Disclaimer: Total self-indulgence, this Interlude. I'm Irish, and I love our myths and legends, so I added this one in, even though it's not my favourite legend. It did seem to suit the best, though.
It kind of fits, because later in the series more and more Irish starts coming in, so this is kind of the start of that.
True, I'm glad to have helped your education. Enjoy this one.
Oh, and anyone who actually knows the legend: I made up Taylor's role.
Story Time
"I'm bored." Max complained.
"What a surprise." Taylor said. "The kid's bored."
"I'm not a kid!" Max retorted. He jumped up and crossed to stand beside Danny. "Let's go do something. C'mon, Danny!"
"Sorry, Max." Danny gestured at his plants. "I have to re-pot these."
"But there's nothing to do." Max complained.
"Read a book." Taylor suggested. "I'll help you with the hard words." Max made a face at her, looking around.
"Tara!" The girl looked up from where she was sitting by the fountain. "Tara always has good ideas!" He dropped to sit beside her; Tara looked a little overwhelmed. "What'll we do?"
"Uh…" Tara glanced at Taylor, who smirked and turned back to her book. "I don't know, Max. What do you want to do?"
"Something fun!"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. You think of something!"
"Why are you acting like a five year old?"
Max grinned. "It's fun."
"Not on this side of it. I already raised a child, Max, I don't need another."
"You what? When was that?"
"Oh…" she gestured vaguely. "When I was living with Cerbhall."
"You had a child?" Taylor asked interestedly.
"Not my own personal child. But I raised her when her parents died."
"Oh. Aoife, right?" Alyssa asked. Tara nodded.
"So what did you do when she was bored?" Max asked. Tara swatted him lightly.
"Sent her out to wrestle the dogs, usually. She wanted to be a warrior." Tara nodded suddenly. "If you like, Max, I'll tell you a story I used to tell her."
"Sure. What's it about?"
"One of the sorrows of the De Danann cycle."
"The what?" Tara sighed, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she began speaking again, her voice was melodious, making the words sound more like a chant.
"Three sorrows there are in the De Dannan cycle. Of the Sons of Tuireen and their blood price. Of the Children of Lir and their penance. And the third, of Deirdre and the Sons of Usnach."
When Alyssa was born, her father took her to a druid to have her fortune read. The Druid Cathbad cast his spells and consulted his spirits, but his face was grave when he came out.
"Alyssa will grow to be the most beautiful woman in all the land. Because of her, a family will be destroyed. Brother will fight brother, and a kingdom shall fall."
Hearing this, the warriors clamoured for Alyssa to be killed, to protect them from this fate. Her father, however, appealed to the king, Conchobar.
Conchobar debated his decision; he had no wish to be party to the slaying of an innocent girl. However, he was also king and had to think of his people. Finally, he came to a decision.
"I will have Alyssa raised in solitude," he declared, "and when she is of age I will wed her myself. Thus will the curse be avoided."
Everyone agreed this was a wise and fair decision, and so Alyssa was taken from her mother and given to Shayla, the nurse, to be raised. Conchobar locked them away in a hidden fort with only one male servant, and every year he visited on Alyssa's birthday.
At the age of eight, Alyssa's beauty outshone any other woman in the land. When she was fourteen, she outshone the very stars above. And finally came the day before her sixteenth birthday, the day she was to be wed.
"What an odd dream I had, Shayla." she said that morning. "I dreamed I met a man with hair as dark as night, who fought with the spirit of the lion."
"That was Cole, one of the Sons of Usnach. He is a warrior in Conchobar's Red Branch."
"Fetch him for me, Shayla." Alyssa pleaded. "Let me see his face."
Shayla refused for a long time, but finally she agreed; what harm could come of it? The girl was to be wed the next day, and Cole was sworn to Conchobar; he'd do nothing to upset that.
When Cole came, Alyssa found him every bit as handsome as she'd dreamed. And he, of course, fell deeply in love; for who could not? Alyssa was the most beautiful girl in the land, after all.
But she was also promised to the king, and Cole refused to do anything to disrupt that bond, though Alyssa pleaded all night. In desperation as dawn approached, she placed a geas-a bond of honour that any warrior was sworn to uphold-on him to take her away. Cole couldn't refuse the geas, so he sat her astride his horse and rode quickly away.
Conchobar pursued them, of course, up and down the country, harrying them so they could get no rest. Cole was joined by his brothers, Danny and Max, and together they protected Alyssa and kept one step ahead of Conchobar and his warriors. Eventually they fled to the nearby island of Alba, hiring themselves to the king there. Cole brought only his sister, Taylor, and his brothers and Alyssa, who was now his wife.
However, word spread to the King of Alba of Alyssa's beauty, and he decided to take her for himself. Cole and his brothers were forced to fight their way out, and during the battle, the son of the King was slain.
The King's grief brought him to his senses, and as penance he gave Cole land near the shore. There the brothers and women lived, surrounded by the King's warriors; no one went into or out of the fort save for Cole and his brothers.
But Conchobar had not forgotten Cole's betrayal. He summoned one of his finest warriors, Merrick, to the court at Tara. Merrick was known throughout the land for his honour; if he said something was so, it was so. Conchobar spoke with him for many days, and finally Merrick was convinced. He left the great palace and set sail for Alba, for the fort of Cole.
Merrick brought his two sons, Wes and Eric, and entered Cole's fort under a flag of truce; he was well known to the brothers, and they welcomed him. Only Alyssa stayed distant, distrustful of any news from the king.
"He has forgiven you." Merrick said. "He bids you return. Too long have our forces been divided; he would see the Red Branch whole once more. With the Sons of Usnach gone, only the three great warriors stand between Conchobar and his enemy, Maeve."
"He will kill us if we return." Alyssa warned them.
"Conchobar has given his word; and I will give my word also. None shall so much as speak ill of you but I will avenge it." Merrick promised.
Cole looked to Danny, to Max, and to Taylor. Each said the same; "Let us home." But Alyssa shook her head and refused to speak, and only when Merrick had sworn not only himself but also both his sons to her protection did she waver and, finally, agree.
The brothers wept for joy on their return to Ireland. Tears there were also in Alyssa's eyes, but for a different reason.
They rode for the fort of Eamhain Macha, but no sooner had they started than a group of horsemen approached.
"I am Borrack," the leader introduced himself, "loyal servant to Conchobar. I am sent to offer you hospitality this night."
"We cannot wait." Cole said quietly to Merrick. "We must stand before Conchobar and have his surety; otherwise we are at risk."
"I cannot refuse." Merrick answered. "I am under geas to never refuse hospitality. But I will send my sons with you; and, Borrack, if I find you are merely trying to delay me, I will kill you myself."
With no other choice, the group rode hard for Eamhain Macha. They rode without pause for a day and a night, and all were nearly asleep in their saddles when the fort finally came into sight.
Conchobar's son, Fiachra, met them in the courtyard. "My father bids you welcome; he has cleared the Red Branch hall for your use. He asks that you rest and eat, and when you are refreshed he will greet you."
Cole thanked him briefly and led his brothers, his sister, Merrick's sons, and Alyssa into the hall. No one ate or rested; they waited for dawn and Merrick's arrival.
"Once Merrick comes," Cole told Alyssa, "Conchobar will have to approve our pardon. Then no one can touch us. We will be free."
"We will never be free." Alyssa said quietly. "We will die here."
Shayla, Alyssa's nurse, slipped through the guards and into the hall. Happy as she was to see her young charge again, she brought distressing news.
"Conchobar means to have you." she told Alyssa. "I was sent to see if your beauty had diminished; but I see it has only grown with your troubles. Fear not; I will tell him you are grown haggard." She looked around the hall. "It will not keep him out. Only hold fast until dawn; Merrick will be here then, and CuChulainn comes also. Conchobar cannot risk their allegiance. Once they come, you are safe."
She lied as she had promised, telling Conchobar that the years of running and hiding had taken their toll on Alyssa, that she was no longer the beauty she had once been. Conchobar pretended to believe her; but once she had left he sent one of his guards to look.
The guard found a window high in the wall, and climbed up to look in. When he saw Alyssa's beauty he cried out; and Wes, Merrick's youngest son, hearing the cry, threw a dagger through the window into his chest. The guard fell, and another guard ran to where he lay. With his last breath, he gasped, "She…is beautiful…"
The king raged when he was told, and he roused his court with orders to surround the Red Branch hall. Many of his warriors refused; they were men of honour, and he had promised Cole's family safety. But others followed him, no matter what.
"We must fight." Max said gravely. "Dawn comes in a few hours; we must hold them off 'till then."
"I will challenge them to single combat." Merrick's older son, Eric, promised. Wes unlocked the door for him, locking it again behind him.
But through trickery and guile Conchobar persuaded him to betray Cole and join Conchobar once more. Wes wept at his brother's betrayal; then he lifted his sword and unlocked the door, setting himself against Conchobar's men. Three he killed at once, and another three; and finally Conchobar called his son, Fiachra, and armed him with his own sword and shield. The shield was enchanted and cried when its' bearer was in danger.
Wes and Fiachra fought for some time; then finally Wes knocked the sword from Fiachra's hand. The shield cried out, warning all within hearing that the bearer was in danger.
The sound reached the ears of Conall the Victorious, third of the great warriors. Well he knew the sound of his King's shield; he had spent a lifetime responding to its' cry. Hearing it now, he did not pause to see what was happening, but only stood over the shield's bearer and attacked his opponent.
Skilled Wes was, and son of the first great warrior; but he could not stand against Conall, and in two strokes he lay dead. Only then did Conall realise who he had fought; in grief he killed Fiachra, and then took Wes' body and carried it out of Eamhain Macha; and never again did he answer the call of the King's shield, nor fight in the King's wars.
Desperate now, as dawn drew ever closer, the King called his Druid to drive them from the hall. The Druid Cathbad refused, but his apprentice agreed and cast a fire within. His greed was rewarded as Cole called on the spirit of the Dagda, Father of the Danann people, to protect them, and the spell was revisited upon the druid 'pprentice and burned him alive.
But it had done its' work; Cole, his brothers, his sister and his wife, all were driven from the hall to stand before the King's warriors, swords in hands. Then Conchobar spoke of peace, and forgiveness. "We may never be friends, Cole MacUsnach; but let us not be enemies, for that will only bring us more loss."
And Cole, tired of fighting and of the death that surrounded them, agreed, and he lowered his sword; and Danny lowered his sword; and Max lowered his. And Taylor and Alyssa put down the daggers they had held.
Conchobar stepped forward, and gripped Cole's hand; and then he betrayed them, by calling his warriors to take them, though they stood weaponless and defenceless. And when the warriors were bound, he called for someone to kill them.
At first no one moved, for to kill bound prisoners was dishonourable; but finally one stepped forward. And he lifted Cole's sword, that was thrice the length of any other; and Cole, and Danny, and Max all were killed with one blow. And Taylor was released; but Alyssa was taken by Conchobar.
Now Taylor met Merrick, not an hour out of Eamhain Macha; and when he heard her tale, he went straightaway to Conchobar, and demanded the bodies of the Sons of Usnach. And Conchobar, who now felt shame, agreed, and they were buried by a nearby lake.
And when Alyssa saw her love buried, she fell down on top of him, crying, until Conchobar pulled her away. He put her in his chariot; but she would not be his, and she jumped out. Her head hit against a rock, and she died.
And at first, she was buried beside Cole, and trees planted one on his grave, and one on hers. But the trees grew together, branches intertwined, and when Conchobar saw it he ordered her body buried on the far side of the lake.
But the tree, replanted on her grave, still grew to meet his.
Merrick left the service of Conchobar; he and Taylor went to Maeve, Conchobar's enemy, and under Merrick's command her armies won over Conchobar's.
CuChulainn fell in that battle, still fighting for Conchobar though he had but little respect for him.
Conall was never seen again.
Tara sat back. "That's it."
"But everyone died in the end!" Max complained.
"It's called a sorrow for a reason, Max."
"So what about the others? The children of…something? And the other one?"
Tara shook her head, rising to her feet. "Not today, Max. Another time, maybe. Besides," she smiled, "those are sorrows too. Everyone dies."
"Are there happy stories?"
"Lots. And I'll tell you them another day, I promise. But I have to go now."
"It's a good story." Cole said quietly from his tree.
"You tell it well." Shayla added.
"The Irish told it in that style for thousands of years; I'm only repeating what I heard in court." Tara said, smiling. "Now, I really have to go. I'll tell you another one another time, Max."
"OK. Tara?" She looked back at him, and he smiled. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, Max. Goodnight."
The fate of Deirdre and the Sons of Usnach
Naoise—Cole
Ardle—Max
Ainnle—Danny
Deirdre—Alyssa
Lavarcham—Shayla
Fergus—Merrick
Buivne—Eric
Illan—Wes