Page 1 of Princess of Elm (Warriors of the Fianna #4)

Caiseal, éire

“H urry up,” Cormac hissed at his younger brothers, knowing he’d be the one in trouble if they were caught.

The reprieve of warm spring weather beckoned, and the three brothers answered her call.

They’d had enough of spending the beautiful, warm sunshine-filled days trapped inside attending their lessons.

Even intermittent drizzles didn’t dampen their desire to get out and explore.

“Let’s go,” Conan hurried along young Diarmid. At eight years old, Diarmid struggled to keep up with his older brothers.

Today, they decided they’d waited long enough to have a bit of fun, especially since tomorrow their family arrived.

Their elder sister, Dunla, would marry King Brian Boru of Mumhain, the man under whom they now fostered.

Cormac remembered some of his earliest years at home, but he’d been living in Caiseal with Brian since his seventh summer, as was the tradition.

The memories he had of his family, his parents, his elder sister and brother, and even his younger siblings who fostered here with him, were a mixture of emotions and snippets, nothing tangible he could recall aside from their father’s ill temper.

The boys ran through the wooded hillsides of the fortress at Caiseal, having easily slipped past the guards and out the gate. They had but one goal in mind: Freedom.

“I think we should go swim in the river,” Diarmid declared, huffing and puffing as he followed behind his two older brothers.

“I want to catch a frog,” Conan replied.

“That’s bad luck,” Diarmid shot back, squishing his small nose in disapproval.

Cormac just listened, leading them onwards and praying they didn’t get caught. Spring brought magic to the woods, filling it with the calls of birds they hadn’t heard in months. Leaves high and low shone a bright golden green as they awakened from winter’s slumber.

In spite of the promise of a new year, Cormac couldn’t quite shake a feeling of dread that bubbled up at the thought of seeing his family again.

He knew his brothers looked forward to seeing their parents, but after spending seven years at home and seven years with Brian, Cormac determined that his parents were not the sort who enjoyed the company of children.

And, though he was a child no longer, he couldn’t forget their poor temperaments and harsh discipline.

Even as a young man, he didn’t relish the thought of returning to that sort of place.

A gentle breeze rustled the fresh leaves on the trees as they ran. Everything glistened after a morning of soft rain. Cormac struggled to keep his footing as they forded the trees and hills and giant roots that filled the undulating hillsides.

At the river, a slow, bubbling spring fed into shallow, crystalline waters.

Diarmid’s shoes flew off the moment they sighted the spring, and Cormac had to shout at him to make sure he took the rest of his clothes off, too.

That way he didn’t ruin either the clothes or their chances of sneaking back in without Brian realizing where they’d gone.

Diarmid dutifully obeyed, the gleeful grin on his face never faltering.

As he jumped into the river and splashed about, Conan, the middle child, watched Diarmid splashing with a frown. Cormac realized Conan would never find frogs or turtles or even fish with Diarmid dancing about and making such a racket.

Instead, Cormac suggested that they build a small shelter, a hideout where they could come and play anytime they were able to sneak away from their lessons this summer.

The pair of them worked the rest of the afternoon, piling stones and fallen logs into a shape that resembled something akin to a small home, though nowhere near as grand as the hall at Caiseal.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit odd that Dunla’s marrying Brian?” Conan asked as he placed a stone that was probably too large for a boy his size. Conan had always been strong for his age.

“I think it’s fabulous!” Diarmid shouted, still splashing wildly in the water. “I’m so glad they’re coming back.”

“You know they’re leaving again in another week or two. They’re only staying for a short while,” Conan told him.

Diarmid continued as thought Conan hadn’t spoken. “It’s been forever since I’ve seen them.”

“It’s been a year since you’ve seen them,” Cormac corrected him with a small smile.

He’d always envied Diarmid’s exuberance, his ability to embrace everything life threw at him with joy and optimism.

“And I do think it’s a little odd,” he added, answering Conan’s earlier question.

“But she’s a lot older than us, and kings always marry young ladies who have many years left to give them sons. ”

“But he’s already got sons,” Diarmid called, tossing water high above his head so that it glittered in the sunshine as it cascaded down about him.

“And he’s got us,” Conan added, puffing up his chest proudly. “I’ll be such a good foster son that he won’t even need that baby.”

“Why did he keep him anyway? Diarmid asked. “Shouldn’t the baby have gone with his mother when she left?”

They spoke of Brian’s recent separation from his third wife, Gormla.

Cormac didn’t know what had transpired between Gormla and Brian.

He’d observed that their tempers clashed more than they didn’t, and it only worsened after the birth of their son, Duncan, a year ago.

They divorced months ago and Gormla returned to live with her older son and daughter in Dyflin, along éire’s eastern shore.

“He’s keeping Duncan because he asked her to leave him. He asked for him to stay,” Conan explained calmly to his younger brother.

“He asked for him to stay because he loves children,” Cormac added thoughtfully.

Both his brothers nodded their approval at his answer, as though that settled the matter.

They spent much of the afternoon in hot debate over the impending arrival of their family, their siblings, and the unusual situation of their sister marrying their foster father.

By the time they hiked back up through the wooded hillside, their stomachs grumbled in hungry protest at the day’s exertions.

It seemed they’d have to wait a bit longer for dinner, though.

When they reached the gate to Brian’s keep, Osgar, the king’s manservant, stood with his arms crossed and a great frown on his heavily browed face.

“I was told to keep an eye out for you three,” he said sternly, looking from one boy to the next. “Brian wants to see you in his solar.”

“God’s bones,” Diarmid muttered under his breath. Cormac smacked him on the arm, reminding him to mind his mouth. They were already in enough trouble.

The boys found Brian waiting before a crackling fire, even in the warm, sunny afternoon.

Brian had fires more often than not of late, compared with Cormac’s earlier years of fosterage.

Though he was only of middling years, his reddish-brown hair had already gone mostly grey, but he still looked every inch the tall, formidable warrior, just as mighty now as in his youth. Or so Cormac imagined.

The moment they entered the room, Brian looked up from his seat by the fire, locking eyes with Cormac and beginning a speech that Cormac was certain would not end well for them. A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he prepared for the tongue lashing they’d earned.

“Do you know why your namesake, the great King Cormac, the legend from ancient times, wrote that every high king should have a druid as one of his advisors? And why we also keep priests and monks, all of them near to us? Why we protect them?”

Cormac stopped himself from tossing a wild guess at his foster father, instead shaking his head.

“It’s because they are the wise, the ones who have learned more than most men.

And because they will make the best decisions.

” He paused, letting his words sink in as the three boys squirmed with guilt at skipping out on their lessons.

“I know it can be difficult, to sit for so long and to study so hard when you haven’t cause to use any of it, but you will.

You are all princes. Any of you could rule your father’s kingdom in the years to come.

“If you are not learned, then you will surely be foolish. I will not send back fools to your father in place of princes. Now, as the weather warms, perhaps we can work out an arrangement where you can have short trips out to explore the woodlands, for that is also a useful skill. And we can increase your training time, but only if you continue with your lessons at the same pace. It will be more work, but it will also give you more freedom. Is that an acceptable solution?”

“Yes, lord,” Cormac answered hurriedly, setting the example for his brothers as he always tried to do. The other two quickly responded the same.

“I’m sorry, lord.” Cormac apologized, looking to his brothers, who then did the same yet again. “We were wrong, and we will do better.”

Brian nodded to them, and as they retreated to go find dinner at last, Cormac couldn’t help but feel that he was lucky to have such a calm and reasonable foster father, one who truly had their best interests at heart.

That was the day Cormac always thought of as the last day of his childhood.

It was the last time he was more interested in playing and chasing the joys of life than he was in any of the serious business that was the domain of men.

For the following day, their family arrived from Connachta.

And with them, came the end of his childhood.