Withstanding Trials: Day 6

Word Count: 36,001

Summary of Events:

Ceallach continued taking Aodhán on tours of Finscéalta that were more accurately described as outings to go drinking at the various local taverns, where Ceallach always got so drunk he lost his sense of direction and had to be led back to the castle. Come Sunday Saraid attended church with the whole community, while Aodhán deliberately stayed up late the night before in order to be tired, so as not to be forced to attend a Universalist church, much to his aunt's displeasure. Later on in the day he was dragged off by Ceallach to sit and chat in Ceallach's quarters, where Ceallach informed him that there were plans for another hunt in the upcoming week…

Excerpt of the Day:

“I do hope we can get some more good hunts in,” Ceallach said. “Right now I haven’t shot the largest buck yet, so I need to have some more chances to bring down the biggest one, I have the best aim in the family, and not just among my brothers, but my uncles, and cousins, and everything.”

“Is that so?” Aodhán asked.

“You sound like you doubt it,” Ceallach replied.

“I’ve never seen you shoot any more than you’ve seen me,” Aodhán replied. “How can you make such a statement with such confidence?”

“Well, I was specifically talking about Father’s side of the family,” Ceallach replied. “I know I’m better than all of them, but you’re right, I haven’t had a lot of experience against Mother’s side of the family, but when you come with us we’ll see who’s better. We could even have a contest to see who hits more bucks, and whose bucks are bigger and finer, with the winner being the one whose bucks have the greatest total weight and antler-points, especially if they have the larger quantity.”

“So long as we don’t slaughter all the bucks on the isle, otherwise there won’t be any to hunt next year, or even necessarily for the year after that, depending how long it takes for all the little ones to grow up,” Aodhán said.

“Oh, there’s no reason to worry about that,” Ceallach said. “There’s plenty of bucks here, there’s hardly an isle in the realm that could boast more bucks than this one.”

Aodhán nodded, even as he raised his eyebrows sceptically, having his doubts about whether Inis Neamhaí, which was the smallest isle to host a Chiefly Castle in the realm, could really have more bucks — or even deer overall, as surely the numbers of females had to at least be comparable to those of the males — than larger isles, of which there were quite a few, although Aodhán had to admit that he didn’t know exactly, as no one had officially measured the size of all of the isles in the most precise of ways possible.

“You don’t seem to believe me,” Ceallach said. “Just wait until our hunt, then you’ll see that there are thousands of bucks here. I’d estimate as many as ten thousand.”

“That’s a rather significant number,” Aodhán said.

“Yes,” Ceallach said, “But that’s only because you believe everyone who calls this isle small. It truly is actually quite large. Not as large as Oileán Oirthear, I’m sure that it ought to be considered its own continent owing to its vastness, but Neamhaí is a large isle in its own right.”

“But large enough to host ten thousand male deer, in addition to probably about that many females and, one would expect, a comparable amount of young, and sheep?” Aodhán asked.

“Of course,” Ceallach replied. “They’re all fairly small, you know, compared to horses, so they don’t eat as much. An isle like this could probably only host about five thousand horses.”