Disclaimer: "Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog" and its' characters are owned by Saban and whoever else was involved with the creation and production of this show. Any new characters and story lines that come into play are of my own creation. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a fanfiction intended for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of it.

guardianM3: Hello readers, new and old. As some of you may know, this is the third story involving some of my original characters Macha and Aderyn (from "The Sacred Stone" and "Souls and Darkness"). I realize that the last two stories were about seven years ago, (time flies!), but I hope that everyone will enjoy this story. I do hope to write more MK stories, but I do have many other stories planned, and I need to work on my personal stories. There is never enough time.

Chapter 1: Griffin

Deirdre entered the courtyard, carefully avoiding the men carrying stones and other supplies for the new castle. The castle wasn't completed. The builders were working on part of the kitchen, the guards' quarters and the stables. The rebuilding of the castle of Kells had taken several months. Macha and Prince Ivar had helped with the designs to improve the building and its fortifications.

It had all been possible with the assistance of the kingdom of Reged and Aderyn's parents. Aderyn's parents had shown an interest in becoming allies with Kells and Reged. It had been a shock to everyone when Aderyn had revealed that she was the daughter of a king and a queen.

Deirdre's random thoughts stopped when she saw Rohan heading towards her. She worked on trying to ignore the immense fluttering of a hundred butterflies in her stomach and was able to, except for a handful of butterflies that wouldn't go away. She brought herself to a casual stop and waited, hoping that she would finally be able to tell him her feelings.

Rohan stopped before her and bowed. "Princess," he greeted politely and began to move away.

"Rohan, stop," she ordered. "I would like to speak with you."

He paused and looked to the right, avoiding her eyes. "I'm meeting Ivar. I'm helping him look for the Silver Chalice. I don't have time to talk, Princess." He took two steps away until she grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she pleaded.

He looked at her, his eyes clouding over so she couldn't read them.

"I need to go," he barked as he pulled away from her. "I don't have time for this, Princess."

Her ears reddened. "Fine. Go then!" She yelled, only allowing the tears to flow when he was out of sight. He had been ignoring her for the past few months. Maybe she had been wrong and that he didn't feel what she felt for him.

Garrett stood on the rocky shore, staring out at the waves that would endlessly slam against the rocks and then retreat towards the ocean. He watched the three ships, two from Aderyn's kingdom and one from Reged, dancing on the waves as the anchors kept the ships from crashing against the rocks. The wind that blew in from the ocean was cold and strong and on occasion, with the help of the waves, would spray him with the salty water.

He sensed Aderyn coming towards him, but he didn't turn to greet her. He wasn't surprised that she had found him.

He heard her stop and stand beside him. Out of the corner of his eye, her gaze was apparently looking at the ships below.

He turned and looked at the girl. Her hair was mostly silver; the effect of using the Amulet of Life, but it had started to return to its natural color that reminded him of the marigold flower. "I can't believe all of the help that your father and mother have sent to Kells."

"They want to have an alliance with Kells. And with Reged," she added.

He nodded. The destruction of Kells and Temra had brought the warring kingdoms together to fight against Tynan. Even though the truce had only been for a short time.

After the disappearances of Nemain and Torc, the people of Temra had been welcomed into Kells, even though there were still many that despised Kells. Many of the people Temra remained in the leaderless kingdom, separate and broken.

Garrett was lost in his thoughts, wondering why Aderyn had come to find him when he sensed someone coming towards them. "Hello, Garrett. Hello, Aderyn."

He turned around, surprised to see the Princess of Kells walking to them. "Deirdre, what are you doing here?"

She looked at him with one raised eyebrow. "I wanted to look at the ocean," she replied.

He didn't believe it for a second. He could see that her eyes were red from crying and he knew the cause. Anger filled him as well as thoughts about what he wanted to do to Rohan. Aderyn seemed to sense this and put a calming but restraining hand on his arm.

Deirdre lifted a hand and pointed out at the ocean. "There is a ship approaching. I see the Reged flag but I do not recognize the flag flying beside it."

He turned around and looked out. He narrowed his eyes. "It can't be," he whispered and then he turned and sprinted down the path. He could hear Aderyn and Deirdre following behind him.

He arrived at the beach within moments, the two princesses not far behind him. A small boat from the newly arrived ship was heading towards them, three figures in it. Two figures were rowing the boat while the other sat, patiently.

"Garrett, who is it?" Aderyn asked, standing next to him.

He didn't answer, as his eyes remained locked on the boat and on one figure in particular whose face became clearer as the little boat came closer to the shore.

A young man hopped out of the boat, without tipping it over and landed gracefully in the knee-deep water. A grin spread across his face. "Well, well, look whose here to greet me on my arrival."

"Griffin? It is you." Garrett exclaimed his mouth hanging slightly open.

"Yes, brother," the man responded once he was standing in front of Garrett. "I guess I gave you quite a surprise but look at these two beautiful ladies. You," he said, bowing to Deirdre, "must be Deirdre, the Princess of Kells. Your fiery beauty has been described to me many times." He then turned to Aderyn, with a polite and charming smile. "I'm sorry to say, that I do not know your name, dear lady, but I would be pleased to know."

She raised her chin slightly. "I am Aderyn."

"Ah, a lovely name for someone just as lovely." He gave her a bow.

Griffin turned back to Garrett. "Brother, I don't know why you are in such a state of shock to see me. I think if you remain in such a state, a bug shall wander into your mouth."

He promptly closed his mouth but continued to stare at his brother. It had been a long time since he had seen him and he was surprised that Griffin had come to Kells. Far back in his mind, he wondered what had brought his brother to these shores.

"Garrett, I didn't know you had a brother," Deirdre remarked.

Griffin laughed. "Oh, dear brother," he said, shaking his head, slapping Garrett playfully on the shoulder. "I can truly say that I am not surprised."

"Why are you here, Griffin?" He questioned.

"You've spent so much time here in Kells that I wanted to see it for myself." His eyes went to Deirdre and Aderyn. "I can see why you enjoy being in Kells."

Garrett didn't respond as Deirdre led Griffin away, telling him that she would enjoy showing the new arrival the kingdom of Kells.

"What's wrong, Garrett?" Aderyn asked, once the other two were out of earshot.

"Nothing is wrong, Aderyn. I was just surprised." He could feel Aderyn's eyes studying him as he walked away in the direction that Deirdre and Griffin had gone. He had not seen his brother since the day that he, Garrett, had become heir to the throne of Reged.