The Ballad of Rosamunde by Claire Delacroix Read Free Book Online

were more stars on this
night than he had ever seen and the moon rose high in pearly
splendor.
    When they began to descend the hill,
Padraig’s horse eased so close that he could touch the hem of
Rosamunde’s dress.
    It was time.

    *

    “ He spurred his horse, he galloped near
    He seized the lady he loved so dear.
    He stole her from the Faerie host
    Claimed she Finvarra desired most.
    The fey did scream, the horse did run,
    Finvarra shouted ‘twould not be done.
    ‘ Hold fast, hold fast,’ Rosamunde cried
    ‘ For she would steal you from my side.’
    And so he held with all his might
    Even as Una unleashed her spite.”

    *

    The company jostled for position as they
began the descent. The fey were celebratory, and less disciplined
than when they had first left the hill. Their laughter was louder
and their songs more merry.
    Padraig lunged through the company with
purpose. He dug his heels into the stallion’s side, and the horse
leapt with power. Padraig snatched Rosamunde from her steed, his
arm locked around her waist, and placed her on the saddle before
him.
    Then he fled.
    As the stallion raced down the hill, the
golden ring upon Padraig’s finger cracked in half. It fell from his
hand and was trampled beneath the horses’ hooves, leaving him
revealed to the fey.
    “Impostor!” they cried. “Thief!”
    “Fetch my mistress!” bellowed Finvarra.
    Padraig gave the horse his heels. The steed
raced down the hill ahead of the Faerie host, running so quickly
that the ground was a blur beneath their feet.
    “Faster,” Rosamunde urged, glancing back.
“Faster!”
    Padraig heard Una’s song rise sweetly in the
distance, but did not trust her ode.
    “Padraig!” Rosamunde said, locking her arms
around his neck. “She means to make you spurn me. Be not
deceived.”
    Padraig guessed the test he would face a
heartbeat before it began.

    *

    “’ They will turn me to an ancient crone
    A woman wrought of sinew and bone.
    A cold, rotted body from the grave
    Hold fast, my love, you must be brave.’”

    *

    In his embrace, Rosamunde turned to a hag,
appearing to have endured a thousand years of hardship. Her skin
was wrinkled like ancient leather, her eyes yellow and her teeth
missing.
    She cackled at him, this apparition, and
looked fit to devour him. Padraig could see the bones of her skull
beneath the loose flesh of her face, he could smell the fetid
stench of decay, and he felt the clutch of her skeletal fingers on
his neck. Everything within him was repulsed and his urge was to
cast her aside with all speed.
    Padraig told himself it was but a spell and
held fast.

    *

    “’ Next I’ll be a writhing snake
    With a toxic bite your life to take.
    I will be as slipp’ry as an adder
    My release lies solely in your power.’”

    *

    Rosamunde changed then to an enormous snake,
green and slippery in Padraig’s grasp. The snake bared its fangs
and malice lit its eyes as it reared back to strike. He had not
doubt its bite was poisonous, but he did not release it.
    There were, after all, no snakes in Ireland.
Padraig knew that this, too, was but a fey trick.
    He heard Una’s song, realized it was growing
in volume, and knew there would be worse to come. Three tests there
would be, he guessed as much, and they would become more fierce. He
held fast to the writhing green snake and hoped he could keep hold
of Rosamunde. The horse ran, outdistancing the shouting host at its
heels.
    The snake twisted in his grip, as elusive as
a fish, but Padraig held tightly. He reminded himself of
Rosamunde’s valor, how she had challenged more than one aristocrat
in the wrong, like the cheating bishop he had once served, and that
gave him the strength to persevere in his challenge to the fey.
    The water of the lake drew ever more near
and he wondered what the horse would do. He thought to direct it
around the body of water, then Rosamunde changed shape again.

    *

    “’ And last I will become a flame,
    As hot and fierce as ever