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the occasion require it.”
    Mairéad then stepped forward, “Brother Cathbad,” she began, “I am an old woman and my days in this life are numbered in weeks rather than months or years. I also have a destiny and I have seen visions that will bind me to these children for as long as the fates require. While their future destiny may be determined by your sight, I must attend to these children until it is time for one of us to move on.”
    Cathbad considered the old woman for a moment and then nodded in agreement. “I will take the children to Conchubar and you can be assured of their safety. As soon as you are prepared to travel, old sister, and proper precautions are made for your own safety, you must follow after me. You can then continue your service to Fergus and Ferdia at Emain Macha.”
    And so it was that the young boys, heirs of the great Cúchulainn, were taken from Dundalk to the fort of their great-uncle the king, Conchubar. Cathbad took the children and tucked them into special slings across the old man’s chest. The druid followed the secret path off the man-made island on which the compound was located to the stable where he mounted a grey stallion and galloped off. About two hundred yards later, it appeared as if Cathbad and the horse rode through some type of curtain because suddenly they were no longer visible and all that remained was the faint clattering of hoofs.

CHAPTER FOUR
    The great horse seemed to fly over the ground covering long distances with each stride. It was only about thirty miles from Dundalk to Emain Macha, the ancient seat of the kings of Ulster, and although the terrain was rough, Cathbad and his precious burdens arrived at Conchubar’s court in less than two hours.
    Emain Macha was a massive ring fort whose earthen walls, nearly twenty feet high extended over eighty yards from the center point. The walls formed a great earthen circle several yards beyond the base of a perfectly round and gently sloping hill with only a main gate to permit access to the fort. Emain Macha was the fortress of the great king Conchubar whose residence was in the principal building located at the center of the ring fort on the summit of the hill. Like the fortress, the king’s residence was round, following the contours of the hill. The structure itself was over one hundred yards in diameter and from a distance it appeared as a giant thatched cone. This roof was supported by a series of poles, located in concentric circles, with the poles closer to the center increasing the roof’s height, both because they were longer and because they were also located higher on the hill. The center and tallest post was just under thirty-five feet high. The external set of poles supported a wall constructed of interwoven branches finished with stones and dried mud.
    Although the residence was technically only one room, various cloth and animal hide drapes provided privacy for the many members of the king’s court who resided within the structure. One principal fire in the center of the building provided heat and kept the residence reasonably dry. The fire was vented through a small grid in the ceiling, but because of drafts from the sides of the structure the smoke did not always make its way out through the grid. The result was that when the weather was cold and damp, the building was filled with a smoky haze.
    Smaller buildings, also round in shape with earthen walls, and poles supporting a thatched roof were scattered at the base of the hill inside the perimeter wall. These buildings provided the support services for the great hall as well as lodgings for many of those associated with the court. Included among the support buildings was a granary where wheat was ground into flour, a forge where weapons and farming utensils were fashioned and a kitchen where meals were prepared.
    As Cathbad approached Emain Macha, he stopped on an adjacent hill and surveyed the king’s fortress for the best part of an hour. Then,