I will be king before this day is over

The room fell silent. The gathered Danans and Isolde were stunned by the king’s gift. Danans and humans have tense relations, and it was surprising enough that King Fionnbharr and Queen Sorcha invited one into their castle as an honored guest. To receive the king’s old sword, forged by the former king, was a high honor.

Rowan drew the sword. A gold pommel and guard emblazoned with Danan runes, a black handle, and a gleaming silver blade with more Danan runes. He could tell it was a blade forged by a master. Though he didn’t have any sword training to speak of, he felt confident that Cailean would help him in battle.

He sheathed the blade and affixed it to his belt. Rowan held his hand out to Fionnbharr. “Thank you. I swear to use this blade in defense of Aislinn and everyone else the demons try to hurt.”

Fionnbharr wore a confident grin as he shook Rowan’s hand. “See that you do, Rowan. I’m entrusting my granddaughter to you.”

Aislinn led the group out of the castle. Rowan looked around him with an amused smile. “I finally feel like I’m in the book. I’m part of Princess Aislinn’s legendary party,” he remarked.

“I don’t think the name ‘Rowan’ appeared even once in my book,” Aislinn teased him as they reached the stables. He gave her a false, irritated look before laughing.

She reached out to touch Rowan’s arm just as he went to mount a horse. “Wait,” she stopped him. He looked at her and saw her serious expression. “If you cannot return home, I will ensure you have a place with me,” she promised. Aislinn quickly blushed and rambled on to cover for her unexpected romantic gesture. “At the castle, of course! You’ve come all this way to find me, and I cannot simply turn you out into the cold.”

Isolde mounted her horse and smirked. “To live the meaningless life of a nobleman? I can find him honest work within my tribe,” she offered.

Aislinn gave her a sharp look. “How do you intend to ensure Rowan’s place among your people? The Ossorians are isolationist by nature. Not even travelers are granted a bed for a single evening.”

Isolde chuckled darkly. “There are rules for humans and Danans joining an Ossorian tribe: they must perform a great feat and marry one of us,” she explained, surprising Aislinn and Rowan. Aislinn was particularly stunned. Her cheeks became red, and she scrambled to think of a retort. Isolde winked at him. “Rowan, if we defeat the demons and save the land, you can take me as your bride.”

Rowan blushed as his mouth hung open. “Don’t you dare-!” Aislinn began to shout angrily at her, but Isolde had taken off at a brisk pace. Rowan and Aislinn mounted their horses and set off after her, followed by Fionnbharr’s elite warriors.

Guirmean took the lead and guided the party toward a second Leòideach encampment. It was a fortified location complete with wooden walls and battlement towers, built using the wood of nearby trees. They carve out their own clearing in the sacred forest. “They’ve prepared for a long campaign,” Rowan observed. “No one sets this up to go on vacation.” The wooden spikes near the front gate highlighted his point. Rowan could barely stand the gaudy banners with the knowledge that he was their descendant.

Aislinn confidently rode ahead toward the encampment. “Wait!” Rowan hissed and followed her. The princess flashed him a bright, reassuring smile and carried on.

A large and somewhat portly man in gleaming armor rode out of the encampment and intercepted Aislinn with a group of twelve heavily armed soldiers marching behind him on foot. “Greetings, fair Princess Aislinn!” The large man announced with a hollow smile. He dismounted his horse, and his men immediately flanked him, each ready to fight at a moment’s notice. “I am Domhnall Leòideach, the lord of the Leòideach family.”

Aislinn and her party dismounted. She maintained the air of dignity as one expected of a leader. Fionnbharr’s warriors drew their weapons and readied themselves. Their princess held her hand up, ordering them to stand down. “On behalf of King Túathal, I hereby order you to withdraw your people from the forest,” she spoke in a calm and commanding voice. “As I told your children, the nearby lakes are dangerous. They contain the very essence of Aonghas himself. They can turn even humans into demons who exist only to serve the demon god.”

She knew Domhnall was well aware of the dangers, but she needed to give a proper order to leave before engaging in combat. If it’s one thing the Leòideach family did extremely well, it was manipulating the courts in their favor.

Domhnall gave a hearty chuckle. “Indeed! My darling children informed me of your visit and your scholar’s brilliant designs.” A frown replaced his dazzling smile. “I am glad to say that we are here for similar reasons. Terrifying monsters have encroached upon our territory. We’re here to defend ourselves! Speaking of-” he turned to his men. “Stand down, would you? This is the daughter of our king, not some random Danan!” He made a performance of chiding his men that fooled no one.

“Please, join me inside my tent. Perhaps you can convince His Highness to lend me some of his men if you can impress upon him the severity of the situation,” Domhnall invited her. Rowan, Aislann, and Isolde could see where Bronwen and Keyth got their attitudes.

“Just a moment. Perhaps you could clarify something for me,” Aislinn spoke.

“Hmm? What might that be, Princess?” Domhnall took a step closer.

“Your territory is more than a month's travel from here, and you would have to pass through another territory to reach here,” Aislinn observed. She recalled the map Rowan showed her on his phone. “You’re not exactly in danger, nor would a water source taken from here truly help your people on time,” she continued. “So I must ask, why are you truly here?”

Domhnall darkly chuckled. “You misunderstand the situation, Princess Aislinn. Please, I will explain everything in my tent,” his guards rearmed themselves. “I insist.”

“This is treason! I will see you imprisoned for this,” Aislinn angrily declared.

Domhnall uproariously laughed at her accusation. “I will be king before this day is over. I may let you become Keyth’s mistress, if only for appearance.”

Rowan dashed forward and punched Domhnall in the face, sending him flying to the ground. “Shut up, gramps!” He just barely avoided a guard’s sword from impaling his chest. Rowan sent him reeling with a well-placed elbow to his nose and mouth.

Fionnbharr’s men engaged the Leòideach soldiers in combat. Though outnumbered, the Danan warriors proved why their king had hand-picked them for the most dangerous missions. Eimhir gained space from the group to pick off the reinforcements that flooded out of the encampment.

Ceallach watched Rowan draw his sword and clash with the soldiers. His movements were unrefined, but he fared well. Ceallach noticed that his strikes were too shallow and immediately realized the issue. “Rowan, your enemy will show you no such mercy,” he warned as he cut down two soldiers in rapid succession. “Do you value your enemies’ lives more than ours? More than Princess Aislinn’s?”

Rowan’s heart froze in his chest. He never considered the possibility of having to take another life. However, he spared time to look at Aislinn, Isolde, and the royal knights who swore to defend them. Fear and anxiety gripped him as the reality of the situation dawned on him; he volunteered to go to war.

He gritted his teeth and parried another sword strike that aimed to remove his head from his shoulders. He kicked his opponent away and knocked the soldiers off balance. Rowan dashed forward and stabbed his sword through the soldier’s side through an opening in the soldier’s armor. Blood immediately erupted from the wound as the soldier gasped and fell. Rowan pulled his sword out of the soldier and watched his opponent lie still on the ground.