The Last Cry of the Swan
Or
, The Child KnightBy Maradas Graham
There is a song sung by children in the Seelie Realms about the great fallen knights who have died defending their King. It is not a morbid song, though it deals with a matter most grave, and it tells of the Knight who is most dear to the hearts of all Fair children who would aspire to walk beside their King in a place of glory. The Child Knight, who fought under the White Banner of the Swan, is the ideal that faerie mothers have instilled in their faerie sons and daughters, and how pure is the virtue of the young, that they only see the valour and forget the death
!From The Knights of the King (traditional)
...White of the feather
White of the snow
Tell me
Where did the Child Knight go?
Over the mountains and
Over the streams?
Over the sunlight
And into my dreams?
The glory and valour
A swan on the wing
Oh give me the honor
To fight for my King
White of the feather
White of the snow
Tell me
Where did the Child Knight go?...
When the Seelie King formed the Border Knights, he chose the best of all his knights to represent him. He strove to find the knights who most embodied the ideals that the Seelie stood for. Justice was chosen to represent justice, Red Sword was chosen to represent honor, the Wolfhunter for commitment, and the Finder for loyalty. The Child Knight was selected to represent purity, of the mind, body, and spirit. No one knows with any certainty that the Child Knight was female, for few ever saw her face, but her small stature led many to believe it to be true. As for whether or not she was really a child at all, none but the King could attest to that, for the King knows the hearts of all his Border Knights. Still, where history fails us, mystery suffices...and few doubted that the Child Knight was indeed a child.
The Child Knight was a tiny creature, who dressed in the purest snow white. Her face was always covered by a white cowl, and her tiny hands were hidden by slim white gloves. When she rode upon her slim, pale charger, the banner that flew behind her was white, the outline of a swan feather emblazoned in silver upon it. Tiny silver bells hung on the bridle of her mount, but the movement of the steed did not stir them. Only the fresh, cool wind could make the bells sing. She carried a finely made silver rapier at her side, and a pearl and ivory buckler strapped to her left arm. When the Child Knight rode out each morning, she was truly a magnificent sight to behold. She never spoke, but with her rode a sense of calm and dignity, and a feeling that as she passed, all the dark and wicked deeds you had ever done were instantly forgiven and forgotten. She wore her innocence as openly as she wore her tabard.
The villains that would stand against the Child Knight were few and far between, for her goodness was as a shield against the dark-hearted. The power of right was on her side in battle, and flowed through her in a brilliant light. Never had she met a foe she could not defeat. She triumphed in battle, ever humble and loyal to her king, earning the admiration of adults and the hero-worship of children, who wanted to grow up to fight beside their king "just like the Child Knight!" The Child Knight was a living legend in her time, and the children believed that she could never be defeated. The banner of the Swan flew high in children's play houses and bed chambers.
Still, there is no tree so mighty that it cannot be felled by a single axe with enough patience and endurance.