The Exile by Steven Savile Read Free Book Online Page A

open the ground up around him and swallow him whole, ending his humiliation.
    Someone else cheered.
    "Blessed be!" Macha cried out, barely able to restrain herself. He sought his mother's face in the line of faces but saw instead the glowering figure of Gorian, Warlord of the Red Branch, striding into the square. He held in his hand two ties of red wood. The warrior walked up to Wide Mouth.
    "On your feet, man. We prostrate ourselves before no man. We are Sessair! We are proud! Unbreakable." He held out one of the ties. "Do you take the Red Branch, Cullen Mac Conn?"
    Wide Mouth nearly ripped it out of Gorian's hand, much to the delight of the few onlookers. "Yes," he said, drawing himself up to his full height. "Yes, yes, yes, yes."
    "The boy seems happy."
    "With good reason."
    As Gorian turned to Sláine, a smile touched his lips. "And what of you, Sláine Mac Roth? Do you take the Red Branch?"
    "Would you have me?"
    "Aye, man, I would."
    "Then why did you not come earlier to claim me? Is this pity now? Do you save me from exile because none other would take me?"
    "Don't be a fool, son," Roth Bellyshaker shouted from the sidelines. "Take the damned branch!"
    Someone else laughed.
    "No one else claimed you because you were mine. Make no mistake. I chose you and your friend here a long time ago. My choice was well known among the masters. There is no room for pity in the Red Branch. We are champions, Sláine Mac Roth. We are the finest of the Sessair. Now, will you swallow your pride and take the branch? I will not ask again."
    "Aye, I'll take it," Sláine said, reaching out to take the ties from Gorian. The warlord surrendered the branches with a slight smile.
    "A wise choice, young man."
    Sláine held the branch tightly, hardly able to believe what had transpired. All thoughts of his wounded leg fled from his mind as he followed Gorian towards the roundhouse.
    At sundown Cathbad lit the Samain fire, signalling the arrival of the first night of the trinox Samoni.
    The young men gathered around it, Sláine seeking out Núada and Niall. Fionn and Cormac joined them a few minutes later. They all bore the same huge smiles. "We aren't boys anymore," Fionn said, pointing up at the moon. It was full in the sky. He was right; night had begun in earnest. They were men now.
    Cullen of the Wide Mouth stood slightly apart, watching the flames.
    Sláine moved away from his friends and went to stand beside Wide Mouth.
    "What do you want, Mac Roth?" Cullen asked without turning. He warmed himself at the fire, rubbing his hands briskly.
    "A new beginning. We aren't children anymore, Cullen. Tonight we've become men. We've taken the Red Branch. You heard Gorian, the Red Branch are the finest of the Sessair. Let's make a clean start of it, eh? Bury our childish grudges and move on?" He offered his hand, holding it out to be shaken.
    Cullen stared at Sláine's outstretched hand as if it was an adder poised to strike. His lip curled slowly into a sneer. "You think a handshake will undo all you've done to me?" Instinctively, Wide Mouth's hand went up to touch his ruined face.
    "No," Sláine said. "It won't undo anything, but hopefully it will serve to begin something new. After all, we are Red Branch. That makes us brothers."
    Cullen thought about that for a moment and then took Sláine's hand and shook it.
    "Danu help us all," Wide Mouth said with a grin.
    Neither saw the spectres of Grudnew and Gorian watching them approvingly from beyond the circle of the fire's light.
     
    "See, sire. A little humiliation is good for the soul," Gorian said, turning his back on the boys. It had been a calculated risk, but after the beating Conn's boy had taken at Beltain something needed to be done. These two were by far the best of the youngsters, the most gifted athletes with the most fiercely determined spirits. There was an unquenchable fire that burned inside them. Together they would forge this celebrated brotherhood. They would become legends.
    Perhaps