in the moment. Pacing back and forth in her long blue dress, her hair flowing over her shoulders and her bronze bracelets and barrettes occasionally glinting with caught firelight, Tess looked every bit the lady Emery once was, but she was fighting tears and saying things to herself about losing Cathbad and--children? Had Emery heard her mention unruly children?
"Are you mad at me?" Emery chanced, unsure what to say but feeling she had to say something, as Tess was frantic.
"No, Em. It's not always about you."
Her friend's words stung, and Emery retreated into herself, sitting by the fire and wishing she had some comfort for Tess. Charlie came over in his old woman guise and settled next to her like a frog on a log.
Tess paused in her pacing, apparently distracted by the old woman. She pointed to the wizened hag. "Something's off with your serving woman, Emery. I'm not stupid."
"You're right," Emery replied, not in a mood to disagree with Tess in her friend's current state. "It's Charlie."
"What? Are you insane?"
Emery turned to the woman. "Go on," she insisted. "Show her. Who cares? We're going to be stuck in here for a while."
The old woman gave some sort of spittle-filled response and slitted her eyes, but then she stood, did her thing, and morphed into Charlie in his rather gallant checked tartan. Tess's reaction was worth the reveal; the girl stood stone still, absolutely astounded at the transformation. Emery was happy to take her friend's mind off of Cathbad, if even for just a moment. But then she realized she'd have to somehow explain it.
"Charlie . . . he's Fear Doirich. The Dark Man, all right? I already said this to Cullen. And he took me away, and frankly, it was horrible, but that's all over now, and he and I, well, we're together for . . . reasons. I can't tell you more than that."
Tess looked from Emery to Charlie back to Emery, entirely stunned, not even really hearing what was being said, and for a moment, Emery thought she'd put her friend in a state of shock, but then Tess strode to Charlie and threw her arms around him. Surprised as much as Charlie was, Emery just watched the exchange, saw Charlie hesitate but eventually lift his arms to apathetically return his fake sister's embrace.
"I know you aren't my brother, really," Tess sniffed, backing away and looking him up and down, "but I have all those memories. Even if they aren't real, I feel like I know you."
Charlie looked indifferently at Tess. "You don't know me. I don't have the same memories you do. I don't have any, actually."
"But . . . how is that possible? I remember--"
"I just use what I need to get what I want."
"Oh. I see." Letting go of him, Tess looked at the ground, wiped her eyes, and Charlie turned with his cold gaze toward Emery, who suddenly felt stupid for having revealed him; he was probably more dangerous when Tess knew who he was. The old woman wouldn't have hurt her, but Charlie might. On the other hand, they were going to be stuck with each other until Cathbad returned, and how long could Emery go on pretending?
"Is this why Cullen was so upset?" Tess asked, waving a hand toward Charlie behind her. "Does he think you're together?" Her voice had taken on a hard edge.
Emery frowned in shame. "Yes, probably."
"But you aren't . . . ?"
That was a difficult one to answer. Emery looked at Charlie, who had been staring at her the whole time, and his expression seemed to breed icicles.
Tess took her friend's silence for confirmation. "You are? Oh Emery, no! What--?"
"Didn't you say you wouldn't expect answers until I was ready to talk? Besides, I don't think we need to worry about me right now. Everything is going to be fine, ok? Cat won't let anything happen to you, and neither will I."
"I'm not worried about myself," Tess replied, finally giving in and sitting down by the fire. "I'm worried about Cat; I don't want him to be so concerned over me. And I'm worried about Cuchulain--even more so now, after what you've just told me. Do you know how crazy he's been since you disappeared?"
Emery curled more into herself, across the firepit from Tess. Charlie stood against the wall in the background, watching them intently. "I don't want to know," Emery at length replied.
"Well maybe you need to. He lost it. Cat and I tried to keep him in Dun-Dealgan, but we couldn't. He went all over trying to find you or find word of you, and the stories we got back, about violence . . . he made enemies, Emery, and probably some pretty bad decisions." Tess paused and rubbed her forehead, sighed. "He only came back when he heard about your sister and Naoise, and then he decided to try to help them. I guess . . . I guess he figured if he couldn't help himself, at least he could help them. It gave him a goal, anyway. He sent them somewhere North, and then he and Cat and I were going to go check on them, but along the way, we got word that you were in Emain Macha. We told him to wait a bit, until we could come--there've been strange things happening in the countryside, and Cat had to--oh, well, that's beside the point. We told Cullen to wait, but he took off to get to you literally the second he heard."
But you broke his heart by being here with someone else, after all he'd done to find you, Emery heard her friend imply, no spoken words necessary. Maybe Cathbad had told the truth, then, that Cullen had left because of her.
"I told him not to be hasty, to give you whatever time you might need, and I meant it. I was mad when he rushed here and confronted you like that. I was on your side--we don't know what you've been through." Tess looked toward Charlie, who caught her eye and turned away. "But now I know why Cuchulain was so upset. It wasn't that you wouldn't say what happened . . . it's that you've forgotten him."
Emery stood up abruptly, too agitated to listen any longer. I have not forgotten him! she wanted to cry. I have never forgotten him. I love him more than I ever have. I love him so much it hurts! She wanted to say all of that and so much more, but Charlie suddenly approached and stood beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing, hard. It was a needed reminder. Opening up to Tess would surely lead to questions about why she was with The Dark Man, about what held her captive, about what they'd done, about why she was doomed . . . and telling Tess any of that would only endanger her friend. There was no antidote for this poison; Emery didn't want to bring anyone down with her. Though it was torture to remain silent, to allow Cullen and Tess and Cathbad to think terrible things of her, she deserved the suffering. What she'd done--given in to those monsters--it was unforgivable. Her whole life, apparently, had been a mistake. So her pain, now, was only fitting. It was penance.
Keeping one hand on Emery's shoulder, Charlie lifted the other and stroked her neck. Tess frowned and turned away, and then he pulled Emery aside. "Be careful. I'll kill her myself if you tell her anything," he whispered, his face way too close to hers, "and I'll make you watch."
Emery shoved him away from her and went to lie down on her bed, praying that she could sleep through the next several days, just so she didn't have to look at Charlie or face her friend's disappointment.