Then Fachtna said, "This is no bodily disease, but either Ailill suffers from the pangs of envy or from the torment of love." But Ailill was full of shame and he would not tell what ailed him, and Fachtna went away.
After this the time came that Eochy the High King should make a royal progress throughout his realm of Ireland, but Etain he left behind at Tara.

Before he departed he charged her saying, "Do thou be gentle and kind to my brother Ailill while he lives, and should he die, let his burial mound be heaped over him, and a pillar stone set up above it, and his name written thereon in letters of Ogham." Then the King took leave of Ailill and looked to see him again on earth no more.
After a while Etain bethought her and said, "Let us go to see how it fares with Ailill." So she went to where he lay in his Dun at Tethba.
And seeing him wasted and pale she was moved with pity and distress and said, "What ails thee, young man?
Long thou hast lain prostrate, in fair weather and in foul, thou who wert wont to be so swift and strong ?" And Ailill said, "Truly, I have a cause for my suffering; and I cannot eat, nor listen to the music makers; my affliction is very sore." Then said Etain, "Though I am a woman I am wise in many a thing; tell me what ails thee and thy healing shall be done." Ailill replied, "Blessing be with thee, O fair one; I am not worthy of thy speech; I am torn by the contention of body and of soul." Then Etain deemed that she knew somewhat of his trouble, and she said, "If thy heart is set on any of the white maidens that are my handmaids, tell me of it, and I shall court her for thee and she shall come to thee," and then Ailill cried out, "Love indeed, O Queen, hath brought me low.

It is a plague nearer than the skin, it overwhelms my soul as an earthquake, it is farther than the height of the sky, and harder to win than the treasures of the Fairy Folk.

If I contend with it, it is like a combat with a spectre; if I fly to the ends of the earth from it, it is there; if I seek to seize it, it is a passion for an echo.

It is thou, O my love, who hast brought me to this, and thou alone canst heal me, or I shall never rise again." Then Etain went away and left him.