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.
Chapter 9: A Child's Tale
Anyone who would have come across the three knights in the courtyard would have assumed that the spectator was just observing the match and studying the different techniques that were being administered. They would have been wrong, for the spectator was watching only one of the fighters and wasn't studying skills but was thinking about how he felt about the red-haired fighter who had such spirit and determination.
Rohan was sitting a fair distance away from the sparring Deirdre and Garrett and was enjoying the fluid movements of the Princess of Kells. Garrett had attempted to knock the quarterstaff from the Princess' hands but she had quickly interpreted his intentions and had forced the Prince of Reged to take a step back.
Rohan's pulse began to race. She was graceful, beautiful, strong, and…there were just too many wonderful adjectives to describe her.
Deirdre slid the end of her staff between Garrett's feet that caused him to stumble, preventing him from completing his attack and causing him to fall.
"Where did you learn…" he began but then stopped when he realized where Deirdre had learned that particular move.
Deirdre grinned as she held out her hand and helped him to his feet.
"Not bad, Princess," Rohan said as he stepped forward and took the quarterstaff from Garrett. "Now, it's my turn to spar with you."
"Rohan…" Deidre began to protest before Rohan raised a hand to silence her.
"I've healed quickly with Cathbad's potions and powders. So, I am quite up to this sparring," Rohan said gave Deirdre a stubborn look that almost matched her own.
Deirdre frowned at Rohan's hand that dared to insist that she be silenced. Deirdre raised her head and gave Rohan her most challenging look. "Very well, but if you are forced to be sent to your bed, than you shall not send any blame unto me."
Rohan held back the smile that was tingling on his lips. "Very well, Princess. Let us begin."
Deirdre and Rohan circled each other their eyes focused intently on one another. Deirdre had always admired the way that Rohan kept his movements secret, most of the time. When his eyes shone with a look that she hadn't deciphered, her heart would flutter and her mouth would begin to form into a beaming smile.
Garrett watched from the exact spot that Rohan had. A dangerous spark of jealousy rose in him as he saw how Deirdre looked at Rohan. That look was one of respect. Yes, he knew that she respected him, but in a different way.
Garrett could see the look of respect and love that Rohan was unknowingly sending Deirdre. He was surprised that Deirdre had yet to pick up on those looks that Rohan would send to Deirdre. He shook his head and went back to watching the fight.
Rohan parried Deirdre's attack that was meant to disarm him from his left. He used his quarterstaff to twirl around hers, trying to get her to lose her firm grip.
She shifted her weight so that Rohan became slightly unbalanced but he had anticipated it as he brought his quarterstaff down and swiftly brought Deirdre's feet out from beneath her.
Deirdre fell onto her bottom and dropped her quarterstaff. Her face resonated shock that quickly evaporated and became anger. "Where did you learn that?"
Rohan smiled as he held his hand to Deirdre who merely glared at the outstretched hand. "You are not the only one to have learned some things from our new friend."
Deirdre continued to frown at Rohan's hand as she stood up, picking up the quarterstaff as she rose and brushed the dirt off. "That was quite a nice trick. I'm surprised she hadn't taught that to me."
"Perhaps she decided that you were not ready to learn such a technique," Rohan suggested as he brought his hand to his side.
He realized too late that he shouldn't have said that because Deirdre's face became more pronounced and her voice became fierce. He held back a smile as Deirdre took a step forward and leveled him with her most haughty stare.
"I am ready for any fighting skills that come across me. Now, if you will excuse me, Rohan, I have work I must do." Deirdre shoved the quarterstaff toward Rohan's chest. Rohan was quick enough to bring his empty hand up to grab the quarterstaff before she could cause a bruise or break one of his ribs. She stepped around him and left the courtyard.
Garrett stood up and walked over to Rohan who couldn't hold in the grin any longer. "You've made her angry."
"I know," Rohan said simply as he looked down at Deirdre's quarterstaff.
Garrett looked from Rohan to the doorway that Deirdre had gone through. "If you harm her in anyway, I will hurt you."
Rohan looked from the quarterstaff and at Garrett's face which had returned to looking at him, which was holding firm and serious with Rohan's own.
"What do you mean?" Rohan asked, looking even more bewildered than before.
Garrett turned and headed toward the other doorway to leave the courtyard. "You know in your heart what I am talking about Rohan."
Rohan didn't move for several moments once Garrett had left the courtyard. He adjusted Deirdre's quarterstaff in his hand until he reached the spot where her hand had held onto the shaft. He could still feel the warmth from her skin and that caused his own skin to tingle.
Nemain hesitated outside of the door of her library. She had been furious that Anian had just taken over her library, but something within her kept her from turning him into a toad or at least having a few guards remove him from the room. She didn't realize that the emotion that she was trying hard to keep within her was fear.
Nemain took a deep breath and strolled into the room with her chin high in the air. "Anian, whom do you serve?" Nemain asked as she cast a cautious glance toward the stranger whose hand held Nemain's life and could do what he pleased with it.
Anian raised his head from the map he had been studying. His eyes were gleaming as he looked casually at the sorceress.
"You shall find out soon, Nemain," he said with such cold pleasure that it caused Nemain to shiver as the fear crawled along her spine.
She turned and left Anian, walking quickly to place as much distance between her and him as possible. But she knew that no matter how far she went, she would always be under his control.
She had quickly fled to her chambers where she had sent a servant to retrieve Torc so that she could speak to him. "I do not know what hands we have placed our lives into, Torc," Nemain said as she paced.
"I never trusted that stranger," Torc growled as his fingers danced over the hilt of his sword. He wanted to be rid of the stranger but something told the experienced warrior that it would take more than a sword to cut down Anian.
"I do not understand why I had even allowed him to enter into my services." Nemain didn't want to say that someone or something had caused her to accept Anian within Temra. She didn't want to find out who or why. She feared that it was something beyond her own powers or anyone she had ever known.
"We must do something! We can not allow that…stranger to push us aside in our own castle," Torc spat out.
"I'm afraid there isn't anything we can do, Torc. He has us under his control and all we can do now is sit here and wait."
Torc looked at the sorceress and saw the fear in her eyes. He shivered slightly knowing that if Nemain was scared than whatever Anian had planned for them was worse than he had anticipated.
Angus bit his lip as he stared at the scrolls that were in the library. This library was quite different from Cathbad's collection. First, there were no magic spells or potions contained within any of these scrolls. These scrolls contained the history of Kells as well as the folklore and children's tales that were told from generation to generation.
Something in Angus' mind had brought him here but he couldn't quite figure out why he was standing staring at the wall case that held the scrolls.
Angus sighed softly as he crossed his arms over his chest and brought on of his hands up to his chin. He began to rub his chin as his eyes scanned the scrolls before him.
His hand shot out, plucked a scroll out of the case and opened it up. He quickly scanned the contents of the scroll. His mind began to linger on stunning green eyes and shining silver hair.
He couldn't help but imagine her being with him. Taking walks along the beach or running together through the forest. The way she looked at him had him stumbling as he walked or that his words were inadequate around her. He shook his head and brought his focus back onto the scroll in his hand.
Once he deemed that scroll useless, he tossed it aside and chose another. He went through seven more scrolls before he had found the one that his mind had brought him to. He triumphantly clasped the scroll in his hand and ran out of the room.
He dodged around several soldiers and leaped over a cleaning woman who was scrubbing the floors. She didn't even seem to notice as she continued to scrub away the dirt that so many had tracked onto her floors.
Angus rushed into Cathbad's chambers avoiding the large pile of scrolls that the Druid and Macha had set off to the side.
"Here, read this story," Angus said as he handed the scroll Macha, trying to keep a straight face as he caught his breath.
Cathbad looked over Macha's shoulder to read the story. Once they had read through the scroll, they had both raised their heads to stare at Angus with astonishment.
"Angus…this is it!" Macha exclaimed as she gave him a beautiful smile that caused the knight's heart to race.
"Good work, Angus," Cathbad said sincerely as he gave the knight a respectful nod. "It is interesting and rather clever that the secret to repairing the mirror lies within a child's tale," Cathbad said with amusement with some drops of annoyance.
"We need the sword of Draganta, the Amulet of Life and the Crystal of Sight," Cathbad said as he looked at the scroll once again.
"Well we have Draganta's sword but where can we find the Amulet of Life and the Crystal of Sight?" Angus asked his eyes furrowed in thought.
"I have the Amulet of Life," Macha said as she grabbed hold of the chain hanging from her neck and pulled out the amulet. "Anian possesses the Crystal of Sight."
Angus' frown deepened and anger flared within his dark eyes. "Rohan is Draganta and he has the sword. We have to find a way to get the Crystal of Sight from Anian and ye have Kells best thief standing before ye," Angus said with a grin and gave Macha a swift bow.
"Rohan is Draganta?" Macha asked her tone expressionless as she looked intently at Angus.
"Yes," Angus replied excitedly and with pride. "Now all we need to do is gather all of these together to repair the mirror and get the Scroll of Wisdom. But how are we going to get the Crystal of Sight from Anian?" Angus asked with a frown as he looked from the Druid to Macha.
"He will not give it up without a fight. I will get the Crystal of Sight from him, Macha said as her eyes blazed. "He shall not win this fight."
Cathbad and Angus looked at one another, as they were both surprised with the venom in Macha's voice. Angus cleared his throat and suggested that they inform the King and the other Mystic Knights. Cathbad agreed as Macha just scanned the scroll again, already planning a way to retrieve the crystal from Anian without any assistance from the Mystic Knights or anyone else for that matter.
guardianM3: Here is the sparring match! I hope that you all enjoyed it. Please comment and let me know what you all think. Reviews are always welcome and appreciated.
