The Faithful Heart

by MacMurrough, Sorcha

  The fighting was the most vicious Morgana had ever seen. Magnus O’Reilly was at the head of his force, which rode straight to the centre and cut swathes through the Maguire forces like a hot knife through butter.

  Morgana’s fury rose as she tried to carve out a passage for herself in an effort to reach the enemy leader, but her way was blocked by two of Magnus’ sons, and she was forced to retreat. She turned her horse to look at the state of the rest of the battlefield, and as she did so, she saw a flotilla of large ships sailing on the lough past Ma Niadh, heading straight for Lisleavan.

  Morgana spotted Ruairc amid the thickest of the fighting, looking as though he were about to drop from exhaustion and fatigue. She spurred her horse towards him, but her steed lost its footing and she was thrown to the ground.

  She heard Ruairc shout her name, and then she was crawling under the horses’ flying hooves as she struggled to get to the edge of the clearing.

  “On my signal, men! Now!” Morgana shouted, as she fired off her pistol.

  The O’Reilly soldiers stood stock still for a moment in stunned surprise as the dead sprang to life, and the MacMahons and mercenaries turned on them in full force. Morgana’s men simultaneously began to pour out of the trees, with extra weapons for their combined forces.

  Morgana saw Magnus O’Reilly desperately trying to retreat. She grabbed at the bridle of a stray horse galloping towards the trees in terror, and leapt onto his back. Pulling her sword from its scabbard, Morgana rode off in hot pursuit, and several MacMahon and Maguire horsemen followed on behind.

  Morgana knew Magnus O’Reilly was the key behind all of the misfortunes that had befallen her family. If she ever had any hope of clearing her name and Ruairc’s, she had to capture him alive.

  Morgana leaned low over the horse’s neck, and soon caught up with him. Magnus defended himself wildly with his sword, but Morgana wounded him in the arm with a clever strike, and dragged him from his saddle onto the ground, where he continued to struggle.

  “Damn it, there have been too many deaths already over this unceasing feud, Magnus! Dermot and Brendan are both dead because of your poor guardianship of them, and the way you encouraged them to carry on your feud secretly, since you dared not move against my father openly. Don’t make me kill you too!” Morgana panted as she pulled him to his feet angrily, and stripped his weapons from him.

  “You’ve killed them both?”

  Magnus scowled, and Morgana could see genuine regret on his face, as well as admiration for her achievements.

  “They murdered my father, poisoned him, stole all my ships, killed my brother Conor two years ago. Don’t tell me you didn’t know of this!”

  “I knew nothing!” Magnus bellowed, shock etched in the craggy lines of his face. “May God forgive me for having incited them to cause you harm! I thought they would confine themselves to acts of piracy, and stealing Morgan’s cattle. I never dreamt they would kill your brother and father!”

  “Why did you do all this! Why have you hounded my father and the clan for so many years?” she demanded angrily, as she looked into Magnus’s brown eyes.

  “Because Morgan took your mother from me so many years ago, and killed her! You killed her just by being born!” Magnus rasped.

  Morgana gaped in astonishment at his incredible revelation, but promptly defended herself. “No, Magnus, it wasn’t my fault or Father’s that she died. My mother had a growth. She knew she was dying and yet said nothing. Father blamed me too, but it was her decision, don’t you see?”

  Morgana shook him as she demanded, “Now, what is your decision, life or death? Because I am not going to allow you to live if you intend to continue harming my clan.”

  “I’ve been dead since you mother left me!” Magnus said bitterly.

  Then he looked up into Morgana’s violet eyes.

  “Perhaps you are right.Perhaps there have been too many deaths. Dermot was always wilful, but Brendan could have turned out better if I hadn’t encouraged him to carry on my grudge against your father.”

  He blinked, and said quietly, “I don’t know why I never saw it before. You’re the picture of her. Even more than Morgan, whose characteristics you share, you are like Grainne.”

  “Thank you for the compliments, Magnus, but we haven’t time for this! Listen to me! The situation is desperate,” Morgana pleaded as the old man’s eye took on a dreamy, faraway look.

  “Do you realise what you’ve done, attacking us, inviting the Spanish here to put Mary on the throne, allying yourself with the Earl of Kildare and his son Silken Thomas? Your family will lose everything! Mine and Ruairc’s clans may be attainted for treason as well!”

  Magnus’ eyes refocused, and stared back at Morgana’s earnest violet gaze, defeated. “I don’t care about myself. I am an old man. I have made many mistakes and it’s time I paid the price. But my people, they will all be thrown off the land.” He sighed regretfully.

  “If you admit your mistakes, and speak on my behalf to the English government representatives in Dublin, I promise you that I shall do everything in my power to see you are spared, and that none of the O’Reillys shall be left to starve. But you must help me. Stop the fighting at Ma Niadh, and ask your men to help drive out the Spaniards while there's still time,” Morgana appealed to Magnus urgently.

  He looked around the battlefield, and nodded at last. “I will do it. I will call off my attack, and bring my forces to Lisleavan,” Magnus agreed.

  Morgana left Magnus in the care of her men and instructed him to be taken back to Ma Niadh.

  She rode on to Lisleavan just as the Spanish forces began to land, and saw her men fighting well. Some O’Donnell and O’Connor ships had blocked them in the harbour, so there was no chance for them to retreat by sea. Morgana turned her horse around, and rode hastily to Cullen Castle.

  “Get all the men and weapons on the march now.Leave only a token guard behind. The Spanish have been driven up to Lisleavan by the O’Donnells, and are landing and besieging the castle now. We need to get around them to the east and make sure they don’t penetrate any further into the countryside,” Morgana explained hastily to Angus.

  He began to shout orders, and Morgana could hear dozens of men scurrying to get ready inside.

  “And the challenge?” Angus asked as he buckled on his sword and threw his cloak around his shoulders.

  “I killed Brendan, Aofa killed Dermot, and Ruairc is restored. The O’Reillys came for battle as well, hoping to help Dermot and Brendan finish us off, but the MacMahons and their English mercenaries moved over to our side, and we have routed them. I’ve got Magnus O’Reilly not only to agree to peace terms, but he has pledged his men to help fight the invasion force,” Morgana outlined for him quickly as he made ready.

  “Who says miracles don’t happen.” Angus shook his head incredulously, and took a last glance around the castle before they thundered out of the gates together towards Lisleavan.

  The Spanish invaders were heavily armed and had come prepared for a siege. Morgana saw them packing the gates nearest the docks with explosives, and ordered her men to drive them back quickly.

  Some of the Spanish were attempting to forge ahead to the monasteries and Kilgarven, but Angus’ troops rode around the battlements, and made every effort to block their way.

  The fighting was frenetic, and interrupted only by a sudden loud blast which cause everyone in the field to turn towards the lough in bewilderment.

  Morgana herself nearly jumped out of her saddle when the thundering roar erupted, and she looked on in horror as one of the ships turned into a blazing inferno. An accident with the powder had set the whole lower deck afire.

  Since it was moored so closely to the other ships, and their timbers were all so dry from the recent hot weather, Morgana’s former fleet began to go up in flames like so much kindling.

  Morgana watched regretfully as her ships were incinerated. But one unexpectedly beneficial aspect of the conflagration was that the remaining
Spanish soldiers leapt off the boats and waded onto the shore, all their fight knocked out of them. Their weapons, stores, and provisions on board the vessels were utterly destroyed.

  The fighting was still fierce around the castle precincts, however, and Morgana’s arm soon grew weary with wielding her sword.

  “We have to draw back. We’re taking heavy losses!” Angus roared above the noise of the battle.

  “Let some men from inside come out to rout them!” Morgana called.

  She spurred her horse harder to ride around the citadel.

  Morgana gave the orders and protected the gate on the eastern side, away from the fiercest fighting, as her troops charged from the gates and swarmed after the enemy.

  The Spanish, panicking because they couldn’t retreat to their burning ships, decided to make one last desperate attempt to secure their freedom.

  They assembled at the northern wall, and pushed hard towards the east, heading for the pass through the mountains and the convent at Kilgarven.

  Morgana leapt onto a fresh horse, and rode after them at the head of her cavalry. The fighting through the woods was fierce, but eventually the leader of the expedition showed his willingness to surrender.

  “You have nowhere to run!” Morgana called in Latin. “Your plans are ruined, the convents and monasteries that the MacMahon brothers raided to house and feed you are in my possession.

  “You’re trapped. If you surrender to me peacefully, I give you my word, we will let you have food and provisions, and the treasure and gowns designated for the Princess Mary, and allow all but yourself and your chief captains to leave,” Morgana offered in response to the captain’s white flag.

  “How can we trust you! You will kill us all.”

  “I am not English. I am an Irish chief, head of the Maguire clan, and I give you my word, you shall all go home to Spain, except for those men who can tell the truth about what has happened here today.”

  The captain’s eyes narrowed mistrustfully, but Morgana said, “Come with me to Kilgarven. I will show you what these men you have been working with have done.”

  The Spaniard’s weapons were stripped from them, but horses were found for all. Morgana led them to Kilgarven, where she showed the captain the mass graves of the nuns, the treasure that Dermot, Brendan and Aofa had wanted to keep for themselves, and the huge arsenal which had been captured by the Maguire forces.

  “I am sorry for all your losses, for your ships, family, friends,” the captain said in broken English.

  “You were used, as were many others, by the ambitious MacMahons. I doubt trying to put Mary on the throne via Ireland was ever a realistic goal. I will keep my word. Your men shall go home. But come, we must go back to Lisleavan and put a stop to the killing,” Morgana urged.

  The small party rode back to the main castle, and Morgana was relieved to see that most of the fighting had stopped. She and the Spanish captain shouted orders, and the combatants all put down their weapons.

  The Spaniards were stripped of their swords and pistols, and led back to the few ships which had escaped the fires. Morgana then led the captain and admiral of the fleet and several other officers into the gates of Lisleavan, where they were put in the great hall and treated with every courtesy.

  Angus surveyed the damage to the castle, which was minimal, and the casualties, which, though high, could have been much greater had they been caught unawares.

  Morgana returned to Ma Niadh, where she allowed the O’Reilly forces to camp overnight to see to their dead and wounded, and then she began to assist the injured herself. There was no sign of Ruairc anywhere, and Morgana felt a sick pain in the pit of her stomach.

  She returned to Lisleavan and looked around the castle precincts for Ruairc, but just missed him.

  Moving back outside, she went to the north gate, and saw a curious looking dark object. Too late she heard the hiss of the spluttering fuse.She turned to run, but her feet were lifted out from under her.

  The explosion flung her several yards out into the lough, hurling her into the freezing water with a mighty splash. At first she thought she was drowning, she coud barely breathe, but struggling for air only made her feel more agony. So she surrendered to the pain, and did her best to float on her back to the shore, so heavy did her limbs feel.

  Ruairc, not having seen Morgana since the afternoon, had gone to Lisleavan in search of her, and began to fear the worst.

  When he finally found her flat on her back on the mud flats along the shore late that night, she was so still and pale that he clasped her body in his arms and began to weep.

  “Morgana! Dear God, oh please, don’t let her be dead!”

  Morgana groaned softly as he touched her injured back, and Ruairc shouted for help.

  “She’s over here! Someone help me!”

  “I’ve been waiting for you to come. I wanted to see you one last time.You’re well, not hurt in any way?” Morgana asked softly as she lay prone in the sludge.

  “Nothing wrong with me apart from a few cuts and bruises, mainly at the hands of my two charming brothers,” he tried to answer cheerfully through his tears.

  “I’m so glad,” she sighed. She swallowed hard. “Ruairc, I’m done for. I can’t feel my legs. But I want you to know, I've always loved you. I was just too proud to admit it. Please forgive me.”

  “And I was too proud to try to mend fences, a stor. Or maybe I never believed I could be so lucky as to find a woman like you. Never thought I deserved your love. I hope you’ll forgive me,” Ruairc wept.

  Morgana raised her hand to stroke his hair. “Ruairc, I don’t want to die. There are too many things I’ve left undone.”

  “Then I won’t let you die, do you hear me, Morgana! Hold on to my hand, and don’t let go!” Ruairc urged hoarsely.

  “As soon as I’m well, and look after a few pieces of unfinished business, we’ll be married,” Morgana said in a slightly stronger voice as she gazed into his emerald eyes tenderly.

  “My dearest love,” Ruairc cried as he tenderly kissed her lips.

  Then her eyes closed and she lost consciousness.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Morgana kept her word to Ruairc, and married him in her chamber, where Ruairc carried her after had discovered her battered and bleeding body in the mud.

  Then the Spanish surgeons from the invasion fleet went to work, picking all of the grapeshot out of her back with meticulous care.

  In all the years they had pictured their wedding, neither had ever imagined her also receiving the last rites at the same time. Ruairc was stunned at all his brothers had done, how Morgana had weathered every storm until what should have been her finest hour of victory. He never left her side, and prayed as though he had never prayed before. He wished Agatha was there for help and consolation, but his brothers' blind ambition had even robbed him of the only mother he had ever really known.

  He wanted to shout at the world, but what good would it do. It already seemed the end of the world, with the Spanish invasion, and the spreading rebellion of Silken Thomas. But If Morgana died, it would be truly all over for him, he was sure. He had nothing to live for or aspire to if she was gone.

  For a week Morgana hovered between life and death. Even when she was finally out of danger, Ruairc had to admit inwardly in his most candid moments that he feared her spine was so badly injured that she would never walk again.

  He and Mary nursed her unstintingly day and night, while Finn and Patrick recovered from their own wounds, and saw to the affairs of the clan.

  But gradually under Ruairc's warm, loving ministrations, she slowly started to regain some movement in her limbs. As soon as she could sit up in bed to tend to business, Morgana kept her word to the Spaniards. With the exception of their admiral and ten captains, the rest of the soldiers were given ample food and water in exchange for all their remaining weapons and ammunition, which Morgana had confiscated. Then they were allowed to sail back to Spain in Morgana’s ships.

&nbs
p; “But it’s our fleet, Morgana!” Finn had protested.

  “Let them have the ships. They have lost much, and we have everything we need now, food, trade, and the people we love,” Morgana stated, glancing over at Ruairc, her violet eyes shining.

  Half of the treasure and all of the gowns and other items intended for the Princess Mary went with them. But she knew the rest of the silver and gold would have to be kept as a bribe to induce the English Lord Lieutenant Sir William Skeffington to accept her version of events and acquit herself and Ruairc of treason.

  She also gave orders for the Maguires to pack up and turn over the arsenal of weapons concealed in the religious houses, and much as Morgana disliked doing so, all of their sacred vessels as well.

  Lord Deputy Skeffington had been beleaguered in Dublin for weeks at the hands of Silken Thomas and his rebels. The upstart nobleman had stormed Dublin castle and murdered Archbishop Alen, Henry’s head of the ruling council and Archbishop of the new Anglican see of Dublin. When Skeffington discovered what had been happening in the north-west, he was inclined to be extremely severe, on the MacMahon and O’Reilly families in particular.