Mary Holz grew up in Waukesha, Wisconsin. A self-proclaimed lover of all things literary, she likes to spend her free time playing with her beloved dog, Fox, and reading. In addition to her love of books, Mary also enjoys photographing nature and landscapes. School is of major interest to Mary, specifically the subject of History. Having studied abroad in Ireland for a semester, Irish -Celtic- history is of particular interest to Mary. This interest sparked the inspiration for her fairy tale, “Broken Swords.” While in Ireland, Mary was fascinated by the Celtic mythology and legends she studied, and used the themes of this form of literature to help make her own tale come to life.
Colleen Welsh
Colleen Welsh
Broken Swords
By Mary Holz
Part I.
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Fiona who dreamed of getting married and having a family when she grew up. She came from a poor farming family and she worked hard all her life yet she never gave up hope that one day her dream would come true. She was kind to everyone and all who knew her loved her dearly. She would often go and sit on a ledge overlooking a glen near her little cottage and watch the sun set, filling the landscape with brilliant shades of purple, red, and gold to mix with the sparkling emerald green hue of the countryside. As she sat there one day, she began to cry uncontrollably because she was slowly beginning to think that she would never marry and have her own children. As her tears fell to the earth, there suddenly appeared a bright light in front of Fiona and she cried out in fear. Then the light disappeared and in its stead stood a beautiful faery in a green dress with a white crown on top of her curly red tresses. Fiona scrambled to her feet and stood there trembling, unsure of whether to run or scream.
“Why are you crying my child?’ asked the faery in a musical voice.
“I am crying because ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of getting married and having children when I grew up. Now I am grown up but I have never loved a man so I am afraid my dream will never come true,” was Fiona’s reply.
“Fear not my dear sweet girl. I have the power to make your dream a reality and this I shall do. Soon a prince will come to you that you will fall in love with, and you will marry him. Your first born shall be a beautiful daughter and she will one day become queen of this land. I will cherish her, guide her, protect her, and teach her how to be a good ruler,” said the faery.
Fiona stared at the beautiful faery for a long time in shock. Then she bent and looked at herself. She saw her drab brown hair, her poor brown dress, and her worn brown shoes. Shaking her head in bewilderment, she asked the faery,
“Who are you and why would you do all this for me?”
“My name is Morrígan and I am the queen of all the faeries. As for why I am doing this, I have heard those who love you speak of you fondly. They say you work hard and are kind to everyone. I am the mother of this land and when I felt your tears hit the earth, I could sense the purity and goodness in your soul. Therefore, I have decided to help you and extend my blessing so that you may fulfill your dream,” said the faerie queen.
“Thank you, your majesty, for your aid. You have ensured my happiness and I will teach my children to love all faeries. You have given me hope for the future and for that, you have my everlasting gratitude,” replied Fiona with her head bowed in appreciation.
The faerie queen placed her hand on the girl’s head and kissed her forehead. Then she smiled and affectionately whispered:
“Take care my child. I shall visit you and your family often to watch your children grow and bring happiness to you and your husband. I will remain close with your daughter and from me she will learn to be a worthy queen. Now go and I will see you soon,” said the faerie queen.
With that, the bright light shown around the queen until it blinded Fiona. Then it quickly disappeared and the girl was once again alone. Smiling, Fiona returned to her cottage and soon after she met a handsome young prince who fell in love with her on sight. They quickly married and a while later were crowned king and queen of the land. Their firstborn child was a girl as predicted and they named her Isibéal followed by their sons Cian and Daegus and their daughter Sorcha. The family was very happy and the faerie queen Morrígan often visited, watching the children grow and preparing Isibéal for the future.
Part II.
After many years passed and Isibéal had grown into a woman, Morrígan came to her one day for a visit. It was time for Isibéal to fulfill her destiny. The faerie queen saw Isibéal seated on a bench in the castle gardens reading a book. When Isibéal saw the queen approaching, she quickly smiled a welcome to the faerie and bade Morrígan to sit next to her. They exchanged pleasantries at first, then the faerie queen turned to Isibéal and announced:
“My child, the time has come for you begin your journey that will lead you to your fate. All the years I have been here guiding you for your future, the time is finally upon us to embark on your road to the future. There is a great evil that is stirring in the East Lands. A great army of men ride out to find and conquer new lands. Soon they will come here to your land. Your father the king is too old to fight and being the oldest, it is up to you to lead the clan warriors against this rising threat. You are trained in all manner of war craft so now you must call a meeting of the clan leaders to strategize and prepare to fight. I will aid you by sending my faerie warriors to help in the fight. My warriors are led by my son Aedan who is the strongest and fiercest of my fighters” said Morrígan.
“I will do what you ask and I will defeat this evil before it wreaks havoc on my land and my people,” replied Isibéal.
So princess Isibéal sent messengers out to all the heads of the clans, calling an urgent meeting at the castle in a week’s time. Each leader came with his armies and when the day came for the meeting, a trumpet sounded the arrival of the faerie army led by Aedan. When everyone convened in the war room, the king informed everyone that Isibéal would be leading this fight. Then Isibéal stood up in her rich red gown and her black curling hair falling freely on her back and proclaimed,
“I will gladly take up this burden of leading our people to war. We must banish this evil threat. They seek to conquer our land and destroy our people. We must not allow this to happen. It will not be a feat easily accomplished. However, with your help and the assistance of the fae, we stand a fighting chance of stopping this threat before it has a chance to find root in our land. Soon, the enemy armies will come and we must be prepared. Now, unless you have any questions, I ask you all to return to your men and soon we shall head to our border lands to stop these encroachers.”
All the clan leaders knew of the princess’ prowess and made to leave the war room. However, there was one who was not happy with the fact that a woman would be leading the army. Aedan, dressed all in black from his riding boots to his shirt to his wavy black hair, stepped forward and stated,
“I am not sure it is wise to place an untried girl at the head of an army. You may possess great fighting skills, but you have no experience in actually waging a war. In battle, there are no rules and no second chances to survive. Are you really quite certain you are capable of achieving success in this venture?”
Isibéal’s back went rigid and she straightened her shoulders at this affront before she made her reply to the fae prince,
“Rest assured Aedan, I am fully and completely ‘capable of achieving success in this venture.’ Your mother herself has trained me not only in how to be a good ruler, but also how to be a competent warrior. If you doubt me, perhaps you will take this matter up with her, for it was she who chose me for this task.”
Aedan quirked a half smile at her saying,
“We shall soon see if you are able, princess. We shall see.”
With that, both fae and human leaders exited the room and began preparations for the coming battle.
Part III.
For a month, the clan armies led by Isibéal and the fae armies led by Aedan prepared for war. Then they began the trek over the spring green land to their borders. Morrígan had provided them the information on where this evil threat would attempt to enter and poison their land. All they had to do was bide their time. So they remained at the border and continued their preparations and training. Finally, Isibéal woke one morning and felt the presence of Morrígan nearby. The faerie queen told Isibéal that the enemy was advancing and where to meet them before they reached their target. So the armies of human and fae gathered and together, they moved to intercept and stop the attacking force from the East Lands. When the two opposing forces met, a great cry arose from each side before they rushed forward to begin the battle. The fighting was fierce and bloody with many casualties on each side. Isibéal fought bravely with all her warriors but it was Aedan and the fae fighters who rooted out and killed the leader of the East Lands army. After the death of their commander, the East Landers quickly realized they had been defeated and they quickly surrendered. After killing the commander, Aedan beheaded the corpse and brought it to princess Isibéal. She held it up for her army to see and a shout of victory erupted from the mass of blood covered men. The East Landers were taken prisoner and those who resisted were put to the sword. Then Isibéal and her army made the trek home while Aedan and the fae returned to their own land.
A few months after the battle against the invading East Landers who were defeated and peace and tranquility thrived across her land, Isibéal was once again visited by Morrígan. The princess guided the faerie queen to one of her private rooms to converse with her. After the usual pleasantries, Morrígan and Isibéal moved to the balcony which provided a spectacular view of the kingdom. They stood there in silence for a moment before Isibéal turned and asked,
“I know you did not come here merely to banter with me. Tell me what is on your mind and I will attempt to help you in seeking a solution.”
Morrígan inclined her head towards the princess besides her, took her in for a minute, then the queen replied,
“Yes, I do have something of great concern and I hope you can help me resolve this issue. However, I do believe that my words will surprise you, so perhaps you will wish to find your seat before we continue with our conversation.”
After the princess was seated, Morrígan continued,
“My dear, I will not mince words with you nor waste your time. You are a young woman and a beautiful one at that. You are also a princess and will eventually be queen of this entire kingdom. Therefore, you will need to marry a strong man fit to be a king to help you rule and you will need to do this soon. I have aided you in many things throughout your life, so let me once again give you my counsel. I have presided over the land of the Fae for many years now. As you know, I am immortal and so one would reason that I will always remain the ruler. However, I wish to pass my authority to my son. I long to spend more time with my family and my children’s families. I do not wish to be saddled anymore with the responsibilities of ruling my kingdom. Aedan is my eldest and he has told me he will gladly take up this burden but he needs a strong and wise wife to rule alongside him. I believe you and he can be what the other needs. There will also be the benefit that uniting the countries will strengthen not only the kingdoms but the bond between human and fae as well. I would ask you to consider this my child.”
Isibéal sat quietly for a while, taking in and contemplating all that the faerie queen had said to her. She realized the wisdom behind Morrígan’s words but Isibéal still longed for love in her life. So she formed a plan in her head and then shared it with the faerie queen,
“I believe that what you say is true but I see no reason to rush this decision. I have decided that I will need time to get to know Aedan. He doubted my abilities to conquer our enemy so he has not endeared himself to me. But as you say, I need to have a wise and fierce king to rule beside me and uniting our two kingdoms would be beneficial to all. So, Aedan may court me for a month and at the end, we will have a tournament so he may show his strength to the people and they will be proud to call him their king. The festivities will end with our marriage and coronation. Then, we will begin building our life together.”
Morrígan smiled and shook her head but she acquiesced to the princess’ request. Aedan came to the castle for a month and the two began to get to know each other. Aedan had been awed by Isibéal’s fighting abilities on the battlefield and he became further impressed with her leadership skills while he was at court. The two slowly began to fall in love, and when the month was over, Aedan and Isibéal prepared for the tournament which would culminate in their wedding ceremony. Aedan fought well and conquered all the opponents who faced him. Finally, he faced the king’s champion who was believed to be unbeatable since he always emerged the victor. No one knew the warrior’s identity for he always fought in full armor. As Aedan watched his challenger approach, he boasted,
“You have never been vanquished in a tournament before, but today I will be the winner in this match. You will not defeat me and I will prove to all, especially my love Isibéal, that I am worthy of ruling this great land. Now come and fight so that I may crush you.”
The champion remained silent through all this and his only response was to withdraw his sword. The two warriors began to slowly circle each other before Aedan swung his sword and crashed it against the champion’s shield. This began the fight that quickly became a series of sword clashes, shield crashes, and heaving grunts from wielding the heavy weapons. The people watched in rapt fascination and with bated breath, waiting to see the outcome of this skirmish. Close to exhaustion, the champion struck out at Aedan with such a force that had him staggering backwards. He returned the gesture with such brutality that when the two swords met, each one broke into multiple pieces. The two combatants stood in awe staring between them and the shattered remnants of their swords scattered around them. Dropping the shield and the broken sword handle, the king’s champion gradually removed his helmet. A shock reverberated through the crowd at the sight of the champion while Aedan could only stare in complete surprise for the champion was none other than Isibéal herself! As the minutes passed, a smile crept up Isibéal’s face and reaching out to cup Aedan’s cheek, she said,
“You have fought well my love. Neither you nor I were defeated this day and have won equally. Thus the same way shall we rule both the human and fae kingdoms; as equals in all things. You have proven your worth to me and to my people and we are proud to call you our king from this day forth! With the crown, comes all my love and you will not only be the ruler of our lands, but also the king of my heart forever. I love you Aedan!”
Amidst the cheering crowd, Aedan drew Isibéal close and bent down until his lips brushed against her ears and he whispered,
“Forever shall you be the ruler of my heart as well for it completely belongs to you. I am honored to be your king and to govern alongside you. However, more important is my role as your husband to love and cherish you all my life. I love you Isibéal.”
After sharing a kiss, the two lovers began preparing for their wedding. To the delight of all, they were married and crowned king and queen in a grand ceremony. The uniting of the two kingdoms brought peace and security to their lands for as long as they ruled. Aedan and Isibéal were blessed with many children, and together lived happily ever after.
Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Fiona who dreamed of getting married and having a family when she grew up. She came from a poor farming family and she worked hard all her life yet she never gave up hope that one day her dream would come true. She was kind to everyone and all who knew her loved her dearly. She would often go and sit on a ledge overlooking a glen near her little cottage and watch the sun set, filling the landscape with brilliant shades of purple, red, and gold to mix with the sparkling emerald green hue of the countryside. As she sat there one day, she began to cry uncontrollably because she was slowly beginning to think that she would never marry and have her own children. As her tears fell to the earth, there suddenly appeared a bright light in front of Fiona and she cried out in fear. Then the light disappeared and in its stead stood a beautiful faery in a green dress with a white crown on top of her curly red tresses. Fiona scrambled to her feet and stood there trembling, unsure of whether to run or scream.
“Why are you crying my child?’ asked the faery in a musical voice.
“I am crying because ever since I was a little girl, I have dreamed of getting married and having children when I grew up. Now I am grown up but I have never loved a man so I am afraid my dream will never come true,” was Fiona’s reply.
“Fear not my dear sweet girl. I have the power to make your dream a reality and this I shall do. Soon a prince will come to you that you will fall in love with, and you will marry him. Your first born shall be a beautiful daughter and she will one day become queen of this land. I will cherish her, guide her, protect her, and teach her how to be a good ruler,” said the faery.
Fiona stared at the beautiful faery for a long time in shock. Then she bent and looked at herself. She saw her drab brown hair, her poor brown dress, and her worn brown shoes. Shaking her head in bewilderment, she asked the faery,
“Who are you and why would you do all this for me?”
“My name is Morrígan and I am the queen of all the faeries. As for why I am doing this, I have heard those who love you speak of you fondly. They say you work hard and are kind to everyone. I am the mother of this land and when I felt your tears hit the earth, I could sense the purity and goodness in your soul. Therefore, I have decided to help you and extend my blessing so that you may fulfill your dream,” said the faerie queen.
“Thank you, your majesty, for your aid. You have ensured my happiness and I will teach my children to love all faeries. You have given me hope for the future and for that, you have my everlasting gratitude,” replied Fiona with her head bowed in appreciation.
The faerie queen placed her hand on the girl’s head and kissed her forehead. Then she smiled and affectionately whispered:
“Take care my child. I shall visit you and your family often to watch your children grow and bring happiness to you and your husband. I will remain close with your daughter and from me she will learn to be a worthy queen. Now go and I will see you soon,” said the faerie queen.
With that, the bright light shown around the queen until it blinded Fiona. Then it quickly disappeared and the girl was once again alone. Smiling, Fiona returned to her cottage and soon after she met a handsome young prince who fell in love with her on sight. They quickly married and a while later were crowned king and queen of the land. Their firstborn child was a girl as predicted and they named her Isibéal followed by their sons Cian and Daegus and their daughter Sorcha. The family was very happy and the faerie queen Morrígan often visited, watching the children grow and preparing Isibéal for the future.
Part II.
After many years passed and Isibéal had grown into a woman, Morrígan came to her one day for a visit. It was time for Isibéal to fulfill her destiny. The faerie queen saw Isibéal seated on a bench in the castle gardens reading a book. When Isibéal saw the queen approaching, she quickly smiled a welcome to the faerie and bade Morrígan to sit next to her. They exchanged pleasantries at first, then the faerie queen turned to Isibéal and announced:
“My child, the time has come for you begin your journey that will lead you to your fate. All the years I have been here guiding you for your future, the time is finally upon us to embark on your road to the future. There is a great evil that is stirring in the East Lands. A great army of men ride out to find and conquer new lands. Soon they will come here to your land. Your father the king is too old to fight and being the oldest, it is up to you to lead the clan warriors against this rising threat. You are trained in all manner of war craft so now you must call a meeting of the clan leaders to strategize and prepare to fight. I will aid you by sending my faerie warriors to help in the fight. My warriors are led by my son Aedan who is the strongest and fiercest of my fighters” said Morrígan.
“I will do what you ask and I will defeat this evil before it wreaks havoc on my land and my people,” replied Isibéal.
So princess Isibéal sent messengers out to all the heads of the clans, calling an urgent meeting at the castle in a week’s time. Each leader came with his armies and when the day came for the meeting, a trumpet sounded the arrival of the faerie army led by Aedan. When everyone convened in the war room, the king informed everyone that Isibéal would be leading this fight. Then Isibéal stood up in her rich red gown and her black curling hair falling freely on her back and proclaimed,
“I will gladly take up this burden of leading our people to war. We must banish this evil threat. They seek to conquer our land and destroy our people. We must not allow this to happen. It will not be a feat easily accomplished. However, with your help and the assistance of the fae, we stand a fighting chance of stopping this threat before it has a chance to find root in our land. Soon, the enemy armies will come and we must be prepared. Now, unless you have any questions, I ask you all to return to your men and soon we shall head to our border lands to stop these encroachers.”
All the clan leaders knew of the princess’ prowess and made to leave the war room. However, there was one who was not happy with the fact that a woman would be leading the army. Aedan, dressed all in black from his riding boots to his shirt to his wavy black hair, stepped forward and stated,
“I am not sure it is wise to place an untried girl at the head of an army. You may possess great fighting skills, but you have no experience in actually waging a war. In battle, there are no rules and no second chances to survive. Are you really quite certain you are capable of achieving success in this venture?”
Isibéal’s back went rigid and she straightened her shoulders at this affront before she made her reply to the fae prince,
“Rest assured Aedan, I am fully and completely ‘capable of achieving success in this venture.’ Your mother herself has trained me not only in how to be a good ruler, but also how to be a competent warrior. If you doubt me, perhaps you will take this matter up with her, for it was she who chose me for this task.”
Aedan quirked a half smile at her saying,
“We shall soon see if you are able, princess. We shall see.”
With that, both fae and human leaders exited the room and began preparations for the coming battle.
Part III.
For a month, the clan armies led by Isibéal and the fae armies led by Aedan prepared for war. Then they began the trek over the spring green land to their borders. Morrígan had provided them the information on where this evil threat would attempt to enter and poison their land. All they had to do was bide their time. So they remained at the border and continued their preparations and training. Finally, Isibéal woke one morning and felt the presence of Morrígan nearby. The faerie queen told Isibéal that the enemy was advancing and where to meet them before they reached their target. So the armies of human and fae gathered and together, they moved to intercept and stop the attacking force from the East Lands. When the two opposing forces met, a great cry arose from each side before they rushed forward to begin the battle. The fighting was fierce and bloody with many casualties on each side. Isibéal fought bravely with all her warriors but it was Aedan and the fae fighters who rooted out and killed the leader of the East Lands army. After the death of their commander, the East Landers quickly realized they had been defeated and they quickly surrendered. After killing the commander, Aedan beheaded the corpse and brought it to princess Isibéal. She held it up for her army to see and a shout of victory erupted from the mass of blood covered men. The East Landers were taken prisoner and those who resisted were put to the sword. Then Isibéal and her army made the trek home while Aedan and the fae returned to their own land.
A few months after the battle against the invading East Landers who were defeated and peace and tranquility thrived across her land, Isibéal was once again visited by Morrígan. The princess guided the faerie queen to one of her private rooms to converse with her. After the usual pleasantries, Morrígan and Isibéal moved to the balcony which provided a spectacular view of the kingdom. They stood there in silence for a moment before Isibéal turned and asked,
“I know you did not come here merely to banter with me. Tell me what is on your mind and I will attempt to help you in seeking a solution.”
Morrígan inclined her head towards the princess besides her, took her in for a minute, then the queen replied,
“Yes, I do have something of great concern and I hope you can help me resolve this issue. However, I do believe that my words will surprise you, so perhaps you will wish to find your seat before we continue with our conversation.”
After the princess was seated, Morrígan continued,
“My dear, I will not mince words with you nor waste your time. You are a young woman and a beautiful one at that. You are also a princess and will eventually be queen of this entire kingdom. Therefore, you will need to marry a strong man fit to be a king to help you rule and you will need to do this soon. I have aided you in many things throughout your life, so let me once again give you my counsel. I have presided over the land of the Fae for many years now. As you know, I am immortal and so one would reason that I will always remain the ruler. However, I wish to pass my authority to my son. I long to spend more time with my family and my children’s families. I do not wish to be saddled anymore with the responsibilities of ruling my kingdom. Aedan is my eldest and he has told me he will gladly take up this burden but he needs a strong and wise wife to rule alongside him. I believe you and he can be what the other needs. There will also be the benefit that uniting the countries will strengthen not only the kingdoms but the bond between human and fae as well. I would ask you to consider this my child.”
Isibéal sat quietly for a while, taking in and contemplating all that the faerie queen had said to her. She realized the wisdom behind Morrígan’s words but Isibéal still longed for love in her life. So she formed a plan in her head and then shared it with the faerie queen,
“I believe that what you say is true but I see no reason to rush this decision. I have decided that I will need time to get to know Aedan. He doubted my abilities to conquer our enemy so he has not endeared himself to me. But as you say, I need to have a wise and fierce king to rule beside me and uniting our two kingdoms would be beneficial to all. So, Aedan may court me for a month and at the end, we will have a tournament so he may show his strength to the people and they will be proud to call him their king. The festivities will end with our marriage and coronation. Then, we will begin building our life together.”
Morrígan smiled and shook her head but she acquiesced to the princess’ request. Aedan came to the castle for a month and the two began to get to know each other. Aedan had been awed by Isibéal’s fighting abilities on the battlefield and he became further impressed with her leadership skills while he was at court. The two slowly began to fall in love, and when the month was over, Aedan and Isibéal prepared for the tournament which would culminate in their wedding ceremony. Aedan fought well and conquered all the opponents who faced him. Finally, he faced the king’s champion who was believed to be unbeatable since he always emerged the victor. No one knew the warrior’s identity for he always fought in full armor. As Aedan watched his challenger approach, he boasted,
“You have never been vanquished in a tournament before, but today I will be the winner in this match. You will not defeat me and I will prove to all, especially my love Isibéal, that I am worthy of ruling this great land. Now come and fight so that I may crush you.”
The champion remained silent through all this and his only response was to withdraw his sword. The two warriors began to slowly circle each other before Aedan swung his sword and crashed it against the champion’s shield. This began the fight that quickly became a series of sword clashes, shield crashes, and heaving grunts from wielding the heavy weapons. The people watched in rapt fascination and with bated breath, waiting to see the outcome of this skirmish. Close to exhaustion, the champion struck out at Aedan with such a force that had him staggering backwards. He returned the gesture with such brutality that when the two swords met, each one broke into multiple pieces. The two combatants stood in awe staring between them and the shattered remnants of their swords scattered around them. Dropping the shield and the broken sword handle, the king’s champion gradually removed his helmet. A shock reverberated through the crowd at the sight of the champion while Aedan could only stare in complete surprise for the champion was none other than Isibéal herself! As the minutes passed, a smile crept up Isibéal’s face and reaching out to cup Aedan’s cheek, she said,
“You have fought well my love. Neither you nor I were defeated this day and have won equally. Thus the same way shall we rule both the human and fae kingdoms; as equals in all things. You have proven your worth to me and to my people and we are proud to call you our king from this day forth! With the crown, comes all my love and you will not only be the ruler of our lands, but also the king of my heart forever. I love you Aedan!”
Amidst the cheering crowd, Aedan drew Isibéal close and bent down until his lips brushed against her ears and he whispered,
“Forever shall you be the ruler of my heart as well for it completely belongs to you. I am honored to be your king and to govern alongside you. However, more important is my role as your husband to love and cherish you all my life. I love you Isibéal.”
After sharing a kiss, the two lovers began preparing for their wedding. To the delight of all, they were married and crowned king and queen in a grand ceremony. The uniting of the two kingdoms brought peace and security to their lands for as long as they ruled. Aedan and Isibéal were blessed with many children, and together lived happily ever after.