ravencallscrows | It's Thursday again... (Reply)

Which can only mean one thing. It's time for *drumroll optional, but appreciated*

Melpomene's Daughter

Part ten- The company assembles

Just as she finished saying this, a wizened but unbowed old man walked up from the edge behind her. “Dinna want ta interrupt, m'lady, but thou't you should know that I was a answerin' your call and ha' summoned some o' th' lads as well.”

“Excellent. Alexei, this is Barinthus. He'll be your guide until I can return to you. You'll not find a better one nor a better hand at the tiller of a curragh in all these parts.”

Alexei made a bit of an off-handed gesture. “It's indeed good to see if you're leaving me that you're putting me in good hands.”

Nimuë turned to Barinthus. “Which of the lads responded?”

“The three of Ailill's. Ha' ye reason to be expectin' any others? Fine lads they are, an' a better set of boyos ye'd be hard pressed to find.”

“Indeed they are. As noble as their father they are. When are they arriving?”

“Should be along any time now. Likely had a few bits to pick up and put in order before they came, but I think to have conveyed some of the urgency of your need.”

“Has the matter of fosterage been addressed?”

“That it has. King Ailill understands all to well the urgency of what must be done, and says that it's his distinct honour to be able to provide three princes and to act as a foster father under the law for the fourth, even if he's unable to stand before you to convey his respects and meet his new son in person. Ah, look. Here they are now.”

Eamonn, Fergus, and Cathal, the sons of King Ailill walked up together, each bearing a small buckler and a bronze sword. Almost as if on cue, they all dropped to one knee, and Cathal, the eldest of the three spoke in a low voice. "As you've commanded, dear Lady, we are your servants. By the Gods themselves may we but be worthy of the honour which you've bestowed upon us."

This section is probably going to get some serious overhauling before this gets submitted for publication. I wanted to write Barinthus as a distinctly Irish character, but have had a real struggle keeping his dialogue credibly Irish-English. It'd be more fun to write him in Irish, but in terms of practicality or publishability, that's just not worth the effort to do it. On the flip side, it's not even a particularly well-executed attempt at mimicking a brogue, so the solution may be simply to tell the reader that he's speaking in Irish, but to present his dialogue with Nimuë in English.