"I'm fine," Fintan pretends. But Kassidy knows better. He cleans and binds the wound with expert skill, and then he prays. Fintan's life is in the hands of God, now. Concerned, Kassidy looks to Brother O'Maille.
"We need to move quickly," Fintan urges.
The light of the waning moon is bright, but the fog is thick. "I am not sure that I can guide us safely back to Boho, in this weather," Padraic warns.
Fintan sighs. He seems tired. Where once there was fire, now there seems to be only sorrow, and doubt. He hesitates, and looks to his companions for advice on what to do now. Move now or wait until morning? Attack or negotiate?
The young priest responds to Kassidy by walking over to Fintan.
After looking carefully at his wounds, Ó Máille begins to pray, chanting in Latin.
"I arise today through the mighty strength of the Lord of creation," Fintan prays with Brother O'Maille. "The spirits are with us, and so is the grace of God."
"Make sure we're healthy, then let's get ready for the main attack." Thorun suggests.
"If the Brother says you're not fine Fintan, than you're not fine." Aoife stated as she crossed her arms. "No to mention Padraic isn't look the greatest either." She mentioned before she moved over to Nial and knelt down. "I am Aoife, your people helped Sean slaughter the people of my home. Why?"
Nial stirs, and Aoife repeats the question.
"The Quinn have long been loyal to us. You raided their cattle, and you killed their lord. It was our duty to come to their aid. The King of Largay would have done the same," he answers. "Truth be told, I urged my father to negotiate reparations, but he wouldn't listen. An eye for an eye and the world will go blind..."
Nial sighs.
"Wrong. Sean killed his own father. We had gone to then to demand tribute, that I will not deny, but his father was willing to deal with us so long as we didn't attack. We made an agreement and he went to call off an ambush his son was leading. When he took us to them to call it off Sean and his men attacked. It would have been a good ambush, save for the fact the fog clouded Sean's view. He put a spear through his own father thinking it was one of us." Aoife told him as she as she held his eyes. "Once he saw what they did and our group had the upper hand they surrendered. We let Sean live when in all rights we could have taken his head. His sister was the one who negotiated as her father did and have us the tribute in exchange for leaving their people alone. We accepted. Now my people lay dead or broken!" She hissed the last part at him. "Sean Quinn used you. To hurt innocent people who weren't even there." She stood at that, shaking her head down at Nial. "You said "An eye for an eye and the world will go blind" well right now all I want as reparations is to open Sean Quinn's throat. You want a solution that doesn't involve someone's death, you better start talking. Try and negotiate for Sean's life and don't try using the Queen. I've no love for that woman and from where I stand she's going back with us no matter the out come."
"The warriors of Boho have paid the price for the raid on Tuaim," Nial says sadly, pointing to the bodies of his kinsmen.
"I will not negotiate for Sean Quinn's life," Nial continues. "There is nothing to negotiate: he isn't your prisoner. And even if he was, I wouldn't pay his ransom. He is an able warrior, but he is a fool. The ambush was his father's plan, from the start. And it is his sister who proposed raiding Tuaim after the warriors of Largay left to join with the king of Breifne."
Fintan intercedes: "The only thing that matters is saving the queen."
"My father will surely accept to exchange her life for mine," Nial proposes.
Ó Máille continues to assess his companions' wounds as Aoife interrogates their new prisoner.
Padraic thanks his friend for the care, and then moves into the nearby copse of trees, to take cover and keep an eye out.
"Good, then we trade you for the Queen." Aoife said not sounding overly happy. "Lets get back so I can kill Sean and possibly his sister as well. That whore, acting to nice and understanding. Should have opened her throat along with her brother's back then." She hissed the last part to herself.
Aoife wasn't normally this cold or heartless, but after everything that happened she began to lose faith in the people around her. Though she didn't know why she was surprised, if all mighty God was so cold why wouldn't he creation be? The world she'd always seen as black and white was becoming darker every day. She couldn't say there was much good left.
Fintan looks at Aoife with sorrow.
Then, he turns to Brother O'Maille: "Can you speak for Largay? I'm not good with words, and I want to avoid more bloodshed." He isn't bright, but his heart is in the right place.
"I second Thorun's suggestion. Negotiating now will remove the advantage we have just gained from this daring endeavor..."
"You all want blood. So we wait until morning and attack," he sighs. "Let's get some rest."
The warriors set camp, building a low fire in the hollow of the hill, far from sight. But they aren't worried: there is no reason for the warriors of Boho to come, and the heavy fog would make finding the camp near impossible. They sleep, and dream of God, glory... and death.
In the morning, the fog has lifted. Another grey day.
Before sunrise, they start towards Boho. Padraic goes ahead, to spy upon their enemies. When he returns, he reports that all in Boho seem entirely oblivious to the impending danger. "In all, I count about 20 warriors, including Sean Quinn and King O'Fialain. Four or five are probably resting, but still we can't face them all, not at once."
Survival
The young priest doesn't give Fintan a sure answer when asked to represent Largay. The gravity of the situation weighs heavily on his mind, leading him to spend much of the night awake in prayer. Come morning, he addresses Fintan, along with the rest of the group, as they pack up camp. "I think it may be for the best that I speak for Largay as you have suggested." Ó Máille glances around at his companions, struggling to maintain eye contact with any of them. "I would be a liar if I told you I was unafraid. However, I believe that my position as a priest makes me uniquely suited for this role. Also, this whole turn of events is a direct result of my actions." He pauses again, breathing deeply. "I will do whatever it takes to bring peace back to our people."
Fintan places his large hand on Brother O'Maille's shoulder. "Thank you, my friend," he speaks simply, as always.
He is a man of few words, by all accounts somewhat dim, but his heart is true. "We all have reason to want revenge on Boho," he continues, "and on the Quinn, but they are too many, and I don't want to lose anyone else. Boho and the Quinn have paid the price in blood. It's time to end this."
He turns to Aoife. "My brother said that a storm was coming. This is not the storm."
"We came here to free the queen," he reminds them.
Ó Máille speaks to Fintan. "I seek to right my wrongs. If that means I must free the queen, I will do just that. If justice requires the end of the Quinn line-" The young priest pauses. Guilt shows clearly on his face, but so does a flash of uncharacteristic anger. "So be it."
"Come at 'em in the middle o' the night. Sneak up on the guards, slit their throats, and get what damage we can get done before they sound the alarm." Thorun suggests casually.
"And then? Fintan asks. "We may kill a few quickly, but we'll still be outnumbered. We risk dying, to fight a battle that could be entirely avoided."
He shakes his head. "I heard that you fought well in Tuaim, and I saw your bravery last night; but attacking seems dangerous and futile. Doesn't it?"
Thorun shrugs. "Depends on how it turns out."
Aoife groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "Fintan does make a point... if we fight openly we also risk killing the Queen. For the soul fact she's Fintan's mother I'd like to get her back safely..." She hissed slightly as she looked up. "I'm not going to get to kill Sean am I?" She asked as she glared at Fintan.
"Not unless you have a plan," Fintan answers.
He turns to Brother O'Maille: "Go. Tell the king that we have his son, and that we ask for his hospitality to negotiate."
Kass sighs as he would have preferred to let more Blood, still as a man of God revenge was not the way of Christ though the old books did discuss and eye for an eye, it seems that the price of Blood was paid in kind on the field of battle here and now.
"By Brehon Law, killing a rider who has come to parlay would be a crime, and the price for killing a priest would be particularly egregious. Furthermore, if the King extends his hospitality, Brother Ó Máille should be safe in Boho.
Let's hope we do not have to claim him as a Martyr...
I am in agreement with this plan to negotiate". Though he says so clearly looking anything but.
Decided to right his wrongs, Brother O'Maille mounts a horse.
"We will move to better grounds and wait for you to return from the village," O'Maille's old friend Padraic reassures him.
"You'll be fine," Fintan adds.
The priest gallops up the hill to Boho, leaving his friends and allies behind. Nervously, he approaches the settlement. He is seen from afar, and the warriors stir like animals in their lair. O'Maille slows his horse, and rides in with his hands high in a gesture of peace.
"Brother O'Maille?" asks none other than Sean Quinn.
Aoife let out a long deep sigh before they began to move to better ground. "If we're not going to get to kill Sean I'm keeping the horses." Aoife stated bitterly as they moved.
Howeve Aoife seemed to be kind to Nial. She ensured he had water and when they stopped to eat she didn't untie him but she did feed him.
Padraic leads them to a spot with cover and a good view of Boho, and they wait.
Nial is thankful for Aoife's attention. He seems a good man, and indeed could prove to be a fair and just king, if he survives long enough to inherit the crown.
"You're not like other women," he says to Aoife, curious. "You have a rare fire within you. It's surprising that I never heard your name uttered in the halls."
He looks at Fintan, and then back at her with a querying look that belies a wise and keen mind.
"To be honest it wasn't till recently I even left my King's halls." Aoife told him honestly. "I'm one of King McGovern's slaves." She shrugged before she offered him the last of the food. "Mostly I work in the kitchen."
Nial simply raises an eyebrow.
He turns to Kassidy. "You must be the O'Kennedy," he guesses.
Then, he assesses Thorun. "You're from Dublin. I can't figure out why you're here. In any case, they are lucky to have you."
"You're taking your... imprisonment rather well. This is new." Aoife said with a small laugh as she stood up as he was done eating. "Since you've been so forthcoming tell me Nial, how likely do you think this... trade will not end in blood?" She asked.
"My father is an honorable man. He will agree to the exchange: a life for a life," he answers with certitude. Then, he sighs.
"Then you will go home, we will lick our wounds, and my father will mount another attack."
"And right there." Aoife said with a sigh as she set down the bowl she had used to feed Nial with. She went back and sat next to him. "It's never going to end. We try to be nice to the Quinns and while our King is away they slaughter our people as if they're animals. We come to retrieve our Queen and get justice, only to end up like this... which will only make your father attack us once more. It never ends." Aoife pointed out as she rested her arm on her knee. "Until one family or the other is just gone..."
She shook her head before she leaned foreword, looking at Nial. "What will you do when you take your father's place?" Aoife asked him.
"I am not my father," Nial states plainly.
"If we are to end the blood feud between our people, then we will all need to forgive the past," he continues. "The warriors of Largay have raided our lands as often as we have raided theirs."
Ó Máille's face displays no fear as he approaches Sean Quinn and his warriors. He's spent the whole ride up the hill in prayer and managed to reach an almost unnatural peace, given his circumstances.
He speaks when spoken to. "It is I. I come to you as a representative of Largay and a man of God to propose a trade I think you will find most reasonable." He pauses, allowing a deep silence to fill the space between them. "Nial, the son of your king, in exchange for our queen."
Ignoring the comment directed at him as rhetorical, Kass responds, "So yer sayin' in no so many words tha' we should slay yer Da n peace will be upon us? Izzat what I'm hearin' Nial?"
"I honestly doubt that." Aoife said with a sigh as she looked to Kass. "Though it does sound like that." She agreed before she turned her attention back to Nial. "Okay let me ask you this then, when you take your father's place how would you make peace with the Quinns and the McGoverns?" Aoife asked as she crossed her arms.
"It's like all we can talk about is killing each other," Nial laments.
He turns to Fintan: "I will attempt to convince my father to make peace. Will you do the same?"
"I will try," Fintan answers with typical brevity.
"Brother O'Maille has entered Boho," Padraic interrupts.
In Boho, O'Maille is met by Sean Quinn who is surprised to see him there, and astonished to hear his purpose.
"Get the king!" he barks to a boy.
Having noticed the priest's arrival and heard his terms, Brigit Quinn approaches.
"God be blessed that you are safe and sound, Brother O'Maille. I was relieved when I heard that you were not in Tuaim. Where is Braedan?" she asks with a smile. "I would have expected him to be here..."
"Ahm sayin' one death of a black hearted bastard'd save a lot o' other lives. We help ye get whatcha' need 'n then sign a treaty fer peace. We've enemies off o'our shores who're lovin' watchin' us slaughter each other. The Pope 'n his allies're salivatin' ta pick err carcus clean... 'n we're doin' their work for em!"
All this thinking about killin'. Just kill the ones you need to and they'll stop complaining about it.
The young priest's eyes grow sorrowful when Brigit inquires about his friend. "Blessings to you as well, sister. Braeden is - he's no longer among the living. This war has taken many things from us, from both our people. I pray this needless bloodshed will cease."
"My condolences," she offers, with perfectly feigned sincerity.
The king arrives, along with more warriors. He is a big brute of a man who was undoubtedly a formidable fighter in his youth. But the years have shown him little mercy: overweight and yellow skinned, he moves slowly, and struggles to catch his breath.
"Who are you?" he barks with authority.
"This is Brother O'Maille of Tuaim," Brigit answers. "He travels with the son of the King of Largay. He claims that they have captured Nial."
"If you have harmed my son..." he threatens.
"Brother O'Maille is a good man, my lord," Brigit intervenes calmly. "He has come in good faith, to negotiate. Perhaps you should offer him and his companions your hospitality? He wishes for the bloodshed to end, as we all do."
The King nods. Clearly, he trusts in her sound council. "You and your companions are welcome in my home. No harm shall come to you for so long as you respect the laws."
"You and your companions are welcome in my home. No harm shall come to you for so long as you respect the laws."
Oh crap.
Ó Máille manages to maintain a stern gaze on the king during their exchange. "Thank you for your hospitality. I will gather my companions, along with your son, and return shortly." With that, the young priest turns his horse around and begins his decent down the hill.
Brother O'Maille rides a fair distance before Padraic reveals himself and then leads the priest back to meet with the others. Clearly, Padraic is wary of the Quinn and the Ó’Fialáin.
"We weren't followed," he reassures them all when they return.
"What do we do now?" asks Fintan, as usual looking to his companions for advice before making a decision.
"Some of us go and some of us remain behind on horseback to flee if there is any sign of trouble, if we walk Nial back in now we will not get the Queen nor will we leave once more with our heads. We'd have no bargaining power if we place ourselves under his control".
"I think Nial may be our greatest ally in this endeavor. I believe he desires peace as much as we do." Ó Máille turns to address Nail directly. "We will need your help to make sure this goes smoothly. I trust you, though I am hesitant to extend the same trust to your father." The young priest speaks to the group once again. "I think Kassidy has a point. Who will accompany me to the settlement?"
Thorun grunts. "I'll come if you want me to. Shit at diplomacy but I'm a good man to have at your back if it comes to weapons."
Aoife sighed as she tapped the side of her head with her left hand the said "We leave Padraic, Fintan, and Thorun behind. I won't risk sending Fintan in to enemy hands and Thorun has shown himself to be a powerful warrior thus can keep Fintan safe. Should things go south and us not return they can leave with Nial and Padraic can cover the tracks." She looked to the group to see how they would react before looking to Nial. "Any advice you want to give me before I go deal with your father?"