Oh all ye travelers, hearken well,
this dreary night where shadows dwell
Forget your woes for now my friends
And hear now where my tale begins…

A land across the sea there was
In ages long ago
when dragons roamed the skies at will
and monsters walked below

And here a noble family dwelled
And nothing t’was they lacked
with many knights of stalwart heart
To guard them from attack

A laughing king, full fair and just
Set laws down from his throne
His lovely queen stood by his side
And made their house a home

And children fair, in numbers three
Ran dashing through their halls
And filled the castle’s stony walks
With joyous youthful calls

But woe befell their house in time
for such is true of all
when treachery did rear its head
within their royal hall

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One night when all the family slept
a knock was heard below
and through the glass there could be seen
a faint and ghostly glow

The moon was hidden well that night,
no fire burned without,
this light was not an earthy thing,  
of that there was no doubt

But no one saw this strange display
for all lay at their rest
and when at dawn the maids awoke they found they had a guest

a stranger sat outside their door,
a cloak drawn ‘round his form
and when they asked his business there
he spoke in tones forlorn:

“For many leagues I’ve walked by foot
and nary drink I’ve had
my throat is as the dessert dry
and in mere rags I’m clad”

The maids could see that this was true,
his voice was but a croak
a weakling child, scant in years
could fell him with a stroke

His clothing was bedraggled so
that places skin was bare
and all was grey and tattered rags
such no one could repair

he spoke again and begged the maids
that drink be brought to him
for surely else he would not live
and suffer death sore grim

In pity for this weakly man
who to their hearts did plead
the maids rushed back into the house
to fetch out honeyed mead

But as they left, a change occurred,
Though by none was it seen
The ragged man that once was there
was not as he had been

In that man’s place there stood a Fay
As tall and straight as trees
His hair of copper drifting ‘round
In chilly Autumn’s breeze

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Now I am sure you all must know
the tales of the fay,
those fairy folk who love to trick
and use us men as prey

Unbound by laws and moral codes
These Fay folk live apart
And those who’ve seen them all come back
Full strangely changed at heart

The Fay can be a flighty lot
Their moods like shifting clouds
One minute sunny, then the next
As cold as funeral shrouds

And here a member of that race
Stood waiting by their door
And on from hence their fates would be
Entwined for ever more

But in a blink the rags returned
The glamour strong and sure
And to the people’s human eyes
All things stayed as they were

When they came back they brought him in
To sit and drink and eat
And all the time suspected naught
Of who it was they’d meet

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They gathered ‘round in all good cheer
For they still knew him not,
And passed a merry time indeed
Un-wary of his plot

And after supper’s course had passed
With mead in heavy draughts
The stranger asked to entertain
With stories that he’d brought

They called together all the maids
And footmen of the house,
And even their liege-lord came down
With children and his spouse

They’d wrapped the stranger in a robe
And sat him by the fire,
And when he asked they brought to him
More mead and someone’s lyre

As he prepared to tell his tale
A hush fell o’er the hall
A strange expectant silence reigned
And cast them in it’s pall

And when he spoke no sound was heard,
Save for the stranger’s voice,
His tone as clear as piercing bells
On mornings filled with ice

He spoke of lands across the sea
Where wealth and magic rules
And then of dragons, fierce and strong
With hoards of gleaming jewels

But as he spoke a change occurred
Among the gathered throng
And any who were watching them
Would see
That something’s wrong

For few by few those listening
We’re drifting off to sleep
Their heads were tilting towards their chests,
In grips of slumbers deep

And even if someone had rung
A church bell in that hall
Nary a one would have awoke;
So deep was dreamland’s thrall

When all about were sleeping sound
The Fay rose from his chair
At long last free to carry out
The reason he was there

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He looked about the hall of forms
Slumped o’er in their chairs
And laughed in silence to himself
For fates that would be theirs

For one thing that they had not known,
Could not have understood
Was that he’d come to take their child
With him to Myrddin’s Wood

The girl he sought was loved full well
A princess of the land
A joy to all who heard her laugh
Or held her dainty hand

A child now no more than twelve
With many years to grow,
Who held a fate more perilous
Than anyone could know

She slept that hour across the hall
Surrounded by her kin
Unknowing of the danger posed
By one who they’d let in

The Fay walked forth across the floor
And stood there by her side
Gazing upon the silent girl
He had with magic plied

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He took her up into his arms
And wrapped her in a cloak
That had appeared from empty air
With chanted words he spoke

He turned away from all the folk
Who lay so still in sleep
They soon would wake, once he had left
No more in slumber’s keep

He whirled and left that silent room
Delighted in his heart
For everything would fall in place
Soon from this evening’s start

He left the castle through the doors
Of stoutest oak that stood
To keep invading armies out
And spare its people blood

Alas for them, no doors could stand
Before the wills of Fay
No earthly plan, though well devised,
Could keep their force at bay

Then Aethylon, so he was called,
A Fay lord in his right
Strode from the house and through the grounds
Into the chilly night

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