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"What are youdoing!" I demanded, appearing before Queen Mebd in my natural form.

The queen laughed. "The warrior, Cú Chulainn, will be dead by day's end."

"I delivered you Ulster and the stud bull. I do not wish to see Ulster's champion fall."

Mebd shrugged. "Then again, perhaps he will prevail. I doubt it."

"You believe you have a champion who could possibly best Cú Chulainn?"

Queen Mebd shook her head. "He has to defeat all of them."

"Even so," I said. "He'll drop them all, one by one. Surely you realize..."

Queen Mebd laughed out loud. "I have acquired many champions. One of them is more than a littlemotivatedto see Ulster's champion fall."

"You have Aife, the woman with the ríastrad?"

"She and he have a history, you know," Queen Mebd said through a smirk.

"If pressed, he will defeat her, too."

"By the time Cú Chulainn faces my final champion he will have had to best all the rest. He will be exhausted..."

I shook my head. "You should have consulted me about this matter..."

Queen Mebd laughed. "You think I fear you, thephantomqueen? We of Connacht do not revere the gods not because we don't believe in them. We do not revere the likes of you because we resent the notion that we should submit to your whims, simply because you claim yourselves to be divine. Because you imagine you are our superiors."

"You dare defy me!"

"Are you going to kill me for it?"

"That is not my way... but when your time comes, when you approach the cauldron of rebirth, I'll see to it that you return a slug!"

Queen Mebd huffed. "If such is even in your power! And if it is, so be it. As a slug, I'll defy you again! I've already bested you once, Morrigan."

The things I wanted to do to her... if I gave in to my rage. But it wasnotmy place to kill humans. I could empower her enemies. I could rise up kingdoms against her. I could make her life a living hell to the point she'd wish she was dead. But I couldn't kill her. Not directly. The best way to defy her now was to meet my beloved at the river's edge. He did not know what he had yet to face. Aife was strong. She was a match for him even if he was well-rested. But by the time he'd face her he'd first have to eliminate twenty other champions, perhaps even more. I didn't know, for sure, how many Queen Mebd had at her disposal.

But I couldn't allow him to die. Not after all I'd done to win him as my love, not after having touched his flesh, felt him pulse inside of me... I needed to save him.

He needed more than the ríastrad if he was to prevail...

I'd reinvigorate him... if only he let me. For, I cannot force a blessing on any mortal who does not bless me, in turn.

Maybe he'd scorn me. Maybe he'd hate me as a result. But I had to give him my power... I had to save his life. And if I did, perhaps in time, he'd love me still.