“Fall back,” called Tethra. He suddenly realised there were soldiers between Caer Omaith and himself. He tried to rally the horsemen, but it was too late. The warriors quickly fell, surrounded by the enemy. Caer Omaith had fallen from her horse Mornai, and she was dragged out of sight. Tethra’s heart fell. Mornai took off galloping through the soldiers, scattering them. He leaped and was gone, disappearing into the darkening forest.

Then Tethra saw Ruad in the distance. He could see Ruad had a smirk across his face, and his sword was raised.

“Back to the gate,” Tethra cried. “Devorgill, Fiall, follow me.” They fought their way back to the gate and formed a barrier as the secondary gate was fitted onto the remaining hinges of the gate. Finally, they retreated into the city and the gates closed with a thud. The new beam went into place, locking them in.

Tethra felt sick as he ran back to the top of the wall. He could not bear to think princess that Caer Omaith would die. He cursed his oversight, but was relieved it was not Devorgill. I Immediately upon thinking this he felt ashamed of his internal selfishness.

The soldiers were all shouting with joy by the time he reached the top. The enemy were finally retreating. The battle was over for now. They had destroyed the enemy by at least a tenth on the first day, with minimal losses among their own.

As the news spread that Caer Omaith had been captured, the rejoicing ceased, Caer Omaith was loved by all those from Enna Aignech.

***

Ruad was happy as he ate his meal. Sitting at the table across from him was Caer Omaith. Her face was stony and pale. She looked ill and weak, but she still managed to stare at Ruad with disdain. Chewing loudly and feeling euphoric because of his perceived victory in capturing what he saw as a prize.. Ruad spoke, “My lady, why do you not eat?” But she did not react to him, her face cold.

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“You will eat with me every night of this battle,” he said. “Maybe your father will make a treaty when they are hungry enough and let me marry you in place of peace.”

Caer Omaith glared at him. “My father will never do that,” she replied defiantly. “You will not win. So, you may as well give up now.”

“Silence,” he thundered, smashing the table with his fist. “You will respect me, and you will learn to accept your fate. A princess marries a king, and I will be king.”

Caer Omaith’s expression went dark. Fury rose up in her chest. Then she suddenly went white and began to cough. She fell to the side and onto the floor. Fainting as she fell, all went dark, her mind shadowed, like death was knocking on her mind’s door.

When she awoke, more in a dream than awake, there were bearded men leaning over her, muttering. She could see Ruad in the room talking with a dark hooded figure. “She was poisoned by a concoction of my making, remember? She is now under our control, and you can give her the remedy.” Ruad picked up the smoking pot of Triune rock that had been before her and threw it out of the tent.

A vial was produced from under the gown of the hooded man and one of the bearded men poured it down her throat. It burned as it went down, making her cough painfully. But as it reached her stomach, it was like a veil was lifted from her eyes. Then she screamed and her back arched with the pain. She retched and spat out the brown liquid that appeared in her mouth, then everything went into darkness.

When Caer Omaith awoke there was a light on the darkness. It grew and grew till it was too bright. She tried to open her eyes and even as she squinted, she began to see shapes and then things became clearer. She could see the sides of a tent, some tapestries, and her armour on the table. She felt fresh and renewed. After many day cycles of illness from the Triune poison everything looked fresh, new, and more colourful, and her mind was thinking clearly. But her sword, bow and arrows were gone. As was the hooded figure and Ruad. She was alone and hungrily began eating some hot soup that was steaming on the table beside her. Watching the sun shining on the side of the tent walls she felt good. Things were looking up, despite her predicament. The depression was gone and being captured no longer seemed as overwhelming a problem as it had been before.