Challenge of the clans (26 page)

"But it's my own life you're speaking ofl" Finn hotly replied. He put his hand to his sword hilt. "And I've no fear of your powers, no matter how great. If you wish to harm me or my friends, the Little Nut as well, you'll have a fight of it."

"Is that so?' said the king.

Behind them there arose a great rumbling and grinding sound. Finn's party turned to see the tunnel they had followed into the hill closing together, the sides of the rock>^ passage sliding in until they touched, wed perfectly together, fused tight as if never parted.

"You're sealed forever now within this hill, unless I choose to free you," said the king.

"Maybe," Finn said, showing no fear, "but if you come against us, you may find that you don't want us trapped with you in here."

"Still arrogant, are you?" the king said with some surprise. "Well, young warrior, and why should you not be killed by us? There are those among our people who want it done."

"Why?" Finn demanded. "iVe done nothing to you."

"He's right, my king," the Red Woman said in support. "He's done nothing to earn our dislike, and he's proven to me that he is a warrior to be admired. He and his men pursued the beast without failing in their strength or courage. No others have ever been able to do as much. And he showed great honor in letting me go when he might have killed me."

"Perhaps," the king said thoughtfully, "but he has the blood of a mortal in him."

"There is as much reason to take his part as to be against him, " she said in a reasoning tone. "He has the blood of the de Danaans as well."

"What do you mean?" asked Finn, bewdldered by this cryptic exchange.

"Your mother, Muime, is one of us, Finn," the woman told him. "She is a granddaughter of Nuada Silver Hand, who was once high king of all the Children of Danu.'

"Can that be true?" Finn said, astounded by this revelation. "She said nothing of it to me."

"Of course it's true, Finn!" Cnu Deireoil said with sudden understanding. "I knew I sensed something in her when I first saw her. It was a kindred spirit."

"To accept your father's love, to live with him, she had to choose to become a part of his world," the Red Woman told Finn. "She could let no mortal know the truth."

"Enough, woman!" thundered the king. "You have told him more than it is his right to know. His father

corrupted one of us. His mother turned her back on her people. That must be avenged."

"No! It must not!" cried the Little Nut. The king s words had made him angry, and the anger banished his fear. "YouVe meaning to punish this lad for our losing of Ireland, not his own wrong. Muime's only crime was to wish to live amongst the mortals, as was mine. If the kings of the Sidhe of Ireland can condemn us for that, then there's no freedom left to us."

There were mutterings of agreement and support from the gathering of Sidhe people at his words. Some even spoke their sympathy aloud. Surprised by this response, the king looked around at them.

"Are you saying that this Finn shouldn't be harmed?" he asked.

"It's for those who think themselves wronged by him to take what revenge they can,'* a noble white-haired man of the company answered forcefully, "not for ourselves. We've no right to be interfering in this fine young warrior's life."

The golden-haired young woman beside the king then spoke to him, her gentle voice reasoning, coaxing, and caressing all at once: "If part of him is ours, then all of him is ours. That has been our way. To hurt one of our own would be a greater wrong than any done to us through love. My king, you would not seem just in it. You would seem evil."

These last words of hers were enough. He nodded, and then turned to the Fian men.

"Finn MacCumhal," he said sternly, "I'll accept these arguments for leniency toward you. You have won your life from us. You and your warriors will be allowed to leave here safely."

"And what about Gnu Deireoil?" Finn asked, putting a hand upon the Httle man's shoulder. "I'll not leave him."

"You are a lad of strong honor," said the king. He looked at the harper. "Well, I think his own courage in defending you has won his freedom as well. I'll give my own leave for him to go into the upper world again, so long as he vows to stay with you."

'That's fair enough!" the Little Nut said with glee.

"But listen to me, Finn MacCumhal," the king added. "Expect no more kindness from us or so fair a treatment from the next people of the Sidhe that you meet. Do you understand?"

"I do, my king," Finn answered earnestly. "You are a gracious man."

At such politeness, the king beamed with pleasure. "You have manners too, I see. Well then, before you go, you must accept our hospitahty in return for the harsh treatment weVe given to you. Join in our feasting."

Such an invitation could not be refused. Finn and his companions sat down in places opened for them among the bright company. They were given all manner of foods, rich beyond comparing with the simple warrior's fare. They drank of deep red and golden liquors that Finn found filling and warming, wiping away all his fatigue. They watched the dancers and they listened to the bards singing of the faraway islands of Tir-na-nog, where palaces were golden and there was only peace.

Finally the King-of-the-Hill rose on his throne and lifted a gleaming chalice toward his guests.

"It's time for your leaving now," he said. "A final drink with me before you go."

Pitchers were brought, and the cups of Finn's band filled again.

"May you do well in battle, Finn MacCumhal," the king said, "and may you die well when your time is come to you. Peace to you now."

They drank deeply. Finn felt the drink as a pecu-har surge of heat that went through him like a wave. Suddenly he felt very heavy, his limbs going numb, his mind confused. Was he drunk again, he wondered?

"Wait!" he said, forcing the slurred words through Hps that seemed to have grown very thick. "The beast. The beast we followed here. The Red Woman said that we would see it."

"And so you shall," that woman said, coming into the middle of the tables and stopping beside the fire.

Finn watched her, his vision blurring quickly. He

realized that her form was shifting again. Through a rapidly growing haze, like a sun-drenched mist, he saw that the beast stood before him. Its twin moons shone out like beacons.

But he could focus no longer. The glowing white was filling up his head, overwhelming him. Tliis was wrong! This was not drunkenness. It was something else. Something else in the liquor. Was it poison? Did the King-of-the-Hill mean to destroy them after all?

With this last, awftil thought, the swelling whiteness swallowed him and he was lost.

Chapter Twenty-four

A PARTING

When Finn awoke, it was to a familiar scene: the slowly hghtening da\^Ti sky.

He stretched and shook his head to clear it of the muzziness, then looked around. He saw trees, but no sign of Cnoc-na-Righ. The forms of his companions lay about him on the ground. He checked them all quickly. They seemed to be only peacefully asleep, although he couldn't wake them.

He sighed and looked around again. Once more the powers of the Sidhe had tricked him. He wondered if perhaps the whole thing had been some dream, some illusion, hke the phantoms.

A hand touched his shoulder and he whirled around. He found himself looking down into the small, beautifiil face of the young woman from the hall of the Sidhe. It had been no dream.

Her eyes still held that familiar, tantalizing look.

Her smile was warm. She moved close, touching his arm with a small, slender hand.

"You are all right?" she asked him.

"I'm not certain," he said truthfully, feeling still a little dazed. "What about my friends?"

"They are only sleeping," she assured him. "They will awaken when the sun is fully risen. From here you will be able to find your way easily."

"Why were we put to sleep?" he wondered.

"It was meant to keep you from discovering our Sidhe again. Now the power of Manannan that protects all the Sidhes of Ireland will lead you Astray should you go near it again. You are not even to know if your visit there was real."

"I wasn't certain, until I saw you," he said.

"I am not supposed to be here," she told him. "I wished to speak to you, alone."

"I am glad," he told her, lifting a hand to touch the fine hair.

She took the hand in her two small ones, holding it tightly.

"There is no time,'* she said earnestly. "Please listen. The king told you that you could expect no other kindness from my people. He was wrong. There are those among us who would help you, and I am one of them. You must know that the enemies you face are much more powerful than you think. You've a right to know who they really are."

"Really are?" he asked in puzzlement. "What do you mean?"

"It is Tadg, the father of Muirne, who wishes you destroyed by us. Though he is the druid to Ireland's high king he is of the Tuatha de Danaan."

"Why does he hate me?"

"Because his daughter Muirne was taken from him against his will by Cumhal. It was a great insult to him that he had to avenge, though even his daughter never knew of it. He schemed with Conn of the Hundred Battles himself to destroy your father, and to see you dead as well."

*The high Idng is part of this too?" Finn said in surprise.

She nodded. "Yes. He fears your leading the Fianna to defy him, as your father did. He cannot be trusted, Finn, nor can any of his court."

"All my life I was told that it was the Clan na Moma I must beware," he said. "I never realized."

"None of the mortal world did, save those involved. It was meant to be that way. You may find that Goll MacMorna is less the enemy than you thought."

"But, how—" he began.

She lifted a hand, touching her fingers to his lips.

"No more," she said. "The sun is almost fiilly up. iVe risked too much already coming here. If the king discovers ..." She left the punishment unspoken, but Finn understood.

"I don't know how I can thank you for what youVe done," he said. "Why are you helping me?"

She lifted suddenly up on her toes, leaned toward him, and pressed her lips to his. It was a kiss more filled with warmth and energy than the magical drink of the Sidhe. He tingled from it still after she pulled away.

"I must go now," she told him. "Good fortune go with you."

As she moved away, Finn recovered fi-om the kiss and called after her: "Wait! Tell me who you are!"

"I am called the Shadowy One," she said, and proved her words by fading away into the woods. But as she disappeared, her final words drifted back: "I will see you again, Finn MacCumhal."

He certainly hoped so, Finn thought, raising a hand to his still tingling lips.

A loud snort drew his attention to Caoilte. The man was stirring, coming awake. His eyes opened and he was instantly alert, leaping to his feet, hand on sword hilt, body set for defense. Then he saw Finn grinning at him and realized where they were.

"By all the gods my family swears by!" he exclaimed.

The Little Nut awoke then, sitting up and staring around him with great intent.

i

"Ah!" he said in a much reHeved way. "So they did leave us ahve!"

"Did you doubt they would?" Caoilte asked. **They're your own people."

"How do you think I know they cant be trusted?"

"Knowing youVe one of the Others explains a great deal to me," the dark warrior said. "I thought there was something peculiar about you."

"At least I have an excuse for it," the harper shot back. Then he looked up at Finn. "It's our young friend's being of our blood that's wondrous to me. It must be what drew me to helping him that first time we met."

The other Fian men were awakening now. With varying degrees of alacrity they stretched and shook and climbed to their feet.

"Look there!" said Crimall, pointing westward toward a patch of sparkling light amongst the trees. "That's Lough Dearg! We're almost back at our own camp!"

He led the way through the woods, paralleling the lake. Soon they were coming out into a meadow. The camp and the figures of the older men who had remained behind were visible. So was a wave of furious activity that rushed toward them with a confused sound of frenzied barking. In moments a swarm of animals was about their feet, leaping excitedly.

"It's the hounds!" Finn cried happily. *The Others have sent them back as well."

The men of the camp explained that the animals had returned during the night, raising some concern as to the fate of the hunting party. Crimall recounted their adventures, and Finn added to the tale what he had learned from the Shadowy One. The news disturbed his companions greatly.

"I've not met this Tadg," Cnu Deireoil said, *T3ut it's certain his powers are great. We'd best be watching always. "

"It's hard to think the high king himself is in this,** said Crimall, "but it does explain the Moma clan challenging us."

"What do you mean?" asked Finn.

"Well, you know that the Fianna are meant to serve the high king. But it's true your father had become a bit . . . well . . . arrogant. Td warned him about it myself. I feared hed push the king too far one day."

This was a most peculiar notion to Finn. In BodhmalFs teachings, there was no suggestion that Cumhal might not have been blameless in his own downfall.

"Your father wanted more power for the Fians," his uncle went on. "But to Goll the bond to the king was always before any other. If Conn wished him to take the leadership from us, he would have obeyed."

"If the high king is part of this," said Caoilte, "it'll make your task all the more difficult, Finn."

"He's right in that," Crimall agreed. "You'll not be able to simply walk into the hall of Tara and proclaim yourself openly. Conn will likely have you killed as an outlaw when you step through the gateway."

"But I've got to make myself known, or I've no way of claiming the chieftainship," Finn said.

"There may be a way," Crimall said thoughtfully. "At Samhain time, the chieftains of Ireland gather at Tara for the celebrations. During that time, no one is allowed to take up a quarrel with another; All men are protected by a peace. If you could make your way into the fortress then, you could make your claim without the Morna clan or the king being able to act against you."