Queen of the Druids

Prologue

Beads of sweat disgustingly glistened on her forehead as she screamed in pain, her loving husband remaining at her side.

She knew at this moment that her belly was finally going to burst through her black gown with a newborn ready to meet its parents. "Alright, it's time," said Bé Binn, her dearest friend.

A groan was heard through the pain. "It's going to be okay, darling," said her husband while tightly gripping her hand. "You can get through this. After all of the horrible things you've seen everyday since you were born, this is one piece of joy we can bring into this world."

She looked into his gray blue eyes and saw peace in them before another contraction came as Bé Binn told her to push. Only the most painful of screams could be heard as she pushed the child out of her belly. The dark colored walls started to have white spots while the rest of her vision turned into a soft haze of red.

Bé Binn told her to breath through the pain and push as hard as she could. The white specks on the walls became more prominent and started to multiply. Her tears kept flowing through the torture, but she could no longer scream. With one last push, her sight went completely red and the specks were glowing brighter than ever.

And then peace. Crying. A tiny voice wailing for her. The red clouds and glowing specks vanished as she breathed deeply. Once her green eyes were able to bestow themselves upon her daughter's beauty, more tears pooled in her eyes. Tears of happiness.

Bé Binn cleaned the tiny girl with a bowl of warm water near the bed and handed the now clean, swaddled babe into her loving arms.

"Eochu," she whispered to her husband in a hoarse manner. "She's our little girl."

Eochu teared up while looking at his wife and daughter.

She then continued to whisper, "She'll have a wonderful life. She'll be a happy girl, a queen, a brave woman. She'll be the greatest woman to walk on the hills of Tuatha Dé Dannon."

Eochu furrowed his eyebrows. "Tuatha Dé Dannon? Are you sure? Is that the only path you can see?"

She smiled sadly at her babe suckling on her breast. "It's the only path of life I can see where she's able to live long."

Eochu looked at his beloved with wide eyes. "But that would mean-"

"I know." She grasped onto Eochu's hand and looked deeply into his eyes. "It's the hardest thing we'll ever have to do, but I know she'll be happy."

Eochu looked at her with remorse in his eyes, knowing what would have to be done by the both of them. Something that should only be done to children of their kind in dire circumstances. "If you say it's true, then let it be. I trust you."

Morning turned to night and the sweet babe laid sleeping as her mother gazed at the stars from her bed. Orion glowed brightly as Draco flickered across the sky, not a single cloud in sight. She got up from her soft bed and looked upon the lands of Tuatha Dé Dannon from her balcony. The only source of light for the people was the moon in her beautiful glory.

"My love," said Eochu as he wrapped his strong arms around her waist. "You should be resting."

"I know, but it's nearing the dawn."

They both looked sadly into the horizon. Soon the stars and moon will fade away and the sun will blaze in its saddened glory.

"We both know she'll live a wonderful life," Eochu whispered into his wife's ear through her red hair that glowed despite the night sky.

Eochu always admired his wife's beauty. How her hair cascaded flames down to her waist, her green eyes glowing with so much compassion, and how each black feathered dress rested upon every right place of her radiant body. But what he absolutely adored about her was how kind of a soul she was. Caring for every other soul that came her way had mesmerized him. Every inch of her was pure beauty and he loved every bit of it.

She turned around to face her beloved husband and rested a hand upon his chest, making her claddagh ring glisten from the moon. The small light highlighted his forehead and cheeks, while also making his gray blue eyes glimmer. His muscles were extremely toned and his face began to grow a beard that he usually shaved.

Two beautiful beings who belonged with each other under the stars.

She gazed at Eochu's handsome face with solemn eyes. "Something will happen to her."

Eochu looked at her with a worried confusion. "What do you mean?"

A sigh escaped her lips as she said, "Something will happen to her. When it does, you will bring her back to me and she will see us together for the first time that she will remember."

He looked saddened while processing what was said to him. "How long did you know about this?"

She looked down on the balcony floor. "Ever since I told you about her life. I just didn't know how to word it."

Even though he knew his daughter would be okay in the long haul, he was still worried about the family that he helped create. He placed a kiss on her forehead, forgiving her for not telling him right then and there. "I know how bad you are at words," he said as he placed his forehead against hers. "I should know first hand."

They both giggled understanding the inside joke between the two. "Just promise that you'll do everything you can to protect her."

He touched his wife's soft face with both of his rough callused hands. "I promise." He then gave her the sweetest kiss that no man could ever give unless it was true.

The sun started to peak through through the horizon making Orion and Draco fade away from sight. "It's time," she whispered with misery.

Her and Eochu crept to their baby's crib to take her to his cauldron. Once they saw her, they both smiled at her bright wide eyes. Their smiles were so contagious that the little girl smiled with such joy.

"You sweet girl," was said from her mother's lips as she was picked up and held in such a tender way, almost forgetting about the situation at hand.

Eochu wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders and guided them down the corridor with sadness. His room was deemed as a beautiful clutter. Shelves filled with spell books, crystals, and hour glasses decorated the corners and walls. A long table on the far right side had maps of the stars and Tuatha Dé Dannon, all having scribbles of notes and names written on them. In the center of the room sat Eochu's great cauldron pot that stuck out like a sore thumb.

He grabbed the ingredients he needed to protect his daughter's gifts and boiled them in the ink colored pot, creating a steam that pooled onto the floor.

Their daughter looked up to her mother and smiled, not knowing what was about to happen. "I will always be with you, my sweet. You just keep smiling for the both of us."

Their sweet babe continued to smile as Eochu finished the brew. "It's finished, dear," he said with remorse.

Eochu held onto his wife and babe as they both chanted the incantation in their ancient language. The baby moved and cried in their arms in discomfort as a bright mist glowed from her small body. Shades of red, green, blue, and white started to move from the baby to the cauldron in slow circular motions. The mist took shapes of roses, billowing leaves, ocean waves, and flickering flames as they made their path to the cauldron.

Once the shape shifting mist fell into the pot, Eochu's wife started to cry.

"Everything will be fine," he said with content as he held onto her cheeks.

She in return handed Eochu their small child. "Promise me, Eochu. Promise me that she'll live life to the fullest. Promise me that you'll do everything in your power to protect her. Promise me that you'll do your best to make sure that she's happy." Once her tears were gone, she looked at her loving husband and said, "Please take care of our Brigid."