Children of Fury Under

18. Beli

"Lord-Lieutenant? But he is part of this country. The Earl of Ormonde is a royalist." Conn said.

"Aye, James Butler is, but Parliament stripped him of his title and it was given to a Londoner English by the name of Waters. A hateful man, cruel and an adept student of Cromwell's religion." Donal voice was quiet, as if remembering a painful moment in his life. "I hope that we can restore James to his title someday. It is his rightful place."

Quietly, a coughing noise interrupted them. The sound came from the path towards the stream, Donal and Conn ran down the path with smoking timbers in their hands their only weapons, ready to club to death any who would look intent on burning any more houses. They were an avenging pair of two men set on retribution for the loss of their homes and family.

To their surprise, it was not any villain.

It was Beli, standing with his back to them and leaning on a tree. Closing the distance it was obvious that the Elder O'Danu was badly hurt. Not until he turned around and they could see the arrow shaft that stuck out of his chest was it obvious how seriously injured Conn's father was. “

"Took Keegan!" Beli coughed when he realized someone was there, "They beat him unconscious and they took my grandson and my son's Fey. They took them!"

Great sobs came from the man who lost a battle to protect his family.

Donal calmly took his old friend's face in his hands, "Beli! It's Donal! Who took them? Beli! What happened to the family? Who burned the village?"

"It was the English army that came and attacked!" Beli wheezed and sobbed the words out painfully. "I was out and saw them coming, Donal, I was able to warn your family and they went down to the river, but I was too slow going home," The old man w...

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...f his feet. His son and his best friend did his bidding while they half-carried Beli to the river. Donal knew what Conn did not: The place to heal Beli was at the river.

Conn had studied his lessons, but did not really understand them as his own son, Keegan, seemed to. The stories that Donal and Beli told Keegan would entertain and hold the young man's attention, locking the boy into a world until the crimson-haired lad would recite the lessons while tinkering on the ship designs with Conn to the point of making the father slightly envious of his son and the boy's memory.

Conn wished he knew as much as Keegan thought he knew. As of now, Conn did not even know where his son was. His only scrap of information was, from his own father, that the English had taken his wife and child.

Conn looked out over where the river washed into the sea, wondering where his family was.