It started out as a fairly ordinary day in Kells.
There had been rain off and on all morning, but by midday the sky had cleared up
and the sun had come out to play. As had our heroes, the mystic knights, and Angus' new girl-friend Bridie, the
sorceress of Kells. "I can't believe what a beautiful day this has turned out to be," said
Bridie, holding hands with Angus, who bent down to kiss her. "Look," said Garrett, pointing toward Temra, "There's a rainbow even; a good
sign to be sure." "Hello, Bridie," called a familiar voice. "I don't believe you've introduced
me to your friends." "Caithness of the Boyne," said Bridie, hugging him warmly. "I thought you
couldn't leave the valley?" "Ah but I paid off my debt to society. Draganta, Angus; glad to see the both
of you came out of Maeve's castle unscathed." "I never got the chance to thank you properly," Rohan said, grasping
Caithness' arm. "Thank you." "'Tweren't nothing I wouldna have done for anyone else." "Well, it's a beautiful moment, and I'd love to stand her and share it with
you," said Angus, an evil twinkle in his eyes, "but I've an idea in my head to
go swimming." "Swimming?" Bridie said, knowing full well that the only way to swim in Irish
water was naked; or at least mostly so. It was the same in her homeland, the
Aran Island of Inish-more. She shrugged; "I'm in for a bit of craic, how about
the rest of you?" Everyone agreed, and soon they were racing toward the river, shedding their
clothes right and left. Garrett, who still wasn't exactly comfortable in Kells, left his trousers on;
but it wasn't long after he dove in with the rest of his friends that his pants
were gone, having deftly been removed by Bridie, who wasn't entirely immune to
his charms; she pinched his behind and swam away like a fish, hiding behind
Angus, who was rather enjoying being naked with the love of his life. "Looks like we've caught the knights at a bad time," said a masculine voice
from the riverbank. The gang stopped splashing and laughing long enough to look
up and see Torq and Maeve, baskets full of clothing in hand. "Give us those back, Maeve!" Cried a blushing Rohan. "Can't defend Kells if you've no proper clothes on," Torq replied, and the
knights could still hear him laughing long after he and Maeve vanished in a
cloud of green smoke. Garrett removed his arms from their strangle-hold about Bridie's neck and
glanced around. "Don't worry; there's one bit of clothing I'm sure she didn't get," he told
everyone. "My pants. They're still at the bottom of the river." He dived down and retrieved them. "I'll get you some things from the village; we'll decide what prank to play
on Maeve later."
******
He returned roughly half an hour later with the only things the villagers
could spare; blankets and cloaks. "Well," said Caithness, "looks like we'll find out what Bridie's people
really wear under their kilts, won't we?"
Chapter 2
"Why did Maeve and Torq do this to us?" Ivar asked,
pulling and prodding at his 'kilt'. "What are they up to?" "Ah, it's a tradition we should've told you about," Rohan replied, filling a
few pig bladders with water and passing them to Angus, who tied them off. "Every
year since I first came to study under Cathbad, Maeve has chosen one day of the
year when there's no fighting at all. Instead Kells and Temra, from royalty down
to the lowest commoner, pull pranks on one another. You never know which day
it's gonna be until WHAM! you don't have any clothes." "You should have told us, Rohan," Garrett said, but it wasn't long and he was
smiling. Bridie and Deirdre figured he had something up his sleeve; and they
were right. "It does give us a chance to get Queen Maeve back for all the nasty
things she's done to us all year." "Well, I call the water-balloons," said Angus, tying a string around one last
bladder. "I can use my magic...even Aideen will get in on this," Bridie said happily.
"It was more fun when we were little though, remember Rohan? We were so short we
could sneak past the Temra guards and get Maeve in her throne-room. Now that was
fun." "Aye," said Caithness, rising from his place before Rohan's fire. "I've got
to get home...I'm too old for all of this Prank Day hullabaloo. Have fun, young
knights. Bridie, Aideen...come see me sometime." "'Bye, Caithness," Bridie said, waving to him as he left the hut. "So," Deirdre asked Rohan, "how are we going to get Maeve?" "And Torq," said Angus. "Yeah, I really wanna get Torq." "We'll get them both; don't we always?" Rohan replied. He passed a tiny
pebble to each member of the group gathered around the fire. "I got these from
Fin Varra especially for today. I don't know what they do, exactly; I guess
we'll just have to wait and see." "I like it!" Garrett exclaimed. Then his handsome face fell. "But how are we
going to get into Maeve's castle without arousing her suspicions." "We've played dress-up before," Deirdre said. "Father is talking with some
foreign nobles about peace terms...they brought loads of trunks with them. We'll
disguise ourselves as foreigners, get into the castle that way. Maeve shouldn't
suspect us." "And if she does, there's not really anything she can do about it," Ivar said
happily, guessing at the tradition. "I'm certain the rules for Prank Day are
perfectly clear; no prisoners, and nobody gets hurt. She catches us, she has to
let us go unharmed, right?" "Right!" Aideen exclaimed. She was carrying a basket full of brightly colored
clothes, which she dumped onto the table. "Get dressed up and let's go!"
********
Meanwhile, Maeve and Torq were laughing at the knights and their misfortune.
Even Mider was in a good mood, joining in the fun, dancing around, like Torq, in
a corset belonging to either Bridie or Deirdre on his head, while Maeve
delighted in wearing the chain-mail that Rohan wore over his shirt. The day was
getting curiouser and curiouser...
