The following passage, is the interaction between Conchobar Mac Nessa, the druid Cathbadh, and Cu Chulainn after the murder of Dervla at the solstice festival.
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The King stood on the dais and said, “The women at the feast lost their reason and brutally murdered Dervla.”
The warriors looked around at each other, then at those in the feast hall. Not many wives would be there the morning after a feast, but there would be some. On this morning, there were none. The men began to clamour at once.
“Where are the women?”
“What have you done to the women?”
“Where is my wife?”
Cathbadh looked over the crowd of men with sore heads and thought he had made the right decision by telling Mac Nessa he had to stand on the dais and give them the news. He was thinking of backing out of the feast hall when the noise began to die down.
The druid looked as the crowd of warriors parted, and Cú Chulainn walked through. He had the war hammer on his shoulder, besmirched with gore and blood. The warrior had still not washed. The blood was now a caked mask that highlighted the greyness of his eyes. Cathbadh had always found it hard to describe those eyes, but not any more. They were death. One look from them could kill a man where he stood.
Cú Chulainn looked at the warriors as he walked towards the dais. Each warrior he looked at dropped their head and held their tongue. When he reached the dais, Cú Chulainn turned to face the hall without acknowledging Mac Nessa or the druid.
“Your women brutally murdered the wife of the High King. The sentence was death. The sentence has been carried out. If any of you wish to dispute it, you will find me in my roundhouse,” saying which he left.
The silence had a physical presence in the feast hall. No one spoke. No one coughed or passed wind. The silence echoed for several moments before the warriors dispersed, leaving Mac Nessa and Cathbadh alone on the dais.
“What do you think?” the King asked him.
“You can now claim the throne in the name of salvation. The Elder Council will no longer oppose you. There is no one else. Lugaid’s son is too young. Conall and Fergus have gone to Connachta. The warriors believe Cú Chulainn to be as mad as a spring hare.”
“That is not what I meant, Cathbadh. I meant our earlier talk. What do you think about having the Red Branch under the orders of a spring hare?”
“I do not think I understand.”
“The Hound told me that he will assume command of the Red Branch, as I requested when Conall defected.”
“I think you have misunderstood in your turn, Sire. The actions I saw yesterday were systematic, ruthless, and controlled beyond belief. They were the actions of a born killer, not of a madman.”