That night Aífe approached Lucius as she carried a pitcher of mid around the main hall, refilling cups. Lucius’s cup was still full as he sat wrapped in thought next to the fire. His mind was too wholly taken up with the day’s events to pay much attention to food and drink.

Aífe paused as she came nearer, put the pitcher down, and sat down next to him. They were both facing the hearth.

“Did it go well for you today?” she asked.

Lucius turned to her, his eyes not quite focused on his surroundings.

“Did it go well?” she repeated.

He blinked and found himself staring once more into the eyes that had nearly swamped him. “Go well?”

“Yes, did you like your lessons?”

He grinned. “Like isn’t exactly the word I would use, but, yes, the lessons made new places inside me.”

“Ah!” Aífe gave a little clap. “Yes! That’s it exactly!”

Before either could say another word, Bébinn and Amalgáid were beside them.

“This is not permitted,” Bébinn said. “You may not share stories or thoughts of your lessons. Each lesson is crafted for the individual student!”

“That is correct,” said Amalgáid. “You each have but a short time to be here, and you must not be distracted. It is your job and your duty to take in all that we offer and carry it back out to the world. Thus it has ever been for the dedicants who come to us.”

Bébinn led Aífe away, and Amalgáid stood so as to block Lucius’s view of the young woman. He knew what a distraction a youthful member of the opposite sex could be. But why, between earth and the heavens, had the gods chosen two of them? It was a mystery. Training both of them at the same time was already proving difficult.

After that, Lucius and Aífe were careful not to speak to or come near one another, but they still could not avoid each other’s eyes.

The next morning, Bébinn addressed Aífe while they were in the women’s quarters before the morning meal. “You must prepare to spend some nights in the wild. We will remain outside however long it takes until you accomplish your task.”

“Where are we going this time?” Aífe’s curiosity mingled with trepidation.

“To the cliffs of the western shore, where you will learn the lesson called fúaimm,” Bébinn replied.

They packed extra bedding and rolled it into oiled leather tarps, which they tied with ropes to sling onto their backs. Aífe took out the oiled wool clothing she had worn on her passage across the sea in case of inclement weather and dressed in layers for the journey. Each packed a large basket of bread, water, apples, and cheese and cut several stout poles for a lean-to.

The day was warm, and by the time they had crossed the island and reached the western beach, they were drenched with perspiration.

“The sunlight is deceiving, Aífe. By nightfall, it will be cold out here in the wind. Let’s erect our shelter and prepare our camp.”

They pushed the poles into the sand, leaning them against the cliff face, and then they draped an oiled tarp over the poles with a few stones to weight the leather against the wind. A second tarp made a floor to keep out the sand. Finally, they gathered stones to make a round cooking hearth. Bébinn would spend her days collecting driftwood and dried seaweeds for the fire while Aífe accomplished her tasks.

“Are you growing tired of all this instruction yet?” Bébinn asked as they put the finishing touches to their camp.

“No, I am actually glad I came to this place,” Aífe replied truthfully, humming softly to herself as she unpacked the last of her things.

Bébinn had no doubt that the presence of the handsome young arrival had something to do with Aífe’s pleasant mood.

“It is very nice to hear you singing a little tune to express yourself. The task you have come here for today is to learn to use your voice to accomplish much more. There are many aspects to the sounds that come from your throat. The human voice can chant, sing, and magnify self-expression and creativity. The throat can also be used to achieve power in diplomacy, ambassadorship, and political persuasion. A voice can communicate truth and promote justice, loyalty, and kindness, or it can foster ignorance by misleading and manipulating. It is a powerful tool. There is a deeper mystery involving speech, which is that the spoken word actually shapes reality.”

“What do you mean, it ‘shapes reality’?” Aífe asked.

“Each time you take in a new awareness or a new bit of knowledge, it influences your thinking. To utter your new knowledge as words, you first have to pattern that knowledge into your thinking. When you express the new idea or awareness out loud, it influences the shape of the world and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. In other words, thought and language create reality, and the reality we experience is actually a mirror of the thoughts, language, and speech we have put into play.

“This means that we must pay careful attention to the way we and others use language. Words that remove guilt, shame, and remorse show pure intent. A kind voice that rises and falls like a melody will draw others like a flower draws bees and indicates heartfelt concern in the speaker. A true voice speaks words that nourish our connection to the whole, the entire tribe, to all life. It reminds us of the numinous spirit within all things. Such a voice shows us how to best serve all creation. A voice like that, properly used, can even destroy illness and disease.”

“Ethne once sang a dying person to the Otherworld,” Aífe observed. “It was as if her song removed pain and brought peace at a terrifying time.”

“Exactly. A voice can be used to release tension, to foster love and forgiveness, and bring relaxation and nourishment to the soul. It can be used to communicate these things to others. But the opposite is also true. A voice raised in anger can wound like a sword, and such wounds are often permanent. Harsh words can cause a cut that is carried for a lifetime.

“There is yet another use of the voice that involves power and persuasion. To develop that voice, you must learn to speak with authority, to large as well as small crowds, which is why I brought you to this place. Do you see that cliff over there, opposite to the one where we made our shelter?”

“Yes, I see it,” Aífe answered.

“Good. You must stand here by our tent and practice throwing words at that cliff in a normal speaking voice until the sound returns to you as an echo. Then you will know that you have achieved the volume and strength necessary to address a sizeable crowd or to invoke the gods in a large ritual so that everyone can hear you. Use your whole chest to make the words, and send them from the very bottom of your rib cage. And remember to breathe! I will be down on the beach fishing most of the day, in case you wonder where I am.”

Aífe practiced all that day and into the next. On the third day, she finally heard the returning echo that told her she had succeeded. Bébinn, who had been sunning herself by the cliff face all morning, heard it too and quickly rose to congratulate her student.

“Excellent work, Aífe, it is much harder for a woman to achieve the voice of authority. Men can often do it in a day because their chests are deeper and larger. I am so very proud of you!”

“Thank you,” Aífe said, feeling a little hoarse.

Bébinn reached into her pocket and ceremoniously took out yet another stone.

“This is a stone known as turcait, which comes from the east. The sky blue color corresponds to the pool of energy in the throat. You can lay the stone over your throat to soothe and heal it. You can also keep it in your crane bag and simply visualize its color on any red, sore, or inflamed body part, because the color blue helps to release tension and inflammation in the body.

“Visualizing the color blue also allows a person to relax his or her mind and take in feelings of love and forgiveness. You will know it is working when tears flow in a release of pain. You can imagine yourself or another person enveloped in a cloud of blue, and use the color to send healing and love to yourself or to any creature. Can you do that?”

Aífe answered, “I will place the stone on my throat and see myself bathed in a sky blue mist. It will help me to relax my throat muscles after all the yelling I have been doing!”

“Perfect. I’ll roast the fish I caught this morning, and then we can break down our camp and go home.” And Bébinn neatly draped the filleted fish over a green stick suspended between two Y-shaped branches on either side of the embers.