our charge?

LAVARCAM--All is well.

CONCOBAR--Is there peace in Deirdre's heart?

LAVARCAM--She is happy, not knowing a greater happiness than to roam the
woods or to dream of the immortal ones can bring her.

CONCOBAR--Fate has not found her yet hidden in this valley.

LAVARCAM--Her happiness is to be here. But she asks why must she never
leave the glen. Her heart quickens within her. Like a bird she listens
to the spring, and soon the valley will be narrow as a cage.

CONCOBAR--I cannot open the cage. Less ominous the Red Swineherd at a
feast than this beautiful child in Ulla. You know the word of the Druids
at her birth.

LAVARCAM--Aye, through her would come the destruction of the Red Branch.
But sad is my heart, thinking of her lonely youth.

CONCOBAR--The gods did not guide us how the ruin might be averted. The
Druids would have slain her, but I set myself against the wise ones,
thinking in my heart that the chivalry of the Red Branch would be
already gone if this child were slain. If we are to perish it shall be
nobly, and without any departure from the laws of our order. So I have
hidden her away from men, hoping to stay the coming of fate.

LAVARCAM--King, your mercy will return to you, and if any of the Red
Branch fall, you will not fall.

CONCOBAR--If her thoughts turned only to the Sidhe her heart would grow
cold to the light love that warriors give. The birds of Angus cannot
breathe or sing their maddening song in the chill air that enfolds the
wise. For this, Druidess, I made thee her fosterer. Has she learned to
know the beauty of the ever-living ones, after which the earth fades and
no voice can call us back?

LAVARCAM--The immortals have appeared to her in vision and looked on her
with eyes of love.

CONCOBAR--Her beauty is so great it would madden whole hosts, and turn
them from remembrance of their duty. We must guard well the safety of
the Red Branch. Druidess, you have seen with subtle eyes the shining
life beyond this. But through the ancient traditions of Ulla, which the
bards have kept and woven into song, I have seen the shining law enter
men's minds, and subdue the lawless into love of justice. A great
tradition is shaping a heroic race; and the gods who fought at Moytura
are descending and dwelling in the heart of the Red Branch. Deeds will
be done in our time as mighty as those wrought by the giants who battled
at the dawn; and through the memory of our days and deeds the gods