The Awakening

Breen finds herself in the place she’s dreamed of, with fields and a farmhouse. A man, Harken, and a woman, Aisling, tend her as she feels faint. They take her to another cottage and introduce her to a woman named Mairghread, or Marg, who is her grandmother. Breen learns that her father is dead and that she was born in this cottage. After she was kidnapped when she was three, her mother took her away to keep her safe.

Marg explains that this is a different realm named Talamh, a place where magick is possible. Breen wrestles with this idea. Marg tells her: “Break the chains on the restrictions locked around you […] Listen and feel and see the truth” (178).

While Breen struggles to take in this new information, Marg summons Morena, who was Breen’s friend as a baby and lives in Talamh. She asks Morena to take Breen back to Fey Cottage.

Breen is having a hard time believing where she is and compares Talamh to “some sort of Brigadoon” (182). Morena is of the Sidhe, a faerie clan, and has wings. She takes Breen through the Welcoming Tree, which is a portal back to Ireland, then lifts Breen and flies her to her cottage.