The White Queens Hound

By Maradas Graham

Once upon a time, gentle readers, the Seelie Realms were ruled by a powerful and noble Queen. Her reign was great, and absolute, but at this time her lands were growing so rich in bounty and in fortune that none felt her rule too harshly. It was a time of lawfulness and honor among the Fair Folk of these lands, a time that previous reign had never before seen. Still, amongst all the good fortune of her people, and the fertile health of her lands, the Queen could not help but feel unhappy and alone. And so she took it upon herself to search high and low for a champion to guard her virtue and swear fealty to her good name, for a Queen without a championwhy, that is no Queen at all!

It was first in the Seelie Realms that the Queen began her search, and many who would not swear to the Black Queen flocked to the banners of the White. The Queen and her growing entourage traveled the far corners of her Realms, but though many a man would swear fealty to her, none were found that caught her eye as one she would entrust with her good name above all others. Still, the banner of the White Hart unfurled throughout the Seelie lands, bringing the sunshine with it as it went, and the Queens merry band did not falter in its travels, nor even pause to rest. Finally, her Majesty was forced to admit to herself that whatever it was she was searching for, it could not be found within the Seelie Realms. So, the Queen dismissed her envoy, and placed Shoes for Treading Upon the Mortal Ground on her feet, and stepped with determination through the mist and into the Realms of the Mortal.

In this time the Queens season was in play in the lands of the Mortal, but a cold breeze still blew without remorse, for the King was a harsh man, and unforgiving. The cruel mortal cold chilled the Queen to the depths of her spirit, but she could not be daunted in her quest to find one true champion to be guard of her virtue, and to swear an oath on her good name. She first sought out the company of an old friend, one whom she thought would be willing to take up the oath and the duties thereby. The Queen could issue little argument for his choosing in her favour, however, as the turn of time left her friend greatly changed, and no longer the man she had thought him to be. Such, good reader, is the way of mortals.

Cut to the heart, but no less determined, the Queen resumed her travels and her search for a champion. She went with less faith than before, and secretly feared that, perhaps, her long search would be in vain. . The Seelie Realms had yielded her no champion, the Unseelie Realms were out of the question, and in the Mortal Realms it seemed no more likely that she would find what she quested for. The Queen was very nearly ready to retire to her stately palace, alone and undefended, for surely there could be no one to guard her name as she saw fit.

While the royal entourage readied themselves for their return, what more remarkable thing should happen than a Mortal man did come running up to the Queen and prostrate himself at her feet. As this was done with great eloquence and flair, the Queen was not offended, only mildly amused at the innocent dramatics of the hearts of mortals, and bid him rise. Now, as you know, gentle reader, the Fair Folk are skilled in the ways of looking into a man's heart, especially those of mortals, which are as open and easy to look into as a wine glass made of the finest, clearest crystal. The Queen saw that this particular man, though naive even by the standards of mortals, posessed a pure spirit and a good will. The Queen was greatly intrigued by him, and so called her entourage to a hold.

The young man made a sweeping bow to the Queen, and as much as begged her to allow him to pledge fealty. Perhaps a ruler less secure in her hold would willingly take oaths of any and all who would swear them, but the Queen knew better than most the fickle ways of mortals. She decided to put him to the test, and see if his loyalty would have great endurance, or falter at the first sign of trouble. Many a task did she set him to, some greater and some smaller than others. Some she offered up to him knowing that he could not fail, to see if his pride would swell and make him forget his goal. Some she offered up to him knowing that he could not succeed, to see if failure would destroy him or only serve to make him work harder. In all things he proved to be the most steadfast, if frenetic, of knights.

And so the Queen decided that this Mortal may indeed be the champion she had been searching for. She planned one final test for him, and this one the most difficult at all, for a mortal's heart is fickle, and even an oath way well be swayed by love. The test the Queen devised could perhaps be deemed cold or cruel, but there are few who know the Queen's heart, or her reasoning. It could simply have been that she wished unshared loyalty from her champion, or perhaps she envied him the happiness many believed she herself had been denied, but answer known or answer not, this is the deed she requested of him.

Her mortal Sir Knight had, as was not unexpected, a mortal lover whom he held very dear and treasured above all other things. When the Queen learned of this, she called the man before her, and presented him with his final test of loyalty. He must give up the lover, and come away with the Queen to the lands of the Seelie, never to see his true love's face again. Well, of course his immediate response was to refuse her, for he held his love close to his heart. This angered the Queen, for mortals are mistaken to think that 'Unseelie" always means bad and angry and that "Seelie" always means good and happy--it is the brightest of the summer sunlight that most harshly burns the skin and withers the crops. She tried to cajole him, for surely he was only temporarily blinded by fleeting mortal passion, and would in the end see the virtues of becoming her champion.

The mortal man was unswayed, and the Queen felt her heart grow heavy with the sadness of the ages. Her need for total loyalty was such that she could not see the good in what she had. Remorseful, but longing for companionship, the Queen cast her magics upon the man, and transformed him into a slender white hound. Clapping her hands, as one would to call a loyal pet, the Queen summoned the hound to her side. She removed her jeweled belt from around her white waist, and, fastening it around the hound's neck, returned to the Seelie Realms.

For a long time the hound loyally guarded her palace, and the Queen, from harm. Nary a footstep would fall it the hallways that the hound did not stir from his rest and leap to guard his mistress. He was a most devoted guard, and none in the palace questioned his appearance there. Still, there was something of a sadness about the beast, and truly, about the Queen as well. It was clear that she doted on the animal, for she fed it the finest cuts of food from her own plate, and allowed it to sleep on the foot of her great velvet-covered bed. She was incredibly jealous of any who would seek to befriend it, and quickly the palace staff learned to leave the dog in peace. Despite this, the Queen grew ever more sad, and it was as if guilt burdened her heart almost more than she could bear.

Now, back in the realms of the mortal, the hound's mortal lover began a search for her true love. She traveled throughout the mortal realms, but quickly learned of her beloved's strange connection to the Queen of the Seelie. This woman was of an old race of mortals, one long learned in the tales of the Fairer kind, and she used this knowledge to catch one of the lesser Fair Folk, a common dryad at service to the Queen. At first the dryad was reluctant to help the mortal, but she was held in thrall and finally led the woman to the gate of the Seelie Realms. Thanking the dryad for her kind service, the brave woman passed through the portal and into the Lands That Do Not Fade.

She felt herself almost immediately bespelled, but her strong will kept her to the path the dryad had spoken of. The woman hardened her heart against the beauty of the land, for she knew that to let the land into her heart, she could well lose that which she sought! Travelling until she was weary, she took refuge at a small country inn, where all looked at her strangely, but none questioned her appearance too much. Twice that night did the inn-keeper offer the poor girl some food, and twice did she refuse it, but on the third time her hunger was such that she could not pass up the meal. She made a quick meal of the bread and the cheese, and finished with great flourish the magnificent soup. Soon she felt a strange tingling come into her limbs, as the magic of the realm, which lay in each bite of food and drink of water, worked its way into her blood.

When she rose the next morning, the previous night's meal, coupled with a sound sleep, had left its mark upon her. Gone were any lines of weariness around her eyes, gone were the shadows beneath. Her hair, once dull compared to the fair denizens of the realm, glowed with a muted brilliance under the cool sun of early morning. Truly, none would think she had just stepped from the mortal world at all! The luck of her people was with her, as she continued the search for her love.

Finally she came upon the palace, and within it she took the role of a servant girl, keeping herself well wrapped in peasant's rags, so that her mortality was hidden. It was not long until she heard of the Queen's prized pet, for she was early warned not to go near the beast, lest the Queen grow angry. Curiosity--the downfall of cats and mortal, dear reader--got the best of her, and she crept towards the Queen's chambers to view the splendid hound. When she set eyes upon the hound, she was impressed by the beauty of the animal, but saw nothing unusual about it. It whimpered softly when it saw her, and jumped up to lick her hand. As she idly bent to stroke the hound, what should she see as she looked into its eyes but the eyes of her own mortal lover, staring back from the hound's face! Frightened, the woman fled the hall, the dog barking and leaping about as she went.

When she had regained her breath, and her heart, the woman returned to the hallway. There sat the hound, wagging its tail as she approached. Unsure of what she had seen, the woman walked slowly up to the white hound, and gazed into its eyes. Sure now that this beast was her true love transformed, the woman wept as she threw her arms around it. The dog whined piteously and licked the tears from the woman's face. The dog eventually began to grow anxious, as he sensed the approach of his mistress the Queen, and the woman flew from the hallway just in time to avoid her. At a loss for what to do, the poor mortal woman hid in the cupboard all day, weeping.

She eventually came to herself again, and after wiping her face dry of tears, she steeled her will and set her shoulders in determination to find a cure for the malady. She went to the wise Owl Woman, who lived in a small oaken cottage near a brambly dark wood. There she begged the old woman to help he transform her lover back into a man again. The old woman was at a loss, for she could not undo a magic laid down by the very Queen herself! In her long, long years she had seen many a man transformed by the Queen, but never had she seen the spell undone. This broke the poor young woman's heart, and she began to sob with frustration. The Owl Woman took pity on her, and sent her to the Washer Woman, a frightful and ghostly creature who forever washed her bloody clothes down by the river...terrible to behold, but yet kind enough.

So the mortal woman went down to the river, and was much afraid when she set her eyes upon the Washer Woman, for her face was a sunken memory of what it must have been in life, and her finger long and shriveled. She sat by the water, forever washing and scrubbing at the bloody stain in the cloth in her hands. The mortal woman approached her timidly, but soon took heart and shared her tale. The Washer Woman was wise, and though she did not know the whole answer, she knew where to begin. Truly, none but the Queen could undo this spell, and it was readily obvious that the Queen would not drop it of her own accord. She must be tricked, though how this would be accomplished, the Washer Woman did not know. So she sent the mortal woman to speak with the only creature she could think of that was cleverer than the Queen.

So the woman went in search of the man called Ravenswing, whom the Washer Woman said could help her find the way to trick the Queen and transform the white hound back into a mortal man. She found Ravenswing playing at a game of chance with a fox-woman and two rather irate blue jays, who appeared to be losing by a good stretch. It was here that the mortal woman showed her true wisdom, and appealed to the strange creature's pride. Claiming that she had heard tell that Ravenswing was by far the most clever creature in the whole realm of the Seelie, she knew that she must find this out for herself, for she thought that none could be more clever than she, a simple mortal woman.

Well, of course Ravenswing rose to this challenge, and so she presented him with a riddle. The riddle was:

Ravenswing scoffed at this riddle. The answer is a river, he quickly said. And so the mortal woman agreed, he was indeed very clever, and presented him with another riddle:

Again, Ravenswing scoffed at the simplicity of the rhyme. Why do you waste my time, mortal, for surely "time" is the answer to that riddle? The mortal woman praised his cleverness, but said she had yet another riddle for him, one that even he could not answer:

Well, even Ravenswing seemed stumped by this. That is not a fair riddle, he protested, but oh, my gentle reader, the woman was very wise. It seems to me you have failed to answer my riddle, she said, and turned to walk away. Ravenswing hurried to stop her, and claimed, I will find the answer to your riddle mortal, just you see!

And Ravenswing became a large raven, and flew off towards the palace. The woman hurried on her way, hoping that she had outsmarted the strange Fair One. Within the palace, Ravenswing presented himself before the Queen. He spoke nothing of his failure in the riddle contest, and only claimed that there was a riddle floating about her lands that no one seemed to be able to solve. The Queen was a prideful as any of the Fair Folk, and demanded her chance at the riddle. And Ravenswing thus spoke:

The Queen smiled triumphantly, for to her this was a simple riddle, and without so much as a though to the white hound sitting by her side, she cried out, Why that is so simple! Then turn man to hound, and hound to man! And with her words, the beast by her side once again became the mortal man he had once been. The Queen, most shocked at being so fooled, turned her anger upon Ravenswing, who sought to defend himself. Whilst no attention was being paid her, the mortal woman slunk in, covered up her mortal lover, and sped away with him to the Mortal Lands.

Ravenswing was quite upset to find, upon his return to where he though the woman waited, there was no one there to hear his answer anymore! The Queen, distraught at losing her pet, had not the heart to pursue him. The woman and her lover lived until a ripe old age in the Mortal Lands, though sometimes, in the night, the woman would see a shimmering white figure outside her house, looking in, with the look of a broken heart in its eyes.