The second time the woad was applied to them in front of each other, self-control was even more difficult. They slept one more time before this happened, waking up just in time to share the evening meal with Mailcon and Aalish's clan before they were woaded up and departed.

Tal had been impatient to get going, but he knew that a couple nights’ sleep and six meals would hold him in good stead. The woad magic made him not feel these needs, but his body had them nonetheless. He’d been on more than one raid after news of the enemy’s whereabouts had come so soon after a previous raid that they hadn't had time to sleep in between. The days following that woad wearing off were among the most difficult the people had ever spent: sleepless yet sleep deprived, hungry yet retching.

Yes, Tal knew it was best, the way they were going about this. The good news was that they were close enough now to the Gael territory that, woaded, they could make it inside two days, if they kept moving and didn't run into any enemies along the way. Deirdre had assured him she could help with the latter so long as they stayed near trees, hiding their scents, movement, and sounds.

But Tal had to get through this second woading first. Naked. And aroused.

To Aalish's credit, she didn't outwardly snicker. But Deirdre was another story.

The young and beautiful blonde druid looked at him knowingly, raising her chin and arching her eyebrows while she actually flexed her chest, thrusting her bared breasts out for him to see all the better while Aalish decorated them with sunbursts, strategically putting her nipples at the center of the suns.

Tal groaned as his manhood strained on its own to reach over and into Deirdre, where it promised his hunger would be sated. He couldn't do that.

Oh, it was permissible to sate such appetites with a druidess, encouraged even. But this was different. He felt his emotions being tangled up in every expression on the beautiful young druid's face.

No, if you join with her, even in ritual, your heart will no longer be your own.

She would be gone in a few days, and he probably would never see her again. He couldn't bear having his heart go with her, never to be seen again either. No, he couldn't even touch her, much less tell her what he wanted.

Mailcon worked on him while Aalish applied the woad to Deirdre. Mailcon's hands were sure, and the work was done quickly and effectively. Tal tried to keep his eyes closed most the time, but every once in awhile Mailcon would ask his opinion.

"Do you fancy the live oak I started here on your thigh, Tal? If you don't feel an affinity for the oak, I could end it here along your muscle line and start a falcon instead."

Dutifully, Tal looked.

"I like the oak. It's especially powerful for me, as it fuels the smithy fire which makes the weapons I wield."

Mailcon nodded in appreciation.

"I hadn't thought of that. You're right. The oak is a powerful talisman for you. I'll use it to cover the entire leg if you think that will serve."

Tal nodded, closing his eyes again to shut out the view of Deirdre's exquisite rear being decorated with the end of a fall of boulders down her back.

"Aye, that is well."

At long last, the two of them were entirely woaded, protected from feeling hunger, the lack of sleep, or being pierced by bladed weapons for the span of two days and two nights. This Deirdre was the first druid Tal had seen woaded in this way. Usually, the druids stayed behind during raids, preferring their sacred groves and needing rest after the work of woading up with all the warriors.

But she was a warrior in addition to a druid, a contradiction. This both made him worry for her and made him admire her. It was a problem.

But fortunately, she wished to be recognized from afar by the Gaels as a druid, so she put on white robes over her woad decorations.

Similarly, he did not wish for the Gaels to be wary of him as he approached their territory, and so he put on her long flowing Gaelic shirt with its billowy sleeves. A leine, she called it.

"There," she said once it was over his head and smoothed down over his knees, "you look like an Irishman."

He gave her a puzzled look.

"And what, pray tell, is an Irishman?"

She wrinkled up her cheek in the most adorable way, getting a look of frustration that suited her face most charmingly.

"In my time and beyond, the land across the sea west of here is called Ireland, and the people who live there are called the Irish. It comes from the Gaelic name for that land, Erin."

Tal grunted in thanks for the explanation, not wanting to reveal just how grateful he was for it.

"Some of the people have been over there during this time, but mostly druids. We have plenty of land up here to the northeast and don't need to hazard a crossing of the sea."

Her eyes grew concerned.

"I've often wished you had crossed the seas. There are people across the east sea who will be a problem once the Romans leave. Ah well. They too will intermarry with us, making us Scots stronger in the end than the Irish. But that's very far in the future, outside your lifetime and those of your children's children's children. Probably no concern of yours at all."

Now she looked downright superior, and he had to take her down a peg on this board she was measuring him against or he would never again have respect from her, he just knew.

"What do you know of the life of the people today? By your own admission you no longer know how to forge even the simplest tools. There is not one member of my clan who wouldn't be able to make a simple knife should the need arise. You would be left using rocks, would you not?"

She took in a breath as if to say something but then let it out, took another in a huff, then turned around and started walking west.

“We’ve a long trek ahead of us. We shouldn't waste the time standing around talking. Let's get going."

She said this not in Gaelic but in his language, no doubt so that all around would hear and understand that she was taking charge.

Let her think she’s in charge.

He patted his pouch with the three real brooch keys and waved to Mailcon and Aalish before following her west.