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"And leave you alive to one day seek me out to get your vengeance for the fallen of Ulster?"

Cú Chulainn sighed. "I could fight my way through your army. I could find and slay the bull myself..."

"You could," Mebd said. "And I could execute your wife..."

"Then it seems as though we are at an impasse... might I offer a way to resolve the matter once and for all?"

"I will listen to your proposal, Cú Chulainn."

"I evoke the rite of single combat. Choose from your champions whomever you might and should I prevail in combat you will leave the city to mourn its dead."

"But what of Donn Cúailnge?"

"I care not for the stud bull. Whether I win or lose, the bull may remain yours."

"And if you should lose?"

"My death will be your victory. You will no longer have reason to fear my vengeance. And there will be no one left to stop you from doing whatever you desire with Ulster."

Queen Mebd smiled. "It is agreed. Let us codify the compact with our blood, yours and mine."

The queen took her blade in her hand and sliced her palm. Cú Chulainn drew his blade only a hand's length from its sheath and did the same. Both of them joined hands, hers in his, their blood mingling and binding each of them to the contract as stated.

"Very well," Mebd said. "I will send my first champion and he will meet you at the river's edge."

"Your first?" Cú Chulainn asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You did not say, in the terms discussed, that I must select only a single champion to face you, Cú Chulainn. You said I could choose from my champions... and I choose all of them."

Cú Chulainn grunted. He wasn't accustomed to making such negotiations. He'd been trained in battle but he'd never fought in a true war. And negotiations like this, these were usually exacted between monarchs. In terms of the negotiation, she'd bested him. But this was a minor victory that would soon be a mistake on Mebd's part. After all, what champion could Mebd select that could best him?

"This is not wise," Cú Chulainn said. "Each of them your champions must face me in single-handed combat. By the time this is over you will have lost all of your champions and only I will remain."

"We will see, by day's end, which one of us was the true fool."