The Legends Read Free Page B

arms around Cúchulainn for one last time, she died of a broken heart. When the leaders and druids saw what happened, they buried Emer with her husband and champion.
    The day the two great lovers were buried was dark and overcast, a perfect reflection of the feeling of the hundreds of people who came to mourn their deaths. Many people stood to present testimonials to the fallen hero and his wife. Conall another great hero announced that the cycle of Cúchulainn’s life on earth was complete because he had avenged the death. Conall opened a bloody bag disclosing the heads of not only Lugaid, son of Curoi who threw the fatal spear, but several others who participated in the planning and execution of the plot. Those killed in revenge included a son of Maeve herself whose hatred of Cúchulainn resulted in the young man’s death. Conall announced that the heads of these fallen enemies were to be lined up near the grave creating an honor guard that would escort the great hero into the next world.
    And thus the life of Ireland’s greatest hero ended. Cathbad, the greatest of all druids and Cúchulainn’s grandfather presided at the burial on that cold, wet and miserable day. The couple’s bodies were laid to rest and the bards and poets created their songs and stories, which would be passed on to the generations to come. When Cúchulainn first took up arms as a young boy in the court of Conchubar, he knew that although he would be a legendary champion, his life would be short and he had accepted the one with the other. Now, there would be no more legendary feats. Cúchulainn was dead, but the stories of his deeds would be passed from one generation to the next for as long as Irish people respected honor and valor. Just as Cúchulainn announced when he took his last breath, the great champion’s body was dead but his spirit would live forever.
    Seemingly lost amidst the grief and mourning accompanying the death of ones so young and so famous, the cycle of life, and indeed Cúchulainn’s legacy, continued in a far less abstract manner. Unknown to many, shortly before her own death, Emer gave birth to identical twin boys, Cúchulainn’s sons. One of the great disappointments of Cúchulainn’s life was that his great love for Emer had not produced a child but now, at the end of their lives, two miracle children had been born to the couple.
    The babies were called Ferdia, after the great champion and Cúchulainn’s best friend who was killed during the war with Maeve, and Fergus, after the great champion who first trained Cúchulainn. The twins were barely a week old when Cúchulainn was slain and they were already orphans. In the flurry of activity surrounding the death of their parents, the infants were placed in the caring hands of an old woman called Mairéad and wet-nurses were appointed to feed the babies. The children were then largely ignored until the death rituals were completed.
    And so, the cycle of life continued and the great Cúchulainn’s blood flowed through the bodies of two new lives. Like their father before them, Fergus and Ferdia boasted an extraordinary lineage. They were, after all the sons of Cúchulainn and Grandsons of the deity Lugh of the Long Hand. On their grandmother’s side, they were also descendents of the great god Dagda and the great-grandsons of Cathbad the greatest of all druids.

CHAPTER TWO
    There was a time many years earlier when Maeve, Queen of Connaught was quite beautiful. She had been tall and slender with long blonde hair, dark almond shaped eyes, and a face, not unlike Helen of Troy’s, which could probably have launched a thousand ships. Unlike some beautiful women, Maeve was neither shy nor self-conscious about her appearance rather she was vain and conceited. Maeve knew that she was beautiful and since she had also been born into great wealth she was quite particular about selecting the man who would be lucky enough to become her husband. Maeve craved wealth and power and