>Conchobar mac Nessa, the king of Ulster, had the "right of the first night" over all marriages of his subjects. He was afraid of Cú Chulainn's reaction if he exercised it in this case, but would lose his authority if he didn't. A solution was found - Conchobar would sleep with Emer on the night of the wedding, but Cathbad the druid would sleep between them.

I'm writing a story where I'm adapting Irish myths and folklore to have the characters behave in believable and more historically accurate ways.

So my question is, is it realistic that a King would actually sleep with the brides of his subject? Would he just sleep alongside them? I'm assuming that sleeping = sex.

I've seen this "Right of The First Night" in lots of places now, and I'm wondering how historically accurate it is.