Page 63 of Rise of the Morrigan

PART IV:

Cú Chulainn ? The Morrigan

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"Can you believeit?" Emer asked, gripping her husband by the arm. "It's glorious! And to think, it was given to Ulster on occasion to celebrate our marriage!"

Cú Chulainn nodded as he examined the majestic stud bull. Donn Cúailnge was well-known throughout the isles, but he'd never been tamed. A wild bull who, it was said, was so fertile he could multiply even the wealthiest kingdom's riches a hundredfold. But the bull was something of a legend already, the subject of a few tales that Cú Chulainn had learned in his training at Emain Macha. If the stories were true, whole wars had been fought elsewhere between kingdoms who had tried to take Donn Cúailnge into their possession.

As one famed tale went two whole armies slew one another until only three men remained of the victorious side. But the three men could not, with all their might, tame the bull. They'd won the war and lost the prize. It was a cautionary tale about the causes of war. As Cú Chulainn understood it, the tale was meant to cause one to consider the costs of war and measure them against what might be attained in a victory. If the victory is not worth the cost, or if the cost should spoil the victory, then the war should not be fought.

"It is quite a gift," Cú Chulainn said. "But once news reaches other kingdoms that we possess Donn Cúailnge..."

"Do you think they'll try to take him from us?" Emer asked.

"They most certainly will," King Conchobar said, placing his hand on Cú Chulainn's shoulder.

Cú Chulainn nearly leaped out of his boots. He didn't realize that the king had been standing behind him. "Your Highness, it is an honor."

The king nodded. "I must confess, when I thought you were going to marry a faerie, I believed that her presence was going to be a blessing to Ulster..."

"Marry a faerie?" Cú Chulainn asked, raising his eyebrows. So much as he could remember he'd only ever met one faerie before—the one who helped him tame the ríastrad. Still, so much had happened since then that he barely remembered her. He recalled the event, but when he tried to picture her, to imagine the strange faerie who'd aided him that day, his mind was completely blank. No matter, surely the king was out of his mind. King Conchobar was now advanced in years. The old man's faculties were fading by the moment. He often said strange things. Better not to press him on the point. Entertaining an old man's delusions could only breed new problems—particularly when the old man in question happened to be king.

King Conchobar waved his hand, dismissing the thought. "Never mind it. Such was not meant to be! Clearly, the gods smile on Ulster on account of your marriage to Emer! We never should have questioned it! Only a god could have tamed the great Donn Cúailnge!"

"We should prepare the other warriors," Cú Chulainn said. "Once the other kingdoms receive word that we possess the bull..."

King Conchobar laughed. "Yes, Queen Mebd of Connacht has already sent an emissary begging we permit our bull to mate with her herds."

"That was fast," Emer interjected. "The bull was brought to us just last night and this is the very first time we've ever seen him."

"She has a point," Cú Chulainn said. "How could the Queen of Connacht know we'd acquired Donn Cúailnge when we'd barely learned of it ourselves?"

King Conchobar shrugged. "Likely she'd been pursuing the bull, too. She's long been obsessed with taming him. Chances are she received word someone had tamed the bull before it was delivered to us."

"I think you should share him with her," Cú Chulainn said. "Her armies are greater than ours."

King Conchobar smiled wide and slapped Cú Chulainn on the back. "But she doesn't have a single champion who could rival our Cú Chulainn! If she'd thought she could take him from us she wouldn't have bothered to ask that we share him with her. She's making her request from a posture of desperation. Which is why I am confident in my refusal of her request."

"Are you serious?" Cú Chulainn said. "Shewillattack eventually. If what you say is true, that she's spent years trying to acquire the bull, do you think for a moment she's going to give up because Donn Cúailnge has come into our possession?"

"When she attacks, we will prevail."

"But at the cost of how many lives?" Cú Chulainn had raised his voice. This was why he hated the fact that he'd been destined to be a warrior, a champion. War would come upon him and, if it were like every conflict he'd examined in the baric tales, it would be on account of someone else's greed. The King didn't want to share the bull with Queen Mebd because he wanted to keep all the bull's offspring for himself. But if she ever attacked, even if Ulster prevailed, it would not be without significant casualties. But human lives mattered less to the king than riches.

"If you fight well," King Conchobar said. "Perhaps you can take down her entire army before a single one of our warriors is lost."

"Are you insane?" Cú Chulainn asked. "You expect me to take on a whole army?"

"You've done it before," King Conchobar shrugged. "When the faerie army marched on Ulster during your wedding."

Cú Chulainn cocked his head. Again with the faeries. Cú Chulainn remembered his wedding. He remembered speaking his vows. He remembered an annoying raven cawing overhead. And he remembered lying in bed with his wife, blessed by the Morrigan herself—which, he presumed, must've been the raven who'd joined them at the wedding. But there was no battle and no faerie army. Still, once again, he dared not question a senile man, much less one who happened to be king.

"I urge you, as a humble citizen of Ulster, to consider the queen's request. What loss would it be to us to allow the bull to mate with her herds? Donn Cúailnge is said to be fertile aplenty—he could impregnate her herd and all of ours and still have enough virility to spare."

King Conchobar nodded. "Such might be what I would have done if I were still a young king, inexperienced in matters of politics. Connacht is quite likely the most powerful kingdom in all the isles, second only to Ulster. To multiply Queen Mebd's herds would allow her to keep pace with our growing strength. It would allow her to remain in contention to usurp our position in time. And since I am aging fast, and there is no telling how many more years I might protect the good people of Ulster as their king, if she has the chance at all to rival us after I am gone you'd better believe she'll take it."

"And if we do not yield to her reasonable request now she is likely to attack sooner rather than later."

King Conchobar shook his head. "The queen is bluffing, young lad. Trust me on this matter. Do your duty when called upon and allow me to worry about matters of the Kingdom."

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