“The abduction of the Beautiful Woman by Naysi, son of Usna.  Verily, she is taken away and may not be recovered, for the Clan Usna came last night with a great company to the dun and they stormed it in their might and their valour, and their irresistible fury, and they have taken away Deirdre in their swift chariots, and have gone eastwards to the Muirnicht with intent to cross the sea northwards, and abide henceforth with their prize in the land of the Picts and of the Albanah, beyond the stormy currents of the Moyle.”

Fergus Mac Roy, when he heard that word, sat up with eyes bright-blazing in his head.  Dearer to him than all the rest were those sons of Usna, namely—­Naysi, Anli, and Ardane, and dearest of the three was Naysi, who excelled all the youth of his time in beauty, valour, and accomplishments.

“Bind that man!” cried Concobar.  His voice rang terribly through the vast chamber.  Truly it sheared through men’s souls like a dividing sword.

His guards took the man and bound him.  “Lead him away now,” said Concobar,” and stone him with stones even to the parting of body with soul.”

The man was one of Deirdre’s guard.

A great silence fell upon the assembly after that and no man spoke, only they looked at the King and then again at the Champion, and, as it were, questioned one another silently with their eyes.  It was the silence behind which run the Fomorh, brazen-throated and clad with storm.  Well knew those wise men that what they long apprehended had come now to pass, namely, the fierce and truceless antagonism of the King and of the ex-King.  Well they knew that Concobar would not forgive the Clan Usna, and that Fergus Mac Roy would not permit them to be punished.  Therefore, great and mighty as were the men, yet on this occasion they might be likened only to cattle who stand aside astonished when two fierce bulls, rending the earth as they come, advance against each other for the mastery of the herd.  In the high King’s face the angry blood showed as two crimson spots one on either cheek, and his eyes, harder than steel, sparkled under brows more rigid than brass.  On the other hand, the face of the Champion darkened as the sea darkens when a black squall descends suddenly upon its sunny and glittering tides, wrinkling and convulsing all the face of the deep.  His listlessness and amiability alike went out of him, and he sat huge and erect in his throne.  His mighty chest expanded and stood out like a shield, and the muscles of his neck, stronger than a bull’s, became clear and distinct, and his gathering ire and stern resolution rushed stormfully through his nostrils.  The King first spoke.

“To the man who has broken our law and abducted the child of ill omen, I decree death by the sword and burial with the three throws of dishonour, and if taken alive, then death by burning with the same, and if he escapes out of Erin, then sentence of perpetual banishment and expatriation.”