The Ballad of Rosamunde by Claire Delacroix

Author:Claire Delacroix [Delacroix, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: kinfairlie, rosamunde, pirates, fantasy, claire delacroix, deborah cooke, ravensmuir, pirate queen, faerie, ireland, darg, lammergeier
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

*

Padraig fondled the strange stone in his pocket as he returned to the tavern that night. It was falling dark, the sun blazing orange just before it slipped beneath the horizon.

He could not dispel his dream of kissing Rosamunde, and in truth, he did not want to do so. The dream had lifted the shadow from his heart, made him feel that there might be some purpose to his life even without his partner by his side.

“You are fair pleased with yourself tonight,” his sister said as she set an ale before him. She smiled and propped her hands on her hips to regard him. “A conquest was it then?”

Padraig laughed for the first time in a long time. “Naught but a dream, but ‘twas a fine one.”

“I wager it must have been,” she said, her smile teasing. “You dreamed then of a lady?”

“None other than the Faerie queen,” Padraig agreed amiably. “And she gave to me a token.”

His sister sobered. “Did she then?” Her wariness reminded Padraig strongly of their mother.

“A ring with the power to make a man invisible to others.” Padraig chuckled at the whimsy of it all, then reached into his pocket to show her the stone. He thought she would be amused by the evidence of his drunken dream, but when he pulled the gift from his pocket, it had become a golden ring again.

Padraig stared at it on his palm and blinked in wonder. “But a moment ago, it was a stone,” he whispered.

His sister caught her breath and took a step back. “A Faerie gem.” She crossed herself quickly. “Mind your step, Padraig. A man does not easily elude the favor of the Faerie queen.”

Padraig barely heard her warning. He knew all the tales of the fey, courtesy of his mother. He simply could not believe that the ring had changed twice.

But then, if it was fey, the charm upon it would hold for the night and not the day. He stood and, leaving his ale, looked out the door of the tavern. Sure enough, the sun had set completely and twilight, that time so potent for the fey, had fallen.

He gazed at the circle of gold. What if his dream had been true? What if this ring truly did have the power Una had stated? What if he could reclaim Rosamunde from the realm of the fey?

What if his dream of that kiss had answered his question – what was Rosamunde’s honest desire? Did she wish for him as well as freedom?

But before he dared entering the Faerie mound, before he dared to abduct a women destined for the High King of Faerie’s bed, Padraig would be sure of the ring’s powers.

He left a coin for the ale, having no taste for it any longer. He strode out into the streets of Galway, slipped down an alleyway, then donned the ring.

To his astonishment, when he stepped back into the crowded thoroughfare, a man walked right into him, frowning at the obstacle he could feel but not see.

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