《Tales from Tyrconnell》


 1) Grim news from the west

    ¡°He still won¡¯t eat,¡± Siobhan MacSweeney said. ¡°He just lies there with his back to the rest of the loft.¡±


    She sat at her dinner table between her mother, D¨¢irine, and Niall MacRannell, an old family friend. Mrs. MacSweeney nodded but her distant stare and flat expression hinted that the motion was more reflex than acknowledgment.


    Niall cleared his throat, though it did little to smooth the gravel within.


    ¡°Has he said anything else?¡±


    ¡°He did stretch one grunt into two syllables, if that counts,¡± Siobhan said.


    D¨¢irine¡¯s eyes shifted to her daughter. The amount by which they narrowed was too small for anyone but her own children to understand the annoyance gathering behind them.


    ¡°Sorry, Mam,¡± Siobhan said.


    ¡°This is no time for jokes!¡± Dair¨ªne said.


    ¡°I gathered as much,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°That¡¯s why I apologized.¡±


    ¡°You know that O¡¯Roarke lad likely heard you from up there, right?¡±


    ¡°I meant no disrespect,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°But what is he doing up there? Gavin was at Murrough¡¯s hut today before breakfast to bring him news. Hours later, he was pounding on our door. Murrough legged it out of here and you sent Cathal and Ciar¨¢n away after him.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯m not a little girl, Mam. Even without all your extra teachings, eighteen is plenty old enough to notice things like Gavin¡¯s bloody ionar vest over in the corner and his body laying up there in my bed with nary a scratch on it. You¡¯re clearly waiting for something before you let me in on this mess so I¡¯m trying to keep calm and patient, but my brothers themselves left three hours ago.¡±


    Absent of a response from her mother, she sighed.


    ¡°This feels too much like the night you told us about Da.¡±


    Niall tilted his head and raised his eyebrows before lifting his eyes from his ale to Mrs. MacSweeney.


    The widow took Siobhan¡¯s hand in both of hers and squeezed. Her sniff pinched a tear from the side of each eye.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Shivvy,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re absolutely right; it reminds me of that night as well. And for good reason¡ª¡±


    Siobhan jerked her hand away from her mother and slid back her chair.


    ¡°¡ªAre my brothers alright? My nephews and nieces?¡±


    ¡°The whole family is still fine. But something terrible has happened. Your brothers should be back soon with news.¡±


    ¡°Do you hear that?¡± Niall asked.


    The lull in conversation allowed the breeze to carry the sound into the room. Distant hooves pounded the road that led to their house.


    ¡°I¡¯d wager that¡¯s themselves coming now,¡± he said


    Even knowing her family was safe, the day¡¯s events had set Siobhan on edge. She ran past her cloak on her way out the front door and waited for them. The afternoon sunshine did little to lessen the bite of the mid-April wind from Ballyness Bay, but she was too focused on her older brothers¡¯ approach to notice. Her mother and Niall flanked her as the young men slid down from their saddles.


    Ciar¨¢n, the youngest of Siobhan¡¯s four older brothers, kept his eyes fixed downward and clenched his jaw so tight it flexed the muscles in his temples. Cathal gulped as he approached his mother.


    ¡°It¡¯s as Gavin told us,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Mrs. MacSweeney brought her index finger up to her mouth for a moment and took a deep breath.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be off to Dunfanaghy, then,¡± she said. ¡°No doubt Murrough will take the boys there. Niall, I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll have to impose an errand upon you. I know you¡¯d rather be helping Murrough, of course. My apologies.¡±


    Niall¡¯s smile did not reach his eyes, despite the effort made by the lower half of his leathery face.


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Niall said. ¡°I¡¯ll go wherever need.¡±


    Mrs. MacSweeney hugged Cathal and placed a hand on the back of Ciar¨¢n¡¯s head as she held him and spoke.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you boys had to see that,¡± she said. ¡°I hope you understand why I needed you to go together.¡±


    Ciar¨¢n¡¯s chin poked his mother¡¯s shoulder as he nodded.


    With a faint smile toward Niall and a brief clasp of her daughter¡¯s hand, the widow retreated into the house.


    ¡°Ambushed?¡± Niall asked.


    ¡°I believe so,¡± Cathal said. ¡°But I¡¯m not an expert in these things.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get someone who is,¡± Niall said. ¡°It may take her a day or two to get there, though. Did you see any of them skulking about the area?


    ¡°No signs of anyone shady the entire time we were in Magheroarty¡ªnot at the camp, not on the roads,¡± Cathal said. ¡°They were either gone or content to just watch us from places where I couldn¡¯t spot them.¡±


    Cathal stopped at the shudder of his younger brother¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Did you check on¡ª¡±


    ¡°We turned down their road on the way back until I was satisfied we were the only ones who had,¡± Cathal said. ¡°But I knew you and Mam were waiting on us.¡±


    ¡°Fair play, lad. Proud of you two.¡±


    Niall sighed and rubbed the top of his head.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s dead? Truly?¡±


    His face implied that he already knew the answer, but Siobhan assumed her elder wasn¡¯t above false hope.


    ¡°They are,¡± Cathal said. ¡°Those O¡¯Farrell brothers from Cavan, Colum O¡¯Doherty, Deirdre McFadden¡ªeven Fintan and Aoife MacLaughlin.¡±


    Niall met Siobhan¡¯s eyes as her brother said the last two names.


    ¡°Both?¡± Siobhan asked.


    ¡°Both,¡± Cathal said.


    Those poor lads, she thought. What¡¯s going to happen to them?


    ****


    ¡°Gavin, you have to eat some breakfast,¡± Siobhan said. ¡°You¡¯ve gone a full day without eating a thing.¡±


    She tapped the cup on the small stand. The ripples informed her the cup was half empty. The man in her bed silently stared at the wall furthest from the opening that led to the rest of the home.


    Siobhan slept in her mother¡¯s empty bed the night before and that is the only reason she knew Gavin had moved at all since his arrival yesterday. He stubbed his toe on her mother¡¯s bedframe in the dark as he stumbled outside to answer the call of nature.


    She laid there silently and listened as he walked toward the front door, letting out soft grunts the first few times he put weight on his sore foot. When he reentered the house, he shuffled his feet past the bed on the way to the ladder for the sake of his other nine toes. He slid past Ciar¨¢n, snoring softly in the bed directly above her, before retaking his place in her usual bed.


    She knew to avoid engaging him on her terms. On his best days Gavin was a quiet man. Charming and affable, of course, but he rarely spoke ten words when he knew eight would do. Here in the morning, his brown eyes darted in her direction as she examined him once more for wounds. His knees were bent, keeping his lower legs from hanging over the foot of the bed. She stepped to a point in the edge of his eyeline.


    Nothing. The only marks she could find were scars on his exposed forearms, various burns from the forge built behind his cottage in Dunfanaghy. He was no more than six years her elder, but in his brief time he crafted the most intricate, beautiful and, occasionally, the most deadly things she¡¯d ever seen. Had he not been descended from the Tuatha D¨¦¡¯s legendary forgemaster, Goibniu, he¡¯d still be a prodigious blacksmith.


    A few locks of his dark, wavy hair had slipped down, partially obscuring the dark circles under his eyes. It was too uncomfortable of a sight for Siobhan. Gavin jerked his shoulder back as she reached to brush his hair back. Siobhan straightened and stepped back to the wall behind her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said.


    Gavin slowly closed his lids and nodded before meeting Siobhan¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to talk if you don¡¯t want to,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re just worried about you, and starving yourself isn¡¯t going to help anyone.¡±


    Gavin¡¯s eyes worked back to the wall. Siobhan sighed and turned to leave.


    ¡°I can¡¯t eat,¡± he said.


    She stooped down to his eye level.


    ¡°No?¡± she asked.


    She relied on time and quiet to draw his answers out.


    ¡°My head is in bits,¡± he said. ¡°My stomach¡¯s not much better.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think you¡¯d feel better if you tried¡ª¡±


    ¡°¡ªI don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°Even if my stomach didn¡¯t feel this way, I¡¯m just not hungry.¡±


    She scanned him twice from head to toe and stood up.


    ¡°You¡¯re a grown man,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll keep something in the pot for when you¡¯re ready. I just hope you catch yourself on before I have to find¡­ alternative methods to get food down your gob.¡±


    She held up her hand, gently pulled it to her shoulder, and brought it forward. A soft green glow emerged from her palm. The light faded after a few seconds. Gavin glanced at Siobhan and resumed his study of the wall after another slow blink.


    Siobhan left his side and paused before grabbing the ladder.


    ¡°If you can¡¯t eat, at least try to sleep. Otherwise you¡¯ll find me much more chatty if you bump my bed tonight.¡±


    Gavin¡¯s shoulders jerked as he let out a solitary grunt of laughter.