Author Description

"Her man, the Bard Tadhg, was not this thing that shivered by the fire on the warmest summer days, his strange eyes vacant. Maire remembered Brigid's curse: May he wander far, and may you seek him down the years. She tried to forget the words, and knelt beside the pool. She had never before seen the sacred trout in all the times she had come here. It turned sideways; it glowed amber, unafraid. Soundless, it spoke. "You would be Maire ni Donnall?" "I am she." "You search for Tadhg MacNiall, your husband." The trout hung in the water, effortless. "It seems he is mine no longer," Maire said. "He slept on the faerie mound to hear the music of the Sidhe. Since then he has changed, an in no way can I heal him." "He played for Conn, King of the Cruithni," said the trout, "but now he plays for the ruler of the Sidhe, while another wears his shape. The Queen of the Sidhe is very beautiful; perhaps your man has forgotten you." "Four years we had together, tears and laughter. For beauty alone he would not be forgetting me." Maire grew angry. " I will go after him. "When Tadhg would not leave the crystal world of the Sidhe, beneath Loch Neagh, Maire the Healer resigned herself to stay there...."--Goodreads.com.