As Micheáilín grew, so did the forces that tested her mother. Rhiannon's trials were far from over. Occasionally, she would stray from a good path and resort to the dark arts.

"Athair, where did Mamaí go?"

"I don't know, mo rós. She should be home soon."

"Mamaí once told me I am to be a queen. What prince will I marry, Athair?"

"You won't be marrying a prince, little one. Someday, when you are older, you will be the queen of this land."

"But why me, Athair?"

"Your Mamaí says it is a prophecy, one that cannot be avoided."

"But what will happen to you and Mamaí when I become queen?"

"I don't know. But one thing I do know, is that you will always be my little rose."

Micheáilín looked out the window of the cottage and saw a woman in a black cloak walking towards it. She knew the woman was her mother.

"Mamaí is home, Athair! Mamaí is home!"

Domhnall looked outside at his wife and noticed that she was covered in blood.

"Stay inside, mo rós. Mamaí needs my help with something."

Rhiannon lifted her head and looked into her husband's eyes, but there was no colour in her eyes, her eyes were solid black.

"Is tú mo namhaid."

"Rhiannon, can you hear me?! Rhiannon, it's me, your husband Domhnall!"

"Let me see my daughter!"

"Rhiannon, you are not going inside covered in blood! Do you want to scare our daughter to death?!"

"Is í m'iníon mo namhaid!"

"No, she is not! If you so much as set foot in that house, so help me Heavenly Father, I will take Micheáilín back to Ireland with me!"

At the mention of the name of God, Rhiannon was struck by lightning and she fell to the ground. Domhnall went to check on her, and when she opened her eyes, they were back to normal.

"Domhnall?"

"What have you been getting yourself into, my love? Micheáilín and I will not tolerate any more of your disappearances."

"You would take our daughter and run away? You would leave me here?"

"Yes, your dark antics just might be the death of her. I will not let that happen."

"You can't leave me, Domhnall. You can't leave me."

"Don't give me a reason to, Rhiannon. Who did you kill this time?"

"A local peasant who wanted to stir up trouble and have our family killed. I couldn't let word get out about Micheáilín. But then as I was killing him, I could not control myself, and I slaughtered him. When I was done, there was no way anyone was going to identify him."

"We need to get you cleaned up before you go inside."

Domnall guided her to the creek behind their cottage, and had her change into a clean dress.

"Burn the bloody dress, Domhnall. Burn it."

"Go ahead inside. I'll light the fire."

"Mamaí, you're home! Where did you go?"

Domhnall walked inside as Rhiannon was asked the question.

"I didn't go anywhere special, my darling. I just went for a long walk."

"She has been asking me about when she will be queen."

"Soon, little one. Soon."

"But how soon, Mamaí?"

"I was not shown when, Micheáilín. Only that you will."

"What land will I be queen of?"

"The land we are in, of course. The island Terebinthia."

Later in the night, after Micheáilín was asleep, Domhnall decided it was time to have a long talk with his wife.

"I am sick of this, Rhiannon."

"Sick of what?"

"Sick of you, running off for a period of time, and us not knowing when you'll be bad. You off doing whatever black magic you do."

"I don't answer to you, Domhnall."

"No, but you answer to your daughter. Would you forget for once that you are a goddess and remember that you have a family? Do you not know that was you do destroys not only me, but also Micheáilín? Do you know what goes through her head when her mother is not around?"

"You threatened to take Micheáilín and run."

"Don't give me a reason to. If this happens again, I will pray to the God I know to be true, and kind, and loving, to give me a way back to the world I came from, and I will take Micheáilín with me. At least one parent needs to be around her at all times."

"If you go back to your world, Domhnall, I won't be able to bring you back. Even with all of my powers."

"Precisely. I know it sounds selfish of me, but if we do leave, at least your family will be safe from whatever it is that you do. But unfortunately, other families here won't be."

Domhnall gathered a pillow and some blankets and moved to their bedroom floor. He refused to sleep next to his wife for at least one night.

The next morning, Domhnall went fishing in the creek behind their cottage. Rhiannon decided to join him.

"How did you sleep last night, Domhnall?"

"I slept fine. And you?"

"It was cold without you next to me."

"And now you know what it was like, all of the times that you would run off. It was cold on those nights for me as well. And for Micheáilín."

"Everything I do now is a trial for me."

"What are your trials supposed to determine? It seems as though you would make a better human than you would a goddess."

"Don't say that of me, because then it will happen."

"Maybe that is what I want. It would make everything better for everyone if you were human, instead of an immortal witch."

"Domhnall, I was hoping we could get past this and maybe talk about having another baby."

"Rhiannon, you are not fit to be a mother at all, let alone of one child. Until you can stop going on these long murderous frollocks throughout the land, I never want to make love to you again. As of now, I wouldn't show you any form of intimacy if were the last souls alive here and had to repopulate it!"

When Domhnall walked back into the cottage, he found Micheáilín sitting on the floor crying, for she could hear her parents arguing. He carried her into his and Rhiannon's room and put her down for a nap to calm her.