“Far better had she died,” said the young man. “She has left us and gone to the Fenians.”
Then the High King lifted up his voice in a long cry of grief and anger. Teasa was very dear to him. He could not bear to think that she had gone over to the enemy.
“I am sure she is held against her will,” said Donn. “Send heralds to this Fenian and order him to surrender our daughter to us.”
But the heralds came back with the word that Finn refused. Then Donn stood out upon the highest deck and raised his arms above his head in a vow of vengeance.
“Hear me, O Finn!” he called. “You have taken my daughter from me, and I vow that I will be revenged upon you. Though it take me all the rest of my life to prepare, and though I must get every king in the world to help me, I vow I shall not rest until I have come to Erin and have punished you for this deed.”
Then the High King raised the sails of his fleet, his men bent to their oars, and the battle fleet sailed out of the harbor.
Dermot turned to his chief. “I fear that trouble is about to come upon Erin and the Fenians,” he said. “Chew your thumb and see if it is not so.”
Finn shook his head sadly. “I have no need of my thumb to tell me that what you say is true. Yet, the maiden claimed my protection, and I could not, under our rules, refuse her.”
“That is so,” agreed Dermot.