Author's Note

Hello all and welcome to King and Lionheart! I am pleased to say that I am rather excited for this fic! It has been a long time since I published this story but I hope that I am able to finish this one this year (2018) as it is absolutely my favourite ever. I hope that you will all enjoy this story and have fun while reading it! I never like to beg, and thus reviews are welcomed but not expected. I have many plans for this fanfic and I hope to incorporate many of them. Please look forward to the rest of this story.

Sincerely,

Ms. AtomicBomb


The beautiful river made the female sigh in relief and happiness. The bright sunlight sparkled upon its calm and steady surface while the autumn breeze kissed the underbrush and her cheeks; tinting them red. She was helped down from the black horse by Diarmuid and she wasted no time in running towards the river, slipping out of her slippers dipping her feet in the cool water. Her feet ached and she had blisters springing from them and although the winter was near, she invited the stinging touch of the water as she found it to be refreshing and calming.

"Oh! I simply love the Bóinne." She smiled as she looked over her shoulder towards her lover, the sun glistening off of her brown hair.

"I am glad that you love it," he smiled, eyes set on her. He looked down and sighed, "My father...can help us with Fionn so it would be best to find him." Diarmuid spoke softly and stayed at the edge of the river watching as she jumped about the shallow end of it.

"Why won't you come in?" Gràinne asked as she tilted her head to the right and blinked, her eyes begging him to join her.

Diarmuid stretched his lips and shook his head. "Not right now, I have to be on alert for Fionn can be anywhere."

"Will we always be running from Fionn?" Her brows furrowed as she walked through the water to get closer to him, dress clutched in her hands.

"I am afraid so." His voice was a whisper and he wrapped his arms around her, bringing her into a hug.

"I think that my father can help us, as well." She returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Diarmuid kept silent, closing his eyes and patting her head.

"You can trust him. Her cares much for me." She was tilting her head up to view him and his expressions. "I am certain that he will make you a Knight too!" Gràinne squeezed the man.

Diarmuid's smile seemed to drop and he looked at the Bóinne river, watching as the water calmly ran past them. It was the worst decision he had ever made; betraying the Fianna. It hurt his spirit to have abandoned his vocation, everything he had ever wanted in life was found in Knighthood and now he lost all he knew.

His grip tightened around his lover as he felt his heart yearn for his title. Fionn had stripped him of it when they decided to run away and now he wished that Fionn would be merciful... maybe let them live in his lands and let Diarmuid continue being the great Knight he is, but it was all for naught. It would never happen.

There were still unanswered questions that lingered in his mind, the fact that he could never answer them made him irritated. How on earth had the foster son of Aengus and a loyal knight of the Fianna gotten himself into such a mess? Not even the Dagda could tell him, whether it be to keep him from harm or simply because he too did not know.


The door of the small lodge creaked open revealing a fairly young man. Hair that of red flames and skin so fair he almost looked like an angel, his eyes nothing more than a deep ocean blue and he stood straight, looking upon Diarmuid before even speaking a single word. "Diarmuid? Why have you come?" His sweet voice inquired.

"Father, there is no other way I can say this..." Diarmuid drifted, "Fionn is hunting us."

Aengus furrowed his brows and was taken aback by his son's comment. "Your uncle would never." The son of the Dagda shook his head in disbelief, his voice scandalized. "Why would you say such a thing?"

"Gràinne—father—Gràinne and I have run away." The Irish warrior licked his lips and stepped aside for Aengus to get a view of the young lady.

Immediately, Aengus brought his hand up to his mouth as he gasped. "What have you done, Diarmuid?" He choked and let the couple inside the lodge, checking if anyone has seen. "What in—what have you gotten yourself into? Are you insane? You are part of the Fianna, why would you—"

"Father, I love her." Diarmuid reasoned as he took a hold of Gràinne's hand. She stood still and looked at her soon-to-be father-in-law with a pleading expression.

"Is your love for her stronger than your loyalty to Fionn? To your King? To your uncle?" He glared at the female that stood next to his adoptive son. Her tricks would not fool him.

"Father," Diarmuid took a deep sigh, "If I am here with her then—"

"No! I know you much too well for this obscenity to happen, why have you betrayed Fionn?"

"Because she loves me and I fell in love with the wrong person, father, can you blame me for listening to my heart?"

"I do blame your mind. She does not love you, Diarmuid, you of all people should know that." Aengus spoke as if Gràinne was not standing in the same room as them. "It is that cursed beauty mark of yours! She does not love you!"

"I do so!" Gràinne barked at the man.

"You have heard her speak; she loves me and I love her." The young man's face turned stern and he looked at Aengus in a way he had never done; some sort of hatred in his amber eyes.

"Young lady! Do not dare speak to me like such! Get out of this house immediately and wait outside." The son of the gods hissed.

"You cannot treat me like that! I am a princess!"

"You are a fugitive in these lands! I can call for Fionn and he could come in less than a second and take you away." There was silence after Aengus growled at her to leave the house and she proceeded to do so, letting go of Diarmuid's hand and giving him a kiss on the cheek before exiting the house.

"What has come over you?" Aengus made his son sit down on one of the many wooden stools.

"You cannot speak to my lover the way you have done, father."

"Diarmuid, tell me; what has come over you? You should know that Gràinne does not actually love you;" he shook his head, "surely you must, so why is it that you have ran away with her?"

"Because I love her."

"Do not jest with me! How can you fall in love with the betrothed of your king? That is nothing like you."

"I have! I have fallen for her."

"You cannot out run Fionn and the Fianna. He will not stop until he has both your heads on pikes and your body parts are scattered over the many villages he reigns to show the people what happens when they disobey their king. Do you want to soil your name and reputation for a simple woman who is under a spell? You would not be the cause of an innocent girl's death."

"Why do you not believe me?"

"You care not if she dies because of you?"

"She loves me! And I love her; we would go to the end of the world for one another. You would never understand." Diarmuid would have never said that if he was in his right mind.

A hurried knock on the door interrupted them and the princess stumbled inside. "Fionn has arrived!" She called as she ran towards the Lancer, who—on instinct—drew his lances from thin air. "Where are we to go?" She frantically began to walk about the room even as the barking of Sceolan and Bran was heard. "We must leave!"

Aengus felt his heart drop; it was either save his son or let them be executed for their crimes against the crown. "Bóinne will aid you," he gulped and looked at the young man he raised. "I will do my absolute best to speak with Fionn, so go into the river and give her this token, she will give you a safe passage for a single day. You must return to this lodge to retrieve Gràinne in the morrow. Hopefully by then, these matters will be resolved." He handed the other male a small coin.

"I will not leave without her!"

"Diarmuid, I promise to keep her safe! Now do as I say. My cloak will keep her invisible, and I will deal with the hounds."

Diarmuid gave a stern smile as Aengus moved a shelf that opened a hole in the wall for him to leave through the back of the lodge and right into the river.

"Go!" He ushered him out to the escape route and hugged his son goodbye. "I have only done this for you. Beware of the boars!" He warned once again to the son of Donn before closing the hidden passage way and proceeding to hide the young female.

Diarmuid ran out to the river and noticed as the Fianna came into view; they had the house surrounded. The grip on his lances became tighter and, with courage, he ran straight into the swarm of Knights. He was going to fight for his lover and it would be the only way he would earn Fionn's trust once more.

His lances were quick to collide with the long sword of one of the men he used to command no more than a week ago. Never had he thought that it would come to that conclusion, a Knight fighting his own country for a woman that he used to believe was unnecessary in his life after the beauty mark was placed upon him by a wicked witch. Quickly, he was surrounded by the Knights and he was trying his best to keep up with the many attacks.

"Please! Let me go!" He called out to the men.

"I want him dead!" The deep voice of Fionn danced over the clashing weapons.

Diarmuid could only do so much to withstand the assaults of his fellow comrades and he thought it best to flee; the point was to distract them. A swift jump made him land atop a solder's head and he was off! His feet gliding over the many knights and his lances close to his body. He hoped that his father was keeping Gràinne safe in the lodge and he did trust his father, but he was only afraid.

Fleeing into the woods near the river and making the entire troop follow after him, he could hear the commands.

"What man are you to flee with my fiancée?" Fionn's voice echoed through the forest, causing birds to fly and the forest to fear the band of knights that invaded the lands. The king's voice made Diarmuid's breath hitch and heart race. If Loughiad was doing Fionn the favour to hunt his cousin down, he would surely be capture at any given moment, but he only prayed for Loughaid to stall.

The water droplets hit the trees as the male ran past them, trying to keep as far from the Fianna as possible but close enough to have them follow him further into the forest to buy time for Aengus to transport his lover to a safer place. He was surely at a disadvantage, besides the fact that he was out numbered, the Fianna knew him much to well; they knew his skills, his strengths and worst of all; his weaknesses.

The young man ran through the forest, dodging the many arrows that wished to drag him to the floor along with themselves and making sure to keep far from weapons that wanted to pierce through him. Trees were both advantages and disadvantages, but he tried to use them to the best of his ability.

Arrows, bolts and rain drops were mixed together as they fell from the sky and poured down around him. His feet were as swift as they could ever be, even if his bones and muscles ached he tried his best to push himself; this was for Grainne and for his future. He was going to succeed and he would find her again. They would only be away from each other for less than a night, he was sure he would see her in the morrow, or so he hoped.