Table of Contents Scoan had lost the Stone of Destiny, and with it most of their ancestral land. Most presumed the misfortunes linked. Sorrows begot sorrows in turn, and the Vikings came crashing into Brittania’s shores. Circenn drove them back into the sea, but at a great cost to the people.
King Aed
King Aed rose to uplift his subjects’ sword arms. Alba was ripe for the taking in the King’s clear eyes. A unified Scotland lay in the exiles’ grasp. He only needed men to fight for it.
Uguire refused his lord’s call, and such a precedent would not stand. Both the men’s intentions clear, they gathered their soldiers and brothers. The King found the outlaw band on the road to Abberdeon.
His captain blew the warhorn and the archers rushed forward, taking aim at the startled fugitives. Aed drew his blade and thrust it into the sky. His followers cheered and followed suit.
Uguire ordered his few bannermen into position to withstand the King’s charge. His bowmen fumbled their arrows and his spearmen held out their staffs at different lengths. Uguire himself drew his riders beside him and took the road.
Aed’s archers let their missiles fly, arcing under the sun and burying themselves into the chests of archers and unlucky spearmen. The King spurred his horse’s flanks, tearing into the road with his followers behind them with a roar so ferocious it shook the Earth under their feet.
Aed led the wave that crashed steed into steed and steel into steel. The King slashed his way past the tide of enemies and found himself before his quarry. Uguire eyed him and spat onto the torn up soil. The King shouted and his horse carried him past the speeding Uguire. The rebel missed the King and discovered his insolence did not render him rights but a sword thrust through his neck.