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A long, long time ago, Prince Cuglas, master of the hounds to the high King of Erin, set out from Tara to the chase. As he was leaving the palace the light mists were drifting away from the hill-tops, and the rays of the morning sun were falling aslant on the grinan or sunny bower of the Princess Ailinn.
And he kissed her again and again. "And have you never a kiss for me," said the little woman, tapping his hand with the little gold bodkin. "A kiss and a dozen," said Cuglas, as he caught the little fairy up in his arms. "Oh, fie, Cuglas," said the queen. "Oh, the princess isn't one bit jealous," said the little woman. "Are you, Ailinn?" "Indeed I am not," said Ailinn.
The prince found the queen on the lawn outside the palace surrounded by her court. "We shall go on the lake to-day, Cuglas," said the queen, and taking his arm she led him along the water's edge, all the courtiers following. When she was close to the water she waved her wand, and in a second a thousand boats, shining like glass, shot up from beneath the lake and set their bows against the bank.
As the herald came close to him the prince's steed stopped of his own accord. "You are welcome, Cuglas," said the herald, "and I have been sent by the Princess Crede to greet you and to lead you to her court, where you have been so long expected." "I know not how this may be," said Cuglas. "How it has come about I shall tell you as we go along," said the herald.
"I am deeply honored by the preference shown me by the princess," said Cuglas, "but I may not tarry in her court; for above in Erin there is the Lady Ailinn, the loveliest of all the ladies who grace the royal palace, and before the princes and chiefs of Erin she has promised to be my bride."
"You are welcome, Cuglas," said the queen, as she held out her hand, and Cuglas, having thanked her for her welcome, they entered the palace together. "You must be weary after your long journey," said the queen.
"You are welcome, Cuglas," said the queen, as she held out her hand, and Cuglas, having thanked her for her welcome, they entered the palace together. "You must be weary after your long journey," said the queen.
Through broken clouds a watery moon shed a faint, fitful light, that came and went as the clouds, driven by a moaning wind, passed over the valley. Cuglas, nothing daunted, pushed on boldly until a bank of cloud shut out completely the struggling moon, and closing over the valley covered it like a pall, leaving him in perfect darkness.
"And you should not be," said the fairy queen, "for never lady yet had truer knight than Cuglas. I loved him, and I love him dearly. I lured him here hoping that in the delights of fairyland he might forget you. It was all in vain. I know now that there is one thing no fairy power above or below the stars, or beneath the waters, can ever subdue, and that is love.
In her happiness she did not forget the little robin, who was her friend in sorrow. She took him home with her to Sunny Valleys, and every day she fed him with her own hands, and every day he sang for her the sweetest songs that were ever heard in lady's bower. A long, long time ago, Prince Cuglas, master of the hounds to the high King of Erin, set out from Tara to the chase.
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