by Mia Pride
“My darling wee lass. Papa will gladly gather all the stars in the sky, one by one, just for you.”
They all laid down and linked hands as they stared up at the twinkling sky, clouds drifting overhead at times, but never enough to ruin their view. And as they lay there hand in hand, Brennain began to teach Glennis all about Lugh, Danu, his family, and felt a sense of fulfillment blossom warmly in his chest, unlike anything he ever expected in this life.
Authors Note
Thank you so much for reading The Warrior’s Reunion! I sure hope you enjoyed Brennain and Morna’s story! I wrote about Brennain in my second book of the Sisters of Danu series, Foretold Fate, when he was just a wee babe! It has been so much fun finally being able to tell his story.
In this book, we finally saw the demise of King Tuathal’s enemy, Mal Mac Rochride, who truly did exist in the first century and was, in fact, a leader of many rebellions. I try to stick to historical facts as much as possible in my stories, but I have to confess, in this, I decided to make my own history because… well, sometimes the truth just hurts too much. In reality, after years of fighting one another, Mal Mac Rochride defeated Tuathal Techtmar in battle and became the next High King of Ireland (or Ériu as I lovingly refer to the ancient world they live in, as no modern term for the land was used then and it had originally been named after the three goddesses of Danu: Ériu, Fodla, and Banba.
I have become extremely attached to Tuathal Techtmar, as he appears in more than half of my books and is a strong king, loving husband and father, and overall beloved character to me. I knew I would reach the point in Irish history where he would be defeated by Mal, but for my purposes, I just couldn’t allow it. So, I have given Tuathal a second chance at life and I hope you will agree that he has more than earned it!
This novel was particularly involved because, during this time, England (Albion) and Scotland (Alba) were already occupied by the Romans, or Rómánach as I refer to them. During this time in history, Barochan Hill was indeed a real Roman fort existing just north of the Firth of Forth in Scotland, where I have place Miathi on the coast. A man from Ireland could cross the sea to Scotland in very little time and reach where I have placed Miathi, and from there travel north to Barochan Hill and discover the Romans, who had been chased away from much of southern Scotland by the Gauls, but not everyone could keep them away.
In the early Roman records, it is often described by Tacitus, a Roman scholar, that the Celtic people behaved as savages, painting their naked bodies with blue (woad) paint, wearing horned helms or spiking their hair with the sticky juice of limes to intimidate their foe. There is no other hard evidence of this being the case, aside from his records, which could obviously be biased, but I thought it would be fun to show the warriors of Ériu playing along with their prejudices, painting themselves to scare off the Romans.
As for the attempted Roman attack on Ireland, I also had to handle this delicately. There is much debate about the Romans in Ireland and no evidence at all that they ever invaded, or attempted to, yet there have recently been Roman relics and coins found in campsites around Ireland, proving they were there, perhaps for trade. It has always been a question as to why the powerful Romans didn’t take over Ireland, even after stating in their records that to do so would have been an easy feat. So why didn’t they? Was Ireland not worth their time or strained resources?
In one record, again by Tacitus, he discusses an Irish King who colluded with the Romans at one point in the first century AD to help them take over Ireland. Not much more is said about the Irish king, his motives, the plans, or if it was ever attempted, except to suggest that it was indeed planned and ready to execute, until the general leading the attack was suddenly called back to Rome, and Ireland was forgotten. Whether this is factual or not, nobody can say… but it seems there may have been a plan in the works and Ireland got lucky. In “The Warrior’s Reunion”, I have Mal playing the role of the traitorous Irish king conspiring with the Romans and I like to think that Tuathal and the rest of the Ráth Mór soldiers had a hand in chasing the Romans away from their land by playing the role of savages. Of course, the Romans would record that they were “called home” rather than scared off, but perhaps if the Irish had a written language at the time, Tuathal would have recorded that they chased those Rómánach away, using their fears against them! It has been so fun trying to fill in the historical voids using my imagination, lots of research, and my favorite characters.
Finally… last but not least, I want to mention the Treasure of Danu. This part of the book is important because it's not only the powerful family of the Sisters of Danu giving their ancient relics back to the gods, but it’s a set up for my book “Plunder by Knight” a medieval pirate book and part of the Pirates of Britannia series! In “Plunder by Knight” that distant descendant of the Sisters of Danu (and Brennain Mac Greine) comes into play and not only is he an English knight bred from Irish pirates… but he keeps having visions of an ancient treasure calling to him… and he will stop at nothing to find it, even if a saucy Irish raised English lady continues to get in his way! I would recommend you read “Plunder by Knight” after this story to see the fulfillment of that treasure and the Sisters of Danu’s legacy! It is available at all your favorite ebook store locations!
If this is the first of my books you have read, I encourage you to start at the very beginning with my Sisters of Danu Series. Forsworn Fate is the prequel novella that starts it all and it was awarded a perfect 5-star review from InD’Tale Magazine and received their Crowned Heart award and is a RONE award finalist! If you wish to stick to this series, the very first book is The Warrior’s Salvation! We meet Jeoffrey in the last book of the Sisters of Danu also, but it is a standalone book! To see all my books, check out my website!
I know you have many authors and books to choose from, so thank you for choosing mine! Book for will be available in late spring/ early summer of 2018 and is Brennain’s story!
About Mia
Mia is a full-time wife and mother of two rowdy boys, residing in the SF Bay Area. As a child, she often wrote stories about fantastic places or magical things, always preferring to live in a world where the line between reality and fantasy didn’t exist.
In High school she entered writing contests and had some stories published in small newspapers or school magazines. As life continued, so did her love of writing. So one day, she decided to end her cake decorating business, pull out her laptop and fulfill her dream of writing and publishing novels. And she did.
When Mia isn’t writing books or chasing her sweaty children around a park, she loves to drink coffee by the gallon, get lost in a good book, hike with her family and drink really big margaritas with her friends! Her happy place is the Renaissance Faire, where you can find her at the joust, rooting for the shirtless highlander in a kilt.
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Email: [email protected]
Acknowledgements
As always, it takes many people to get one of my books out. I want to thank my editor Vicki McGough and my proofreader Rachel Tsoumbakos for making sure my book is in top form and ready for my readers! Thank you to my ARC readers who will take the time to read my books and give me their honest feedback and reviews. Its an important part f the process and I couldn’t do it without you. Thank you to all my readers who have so many books to choose from and still find the time to read my stories! It’s truly an honor to continue to write for you! And last but not least, thank you to my family who, as always, support me endlessly!
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