Saga of Cogadháin BOOK II: The War Tribute: 2

The War of Tribute is a story of leadership tested, loyalty chosen, and the fragile shape of peace earned through courage rather than conquest. It is the book in which Clann Fearnaighe learns that freedom is not won once, but guarded every day-and that even in the shadow of war, new life can change the fate of a people. In a land where cattle are wealth, roads are power, and names can raise armies, Clann Fearnaighe faces the first tremor of a war meant to break their spirit. A dawn raid meant as insult becomes revelation: a western lord calling himself Conn reborn has begun demanding tribute from every valley, binding frightened clans beneath a crown he never earned. Cogadháin answers not with rage, but with strategy-fortifying his people, unraveling the lie behind the false Conn, and sending Cú Chulainn west with a message no tyrant can ignore. What follows a season of raids, alliances, single combat, and the terrible clarity of a war fought not for land, but for the right to stand unbowed. Róna records every step: the ransom bargains, the councils, the blood on the field, and the moment when a chieftain's life hangs on the edge of a blade. And when the false Conn falls, the clans must decide whether peace can be built from the ashes of fear-or whether old hungers will rise again.