Liberty Rising, Pt 1

         Rionnach was torn, seeing Anrai Athas again. Knowing that clan members were alive and searching for one another was splendid. It further proved the interminable bond of Clan Saiorse. But, it also conjured nightmarish memories. Even so, she followed her father's old friend to Teamhair, the place where her clan departed, where her father, the clan's Chieftain, was murdered.
         Years before, Rionnach's father, Braseal, was murdered by his cousin, Mairtin. Many in the clan saw the murder as a way for Mairtin to take power. Braseal had wanted the clan to stop roving and settle in the camp at Teamhair, but those like Mairtin wanted to keep the gypsy life pure. At least, that's what he claimed. Anrai knew that it was subterfuge for power.
         "Your father was tired of vagary," said Anrai as Rionnach perched rigidly on her father's great oak chair. "He wanted our clan to prosper and stop struggling to exist. He was a proud traveler, but those in tsochai don't take much of a liking to us. He was tired, Rionnach. He was tired of the other clans' petty rules and thievery. He was tired of the politics of it all. He never wanted to kiss another crook's ring.
         But, half the clan wanted to rove in the old ways, and half wanted to stay in Teamhair. Most of us didn't know what to do. We just knew we were tired of the petty fighting, too."
         "So, what now? You want to recreate the clan?" Rionnach asked, finally realizing why Anrai had brought her to Teamhair. But, he shook his head, to her surprise.
         "That would be folly, my sweet girleen. It will never be the same, but Mairtin only put our clan to sleep, maybe lobbed off a limb or two. That part of the clan that joined up with tsochai, left their ways altogether and denied their blood - they're gone. On the other hand, we've been wanderin', tryin' to find each other, knowin' we needed each other... I won't continue to expostulate... we need you, Rionnach."
         She turned her eyes up to his.
         "Need me? For what?"
         Anrai knelt before her like a subject before his queen, diamond black eyes fixed on hers.
         "To be Chieftain."
         A shock coursed through her belly and out to her body.
         "You... you spend all this time an' quibble, all to get me to accept a throne I cannae take? Anrai Athas, are you daft!?"
         Anrai stood tall, on the edge of emotion, but not angered.
         "Don't you see? I didn't protect him, and I couldn't save him. I cannae take that throne. I was his shairsint - the right hand. Your mother bore no sons, so that left Mairtin as next in line. He wanted that power. He killed your Da and he thought he killed me, but I lived. I lived in shame and did the only thing I could do to avenge your Da when I told the clan what Mairtin did. Don't be so peevish, Rionnach. I should have seen what Mairtin was plottin' but..." he paused. "I created my perdition that day when I let Mairtin live. I want to make this right! For you, and for Braseal; for what's left of the clan."
         Rionnach was silent for a moment.
         "My father's death brought dour times to the Saiorse, but I cannae repair it, Anrai. As a woman, I cannae be Chieftain."
         Visibly frustrated, Anrai pleaded with his eyes. He yanked the shirt away from his right shoulder where a brand had been laid many years before. It was the badge of the Saiorse clan, three knot work wings clustered together. Most members of a clan wore jewelry or a tattoo, but the brand was a special mark of a shairsint, a sign that he would walk through the fires of Hell for his Chieftain.
         "Have you forgotten?" he demanded. "We are Saiorse! The clan of liberty! We do things our own way, girleen! We fight for that!" cried Anrai Athas. Rionnach's eyes welled up with tears.
         "Why then will you not be Chieftain!?"
         "Because I was never meant to lead. I was meant to be the right hand. I can think of no one I'd rather be right hand for. I want this in your father's honor. If I would do this for you, could you...?"
         For quite some time, she considered, staring at the dusty, ruined floor of Braseal's wagon, left to rot at Teamhair for years.
         "We're a tiny mosaic of Saiorse at best," she reasoned, seeing disappointment in Anrai's eyes. "But, we have not been separated so long that we cannae come back to Teamhair."
         "So, will you then?" Anrai nearly whispered.
         "Aye," said Rionnach softly. With that, Anrai Athas held her close to his chest and whispered a thank you through his tears. It was an honor to be shairsint once more.