The Realm of the Sun

Gleanngall

            Tara's heavy eyelids fluttered open as the pink light of dawn seeped through her sand-coloured eyelashes. When her eyes focused on the hay upon which her head was resting, a moment of perplexity overcame her before she remembered the strange circumstances that had brought her to this makeshift bed among fifty male soldiers.

          "Tara...Tara," the increasingly loud voice hounded her. A defiant groan resonated in her chest as she rolled halfway over to see Cú Chulainn's looming figure standing over her. His voice had lost whatever sympathy it had mustered the night before and he was completely dressed, armed and ready to embark on the day's journey. "Have you ever ridden horseback?"

          Soon, Tara was sitting awkwardly atop a warhorse, strong-limbed with a coat as richly and as dark as the peat she and Nessie used to gather for their fires in the winter. Tara's bony white legs hung over one side as she clung to Cú Chulainn, her trembling arms wrapped securely around his torso. The pack of soldiers sped on as the sun rose completely from the land. The wind half exhilarated Tara and half strangled her. Its sudden gusts seemed to purposely knock into her stomach and cause her to gasp for the air lost. After awhile of this recurring pattern, it began to feel like a personal assault, as the wind seemed to only affect her and not the other soldiers, whose chests seemed to be as impenetrable as steel.

          "Nearly halfway to Gleanngall," Cú called back to her over the thunder of the galloping herd. Tara couldn't think of a reply worth shouting, so she continued to hold on and remain silent until they reached the destination that both frightened and intrigued her.

          Soon, the outline of a village took shape, the dreamlike image of a quaint civilization. Tara thought her eyes betrayed her as they grew nearer and could see the smoke rising from a multitude of chimneys—the cottages so close together.

          "I'm taking you to live with a friend of the king's. She's an ex-loyalist, so I figured she'd be the only one to understand your name and not think to question it...I mean that she'd be willing to let you into her home," Cú said, turning his chin to his shoulder so she could hear him as they rode against the wind. Tara remained silent, still in shock to have lost Nessie and to be so far beyond the forest on the back of a horse with a soldier. The world was vast and she was finally seeing that now. Its scope and depth and various colours perpetually astonished her.

           As the pack of soldiers rode came to the edge of the village, the peasants emerged tentatively from their small dwellings. Despite their parents' orders, children lined the road to marvel at the armed knights atop their grand, muscular horses. They cheered and pointed, having been kept inside for weeks with only their fear and paranoia. When Tara looked up from their dirt-spotted little faces, she could see that many of these little homes had been torn apart by a recent attack. Thatch had been ripped from the roofs and piles of straw, tar and ash were scattered here and there edging the central dirt road. Among the debris, however, were people with a sense of resilience and pride in seeing their own army striding victoriously through. Tara watched the hope return to their eyes and never felt so important before in her life, simply to be looked on by this many eyes on such a high pedestal in the company of all these strong men.

          Finally, they came to a quaint cottage near the end of the little community. Contrary to many others, it was still in tact, though the front windows were boarded up with thick wood slabs.

          "Here we are," Cú said to Tara, and then looked to the rest of his three score men and raised his voice, "Go on to the training grounds, I'll meet you there."

          The men obeyed and were off, leaving Tara and Cú alone with the villagers. He hopped off the horse and helped her down as well.

          "Stay, here, Mack," he said in a firm voice to his presumably highly trained horse. Mack obeyed simply from seeing the intention in his master's clear eyes. Tara felt a slight tug at the hem of her skirts and immediately looked down to find an adorable little girl with massive brown eyes and a mess of knotted blonde curls.