The End of a Highwayman

Subject: The End of a Highwayman October 30th 2010, 9:17 pm

(So the fucking cowardly mods in DW deleted this post, let's see them delete it here, or in the main clan forum Twisted Evil

little fuckers ) It was late that night, I remember it very well even one hundred years later. I sat with my father in law, Fintan de Marin, in his manor with in the borders of the Dragon Kingdom. As I think of his visage, it brings a tear to my eye, for by God it was a depression of a sight for me.

His long hair had grayed from it's dark nut brown. His face was worn with the hardships of worry and pain from his life. The doublet he wore was faded, and the silver rose he wore as a broach and the one as a ring were tarnished slightly, no longer sparkling at the drop of light. His eyes though, his eyes still shined like the Emerald Isle herself. He had aged because of his close tie with the land. He alone still considered himself a Celt. His family retained their youth because of their birth within the Veil. And we, that is those of us from the Isle but no longer Celts, have not aged aside from minor signs.

We sat singing, drinking ale and whiskey. His favorite past time. It was the tale of the highwayman. We had sung it five times already, and were now ending the final verse.

"Back, he spurred like a madman, shrieking a curse to the sky, With the white road smoking behind him and his rapier brandished high! Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat, When they shot him down on the highway, Down like a dog on the highway. And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat."

As I laid my mandolin down on the couch there was a banging at the door. The butler left the room to answer it as Fintan stood up shakily. And of a sudden slamming, footsteps pounded on the marble floor. Soldiers, dozens of them, rushed in, crossbows and pikes at the ready. I was pushed aside on to the couch as they surrounded my father in law. Knowing what was about to happen, I started quickly playing the Traveling Reel, softly so they would not hear me. Then I heard it called by the Galway accent of Fintan.

"Dearbhófar do lá an bháis teacht" (Your day of death will come) The soldiers growled, they hated the Gaelic language being used because it gave the speakers freedom. With out hesitation they fired their bolts. I faltered in my playing as my oldest friend, and father in law fell to the ground. As the captain removed her helmet I strived to get a look at her, but all I could see was blonde hair blending in to a yellow cloak. I was lost for words, and terrified at what I had seen. They had shot down an unarmed man of his evening age who had done no wrong in years. “Cowards” was my only thought. As the pikemen went to ensure his death the body blazed with a silver light, casting them back. It was then another woman appeared beside the deceased highwayman.

She was clad in a beautiful robe of baby blue. A veil covered her light brow hair. As I looked at her through the shining light she emitted I could see she was beautiful, beautiful as the dawn. And yet as her eyes met mine, despite the smile I felt fear as if I stood alone in battle against ten thousand armies. She did not speak, but I know her voice would have been that of a thousand angels whispers. Her hand rested on the silver cross he wore, and her light became brighter, no one could look. What happened I can not say for in fear of my eyes I turned. However when I could look again I saw I was alone. There was no sign of the Silver Rose Highwayman, nor of the Westland soldiers.

What has become of them I can not say. I can say only this. With the news of the fallen highwayman, His Majesty King Fionoch closed the borders of his kingdom. Holding them open only to those who wish to escape what he has called “The tyranny of the west” and dismissed the Westlands as “not even worth the food to feed my armies”. The queen, Her Highness Queen Boudicca along with her two daughters grieved for the loss of their friend. Molly and Keeva have since then had children. And now Queen Keeva has named Prince Fintan her heir to the throne, and Molly’s daughter Fiona (the female version of Fintan) became a skilled horsewoman, and holds the title of her namesake, “Lady Commander of the Arelian Cavalry”.

But back in the Westlands, the forest is now no longer traveled. For it is rumored that a ghost rides the paths. A ghost clad in green with a silver rose upon his cloak. The final time anyone traveled with in the forests, they claimed that a man with long hair in a outfit of a highwayman drew a rapier and cut down the noble who rode with them. No commoner has ever been harmed in the forest, but no noble has ever lived though it since. And along the borders of the forest grow roses. They grow in a silver color. Knowing that this symbolized that Fintan “Rogue” de Marin has not truly died, have been sprayed with chemicals, uprooted, burned, but they still grow. They will never die.

I forgot about Cronthis and Biane. They now stay with Queen Nadia of the Dragon Kingdom. Yes, the very one that Fintan guarded until his retirement. They have sworn an oath to protect the Queen until her death of natural cause, in which time they too will pass and rejoin their former human companions. And I? I still wander, I sing my songs and recite my poems and stories. It is my duty as a bard to never allow the tale of the Highwayman of the Silver Rose to die. And so I shall continue to spread it forever, until My Lord claims me.

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