On the morning of the second day after their arrival, a great fleet
anchored in the harbor. The men immediately began landing in great
numbers. At their head was the son of the High King, and with him was
his sister, Teasa, who wanted to see her brother capture the castle.
Finn placed his men in battle array; giving to the Knight of Valor and
his warriors the defense of the right wing, and to Avarta and his army
the duty of holding the left wing. With his Fenians, Finn took the
center, where the fighting would be the heaviest.
The two armies met in deadly combat. The two wings held their own with
difficulty, being about evenly matched with the enemy. But the Fenians,
with desperate valor, overwhelmed the enemy center with great slaughter.
It was a great surprise to the High King’s son. He rallied his men
bravely and gave them an example of valor, but it was useless. Finn was
everywhere, now engaging and defeating a score of warriors, now helping
with one division of his men and now another. Dermot, the pride of the
Fenians, was always in the thick of the struggle. His flashing sword
made a circle of steel about him. No man could stand against him.
Teasa, who had come to see the prowess of her brother, forgot all about
him in watching the deeds of Finn. She admired his fair hair and manly
bearing, and his bravery appealed to her even more strongly. It was
while watching him drive back her father’s army that she fell deeply in
love with him. When her brother gave orders for his men to fall back
from the unequal struggle, Teasa left her own side and went over to the
Fenians. She found Finn and said to him:
“I have watched you in the fight today, O Finn, and my heart called out
to you, even against my own brother. I pray you take me to Erin and make
me your wife.”
“That I cannot do, fair maiden,” said Finn. “I have no need of a wife.”
“You cannot refuse me,” she cried. “No true champion should refuse a
maiden when she offers herself to him.”
Finn was honest in his refusal. He still mourned for Saba. Anyhow, he
knew that to take the daughter of the High King would cause a great deal
of trouble.
“You had better go back to your father while there is still time,” he
told her kindly.
“That I will not do,” declared Teasa. “Already my father knows that I
have come over to his enemies. If I go back he will kill me. If I cannot
have your love, I can claim your protection from those who would kill
me. I put you under bonds to take me with you to Erin.”
“I beg you to release me from such bonds,” said Finn. “Nothing but
trouble can come of it.”
But the maiden insisted that she claimed his protection as a Fenian, and
he could not refuse her.
When Donn saw the retreat of his son and his army, he called a council
of his wise men to see what it was best to do.
“This is no time to attack Avarta,” said one of them. “The Fenians are
with him, and we have not men enough to stand against them. The best
thing for us to do is to retire and wait a more favorable time, when the
men of Erin have gone home.”
This advice was repeated by the others of the council. Just then the son
came on board and approached his father.
“We are defeated,” he said. “I have ordered my men to retire, lest they
all be killed and we gain nothing by it.”
“It is well,” said Donn. “But tell me, why is not your sister with you?
She went with you to battle and I do not see her returning.”
The son hung his head, afraid to tell his father the truth.
“Speak, my son!” cried Donn. “She cannot be killed! Surely the Fenians
do not make war on women!”
“Far better had she died,” said the young man. “She has left us and gone
to the Fenians.”
Then the High King lifted up his voice in a long cry of grief and anger.
Teasa was very dear to him. He could not bear to think that she had gone
over to the enemy.
“I am sure she is held against her will,” said Donn. “Send heralds to
this Fenian and order him to surrender our daughter to us.”
But the heralds came back with the word that Finn refused. Then Donn
stood out upon the highest deck and raised his arms above his head in a
vow of vengeance.
“Hear me, O Finn!” he called. “You have taken my daughter from me, and I
vow that I will be revenged upon you. Though it take me all the rest of
my life to prepare, and though I must get every king in the world to
help me, I vow I shall not rest until I have come to Erin and have
punished you for this deed.”
Then the High King raised the sails of his fleet, his men bent to their
oars, and the battle fleet sailed out of the harbor.
Dermot turned to his chief. “I fear that trouble is about to come upon
Erin and the Fenians,” he said. “Chew your thumb and see if it is not
so.”
Finn shook his head sadly. “I have no need of my thumb to tell me that
what you say is true. Yet, the maiden claimed my protection, and I could
not, under our rules, refuse her.”
“That is so,” agreed Dermot.