“Sire, dire news!” The messenger knelt before Constantin Mac Aeda, or Coìseam Mac Aoidh, the name he preferred in his native Pictish language.
“Sire, you say?” asked Constantin, incredulous at the word.
“Ay, Lord,” the gruff bearer of dispatches said, “I am here to report the death of your cousin King Domnall.”
“How? Where?”
“In battle, slain by the Vikings led by King Harald Fairhair at Dunnottar.”
“And our people, how do they fare?”
“Grievous events, Lord, the Norsemen devastate wherever they set foot. Our folk see you as their saviour. You must sail with us at once!”
“So, the dàsachtach is no more,” Constantin murmured, giving his cousin the ‘madman’ epithet he had gained himself due to his uncontrollable, violent temper. In equal measure, he was saddened and relieved that Domnal
