Page 68 of Rise of the Morrigan

34

Mebd's army wasready. It had multiplied in size. With my blessing, she scoured the countryside and acquired champions from many regions. Other kings and queens offered their best that she might finally conquer Ulster. She was a wise queen, she promised that should she usurp King Conchobar as the strongest monarch she would gladly share of her spoils, she would grant stud bulls from her herd to any who petitioned her for it. She had visions of unifying the isles and more than one monarch was willing to lend her their best champion to see Ulster fall in her quest to realize it.

None of these champions were a match for Cú Chulainn, of course. But they would strengthen her army, no less. It wouldn't take long, at all, to overwhelm Ulster provided Cú Chulainn was sufficiently distracted...

Yes, he'd erased Fand from his mind. The potion had done that. But he hadn't forgotten her in his heart. If he saw her, just once...

Or, someone wholookedlike her...

I could do that. I couldbeher, and more than that, I could capture his affections for a night. My stomach churned in excitement at the possibility. I'd loved him for so long, and the chance to spend a night with him... in time, I'd reveal to him Iwasthe woman he'd want. I'd come to his aid to defeat Mebd's assault and offer him the chance to flee Ulster forever...

Our affair would remain a secret. I didn't want to harm Emer. But she and he had grown far apart already and it was byhisaction,hisobsessions that their marriage was strained. I could not compel him to lie with me. That would behischoice.

I saw my beloved patrolling Ulster's perimeter as he'd done many nights before.

Mebd's armies were ready... she'd march once I'd lured him away from his patrol.

I appeared in front of him as if I was the faerie Fand...

Cú Chulainn stepped back and shielded his eyes as the glow from my faerie form nearly blinded his eyes.

Faeries don't always glow, of course. They can when they wish to, when they are evoking their magic. I didn't wield faerie magic, but I could mimic it.

My divine heart fluttered as I beheld him up close. All three of us, as the triple-goddess, were drawn to Cú Chulainn for different reasons. Macha was enthralled by his beauty. Anand was attracted to his valor as a warrior and champion. Babd swooned over his mastery of verse. While each of us had found different men appealing, for different reasons, Cú Chulainn was the only man we'd ever encountered who claimed our heart as one. Each of us loved him for different reasons, but together, we loved him with a depth no mortal could possibly comprehend.

Cú Chulainn cocked his head. "You... you seem so... familiar..."

I nodded. "My love... how long I've desired to appear to you, that we might finally be together."

My heart skipped a beat as his eyes traced every contour of my faerie frame. In my natural form, I'm an impressive specimen, no doubt. I am a goddess, after all. But the faeries have a different sort of beauty. Their bodies, dainty in appearance, do not exhibit strength or power although they are quite powerful in their own way. If this was the shape my beloved most desired it would be but a small sacrifice to remain this way.

"I don't understand," Cú Chulainn said, his voice softer than I'd ever heard him speak. "Something about you..."

I pressed my finger to his lips. "No need to speak... I am yours already..."

He took my hand in his, our fingers intertwined, and kissed me on the lips.

"Is there someplace we can go?" I asked.

"Come with me," Cú Chulainn said, breathing heavily. "We will get lost in the forest... and we will conquer the night."

---