Chapter 4: The Adventure in Fetlar
When Arcadian and Stedhart returned late to the Feast Hall in Cairndarroch, Thane mac Dour meant to berate them for causing hassle to the guards and cooks over their absence. Instead, the sight of them drew concern as they had the blood of their enemies upon them.
She demanded that they tell her what tribulation had red-sheathed them so.
They told her of Kilmore and Drumlin's deceit, how they had been lured to the village of Turriff—which was empty all day because of a festival in Drumkirk. They told her of how they managed to slay the two rogues, she laughed in glee and declared the turn of events "lichtsome indeed."
"Never have I heard of such a great plan come to such waste! A fine job have you twae done here," she clapped exuberantly.
A serious look came upon her, and she spoke grimly to them, "Howe'er, this can nee be stood by the twae of you. Clan Gregor and their thanes will seek vengeance for your actions. I would nee think of letting you to their hooves, as you are both held fond in my heart, but it is nee the best for Cairndarroch if you remain. You twae should leave for the village of Glencoe. There, you should come under the protection of Clan Kenzie, who are rivals of Clan Gregor."
Stedhart spoke, "My Thane, perhaps it should only be I who goes to Glencoe. I know the way best, but Sir Arcadian is a guest in our town. How can they think to revenge the deaths upon a stranger?" Thane Devina said that Clan Gregor was internally divided and that there were those in their derbfine who sought to make open war upon all other clans. No warranty of safety could be made, even for an honored guest.
Arcadian himself now spoke, "Perhaps, wise Thane, it would instead be better for me to leave Skye." Stedhart and Devina both refused, but Arcadian insisted, "You have been more than kind to me, and I am thankful, but my sprioc deiridh awaits me. I did not come here to settle and marry—although absent the griffon threat, I would consider such." Thane Devina sighed, accepting what Arcadian said.
He spoke to Stedhart, "My friend, you have taught me well the ways of the truly great warrior. I am prepared now to fight the Butcher of the Mountains and to slay him as I always was meant to do." Stedhart nodded, and the two clasped in friendship before Stedhart himself departed for Glencoe.
Thane Devina walked to Arcadian, and she said to him tenderly, "Siúil a rún, Arcadian of Bragn. No day shall pass without our prayers to the gods on your behalf. May you return safe and victorious from your lochragh oireach with a pure heart and the head of the griffon. I hope to see you again."
With these words they parted. Thane Devina made preparations for Arcadian's departure as quickly as they could muster: 350 gold bits, food and milk for the journey, a coat of bear fur for the vicious cold of the mountains, and a steel locket with the heraldry of Clan mac Dour to remind him of Skye.
Arcadian asked the captain of the guard of where his destination should be. The captain advised Arcadian to make his way to the Skye border town of Fetlar, ruled by Thane Frasur, and from there, he could cross the border of the Griffon Kingdom through the Egersund Pass. So he left the town of Cairndarroch and wished the town and the ponies of Clan mac Dour well.
This would not be the last time their paths crossed, but that is not the tale now.
Skye was mostly behind him now, and Arcadian began to find the land rockier and less pleasantly green. It was the midsummer month of Meitheamh, and the snow began already to fall in the towering mountains ahead. What he saw before him, leaving the heart of Skye, was a great range of harsh mountains with rocky sides and great peaks reaching into storm-clouds. The snow came down halfway from pinnacle to base, and the winds began to blow ever harder.
Arcadian traveled through the late night and by dawn he had reached the town of Fetlar. Ponies in the town were not yet stirring, and the guards waved him through. After all, he had upon him the garb of Clan mac Dour. They assumed he surely must be in town on clan business.
Arcadian was tired from his nightlong traveling, and he went to the nearest inn in Fetlar, called the Warm Hearth Inn. He drank an ale there and did sleep some time by the roaring fire.
When he awoke, it was midday, and a young colt was loudly speaking to a guard. The guard dismissed the colt and left the inn, with the colt looking mighty disappointed and fretting. Arcadian asked the colt, who, from his strong accent, was from the land of Sutherland, was his troubles.
The colt explained that his name was Torrent mac Lief, of the Clan Lief in Sutherland, and that he was in dire straits, but the local guards refused to help. Arcadian felt pity for Torrent, having been dismissed by Skye guards himself, and asked him to explain his situation, since Arcadian felt he could help.
“Lass nicht, ma sister an mysel, we waur travellin’ tae see th’ stoatin’ fair in Delbrough, allawae frae beck in uir haem in Sutherlain, but on th’road huir, we waur attacked. Some beasties loch leek mingin' ape things.”[1]
Arcadian asked him what he thought the beasts were. “Trows, they seemt loch. ‘Twas a rammie when they attacked. Thaur were fower ae them an' only twae ah us. They owerhailt us. Ah coods nae keep 'er frae kidnappin' aughtlins! Ah huvnae seen 'er since 'en.”[2]
After a few minutes of deciphering the colt’s strong Sutherland accent, Arcadian gathered that Torrent’s sister was kidnapped by some sun-shunning creatures known as trows.
He asked Torrent if he knew where they took the filly, and he said to him, “Aye, I dae hae a wee bittae rumpgumpshin. Efter they hud beaten me, Ah followed th' bou-backit beasties. They went by a shaw by th’ calfward, 'en then a quakin-bog, passin' a bickerin’ burn, an' finally they hae a middenhole in a borrae. She's lochways in thaur.”[3]
“Ah overheard th' menseless, glaikit creatures talkin'. They want a quean fae a scodge. It nettles mah sides 'at th' guards willnae lift a hoof tae sae 'er. She’s ainlee a wee lass, an’ Ah was supposed tae protect ‘er.”[4]
Arcadian promised Torrent that he would come with him to save his sister from the Trows, at which he brightened up considerably.
“Ah dunnae ha’ tae much in th’way ae plack, but lit me buy ye a bevvy.”[5] Arcadian accepted this modest payment, as it seemed that the poor colt had little else with which to express his gratitude. They downed an ale each, and then set out to find the kidnapped filly.
Walking the east road out of Fetlar, Arcadian and Torrent took thirty minutes to arrive at the scene of the attack. True to Torrent’s description, the tracks of the Trows led straight through a muddied calfward. They followed the tracks through a copse of trees, then through a peaty bog—one which was oddly silent—passing a flowing stream, and finally coming to a halt at a little wooden door in the side of a barrow.
Torrent told Arcadian that the day would be the best time to strike, as Trows are not able to bear the sun or else they turn to stone until sunset. Arcadian decided it would be he who would enter first, and Torrent could cover him in case he needed to make a quick escape.
They opened the small wooden door into the barrowhole, a small home of tunnels barely large enough for a single stallion to stand upright. Quietly, they sneaked and peeked down every corridor. Twice they saw Trows working, though they did not see the intruders. One was cobbling a shoe, and the other tending to a stew.
Torrent whimpered, but Arcadian whispered that his sister would not likely have been butchered by these creatures, not if they wanted a servant. Torrent agreed, and they kept on searching as quietly as they could tiptoe.
Finally, they came to a locked door, which try as they might, they could not open without forcing the lock. Torrent listened at the door, and he told Arcadian he could hear his sister’s snores. Arcadian thought of a way to rescue the filly without arousing the Trows, but he could think of no way.
Torrent thought of barring as many doors as they could before the trows raised the alarm and breaking the door to rescue his sister. Arcadian agreed that this was as good a plan as could be made, and he gave to Torrent a small wooden club to fight with. At the entrance, they propped open the door, and from there to the cell, they shut as many doors as they could.
When they turned the corner to the cell, however, they found two Trows and an open cell door. The Trows, after a moment of mutual surprise, shouted an alarm call, yelling in their faerie tongue that pony thieves and killers were upon them. All around the colts heard the alarm raised, and the Trows advanced on them with crude bronze daggers and tin shields, making a great racket to draw their fellows.
Arcadian took his sword and used the flat side of the blade to smack the head of one Trow, knocking it out cold. Then he tackled the other one, holding it by its neck against the wall of the dirt tunnel, ordering Torrent to check the cell. Torrent followed, and he exclaimed that it was empty.
Arcadian struck the second Trow like the first, leaving both unconscious. Torrent reasoned that they must have taken her somewhere else in the barrowhole. They braced themselves for the onslaught, as three more Trows rounded the corner, sporting makeshift scrap armor and thrashing their stumpy limbs.
The two capall backed up through the tunnels, Arcadian holding off the daggers of the Trows and Torrent searching the barrow for his sister. At last, they came to the final room, an eating area, that had no exit save the tunnel they came down in, and Torrent loudly lamented their fates.
Arcadian, thinking quickly, told him to grab the small table in the center and to give it to him. Torrent did so, and Arcadian used the table as a battering ram on the Trows.
The Trows were surprised at first, but then they gathered their strength and began to steadily push back on the table. Arcadian held them, and held them, and held them. The Trows pushed as hard as they could, reaching their limit of physical strengths and leaning all their weight on the table.
At the door of the room, Arcadian deftly stepped to the side and let go of the table, causing the three Trow to stumble forward over each other. They plopped in a wretched pile on the floor, and before they could react, Arcadian and Torrent bounded away through the very same tunnel, cheering their good fortune and the stupidity of the faeries.
Both exited the barrowmound, excited at their narrow victory, but Torrent soon returned to lamentation. Since they could not find his sister, he cried out that they must have taken her to some dark place and stored her remains.
Before anything more could be said, a loud voice called from the trees, saying, “Brither, be nae such an ourlich jessie. Ah’m nae deid, fae mam’s sake.”[6]
Both saw a young filly, with an auburn mane and the accent of a Sutherlander, leap from the top of the barrowmound down to the others. Torrent's face instantly turned to fury. He said to her, "Ye camsteirie muirhen, wha’ are ye loch! Whaur were ye when we keeked in your cell?"[7]
She replied, "Ah got th' key lest nicht frae th' Trows, 'n' Ah planned on lettin' meself out this mornin'. Ah didnae count on ye mixtie-maxtie fools barging in."[8]
Torrent grew even more angry, "Mixtie-maxtie! Aye, that's a way tae blether! Ah ought tae gie ye such a bardy. Ye suidna dunnit! Ye shuid ae stayed pat."[9]
The filly became upset herself, and she shouted, "Ye blasted eejit, 'twas a megrim tae pick a rammie wi' a tribe o' Trow 'n' follow me doon a rabbit-hole! Ye kinnae handle bein' shown up! Ye'r a proud, shauld nochtie, 'n' ye'v pat this stranger in mair danger than he deserves."[10] Arcadian was surprised to be referred to favorably by the filly, who gave him a kind look, before prancing off towards the forest defiantly.
Her brother shook in rage, and he called after her, "Ye unwicelike huggerie! Ye vauntie kimmer! Ye dinnae deserve tae be rescued, ye ungrateful wifie."[11]
She disappeared from their view, and Torrent lost his breath for yelling. Arcadian told him that it was no use to indulge in anger, as they had accomplished what they came to do. The Trows were not likely to come after them in the daytime, and by nightfall, the two of them ought to be far away.
Torrent calmed, and he agreed with this. Trows are not particularly vengeful faeries, he said, unlike merrows.
Arcadian inquired what merrows were and how Torrent knew they were vengeful. Torrent got a strange look in his eye, told Arcadian that his uncle Drest encountered a merrow once, and said that he'd rather not relate the story because it was "tae tairible a tale fae noble company." Arcadian felt complimented by being referred to as "noble company" and mystified by what kind of a too-terrible story was being withheld, but he let it be.
The two began to journey back, crossing the stream—or as Torrent called it fondly, "a weesome bickerin' burnie"—but something crept into Arcadian's mind. It was an unease, a familiar silence he felt back in the bog which gave him pause. Something about the bog made him fearful and apprehensive, and he could not place why.
Suddenly he remembered, and he insisted to Torrent that they must catch up with his sister immediately. Torrent asked why, and before Arcadian could answer, both heard her scream from the other end of the bog.
Torrent and Arcadian galloped as fast as they could to whence the scream came. On the way, Arcadian drew his sword and lit a torch, which slowed him down. Torrent came to his sister first, and what he saw made him yell in terror. When Arcadian came into sight of them both, he saw and did not yell.
What had made the sister scream was the attack of a kelpie, this one twice the height of a pony, with a scrawny belly and sunken eyes.
It went to bite the sister, who was sprawled on the peaty ground, only half-conscious but squirming to get away. Torrent stood by his sister and bucked the beast in the jaw. It screeched and reared up to crush Torrent beneath its massive black hooves.
Arcadian yelled to the creature to draw its attention, "Foul beast, sniveling coward, come for me! I have slain one of your pathetic brethren before, and I fear you not. I am Arcadian O'Bragn, Neckbane, and you shall fall beneath my blade before you do so much as touch that filly!"
The creature, to Arcadian's surprise, paused after his pronouncement, regarding first Arcadian, then the prostrate filly on the marshy fen, bleeding from the side of her head. It snorted, and backed up into the bogwater, glowering at Arcadian with fierce eyes. Before its head went under, it turned and swam deep into the recesses of the bog.
When the last bubbles left from the creature's watery descent disappeared, Arcadian breathed a sigh of relief.
Torrent tended to his sister, but he threw a shocked look at Arcadian. He asked why Arcadian didn't tell him that he was the hero from Bragn, the one who slew the Bane of Gorsglen.
Now it was Arcadian's turn to be shocked. "You've heard of my town Bragn and of Gorsglen?"
Torrent snorted derisively. He said that only a hermit would not know of such a tale, spread far and wide through Sutherland by way of bartalk and marely rumor. There was much respect in the land, he said, for this peasant stallion in Connacht who slew a giant fire-breathing kelpie the size of a mountain and with the strength of a giant, while using only his bare hooves to stake an entire oak tree through the demon's heart.
Arcadian laughed, and Torrent admitted that the tale became a little outrageous by the time he heard it, but it was still an enjoyable story told in mead-halls and gossip-corners.
Torrent then asked Arcadian that if he really was the slayer of the Bane of Gorsglen, why had he not told Torrent right off?
Arcadian explained his sprioc deiridh to Torrent. He told him of his battle with the Bane of Gorsglen, his trials in the Vale of Ulster, and his training in Skye. He told Torrent that he was getting dangerously near to the end of his lochragh oireach, and that it would be much riskier to tell of his intentions the closer he got to the Griffon Kingdom.
Torrent agreed, and he told him that the capall in Sutherland had heard of the Butcher of the Mountains, too. He wished Arcadian great luck on his quest, and he told him that if Arcadian ever needed any favors while in Sutherland, he could always count on Clan Lief.
The stallions then saw that the sister was beginning to regain consciousness. Torrent greeted her with good humor, thinking to put her in a pleasant mood for the return journey, but to their surprise, she did not look pleased at all. In fact, she looked very afraid.
She gasped and pointed vigorously with her hoof. Arcadian spun around to see the kelpie, which had silently crept back out while they were distracted, rearing up to bash the hero in the head.
Thinking quickly, Arcadian took his sword from next to him. He fell backwards to put some space between him and the kelpie, and when its hooves crashed down onto the soggy soil, its head bent over in an attempt to bite his throat.
Arcadian pointed his sword directly at the kelpie's head and jammed the blade right through its mouth into its skull. The creature made a *herk* sound, stumbled to the side, and after a moment of trying to stay upright, completely collapsed.
Its eyes blanked, and a trickle of black blood began to leak out of its gaping mouth.
Arcadian told Torrent, who was shaking in fear, to gather wood to burn the creature's body. As he did so, Arcadian, with some effort, pulled his blade from the kelpie. He could hear its skull crack as he did so, and when the blade left the body, the beast's black, forked tongue hung limp out its mouth.
Arcadian cut the head from the kelpie as proof of his deed, and he once again took as much blood as he could from the beast.
Torrent and Arcadian took the wood and made a pyre upon which they heaved the body of the beast. They lit the pyre, and the smoke reached high into the sky. Torrent and Arcadian spoke of feeling great relief from this, but his sister watched the fire with grimness.
All three returned that evening to the town of Fetlar. Torrent wanted to boast of their achievement, but Arcadian advised him to wait for an audience with the Thane.
The three went to the Great Hall in Fetlar, wherein Thane Frasur recieved them with impatience and rudeness. He said to them, "What possibly business have ye brought before me? A connachta and two sutters? Speak on! I have little time for the petty concerns of outsiders, while the Griffons threaten our peace."
Arcadian told Thane Frasur that he was the hero from Bragn, the slayer of the Bane of Gorsglen, at which the Thane and the court laughed. He asked, "You are the Neckbane of Bragn? Bless me! I did not realize. Excuse me if I do not take leave of my throne to kiss your hoof."
Arcadian asked him if he too had a problem with a kelpie taking residence in a nearby bog. The Thane said grimly, "Yes, indeed. What of it? I grow tired of your gossiping, unless you truly are the hero from Bragn."
Arcadian asked what the Thane might give for the kelpie in Fetlar to be killed.
The Thane snorted and said, "It is a terrible demon and a devourer of innocents, but I hardly think you are stallion enough to slay the beast, connachta. I will make you this offer, since you seem in earnest," he leaned in to speak to Arcadian in a condescending voice, "I will throw you a banquet in your honor and give you 600 gold bits. With that, you may leave this town and settle in the most faraway land imaginable! Take a ship with your two sutter friends and leave for the Island!"
The court laughed along with the Thane's jabs. Torrent was beginning to be quite irritated with the proceedings, but Arcadian was entirely calm. He said innocently, "Are you in earnest, or are you making light of me, good Thane?"
The thane raised his eyebrows; Arcadian was challenging him to live up to his word. He said, loudly for all the court to hear, "My fine connachta, who wears the armor of an ulstra and the philibeg of a teuchter, I swear upon the heart of Brighid, the goddess of truth, I mean every word of what I tell you. Now, begone with you. Slay the creature while the sun is still out."
He waved Arcadian and his friends off with a dismissive hoof motion.
Arcadian smiled. He said, motioning to Torrent and his sister to ready the bag, "My benevolent thane, I need not to venture out more into the bog, for I have visited your sloughwaters and have already slain the beast!"
At this, Torrent and the sister pulled the heavy head of the kelpie out of their sack, lifting it high over the heads of the court-flaith and then tossing it at the hooves of the Thane, who leapt back onto his throne in horror.
The court-flaith alternately gasped, wailed, and laughed. The kelpie's blank eyes stared at the Thane, and its tongue still hung out of its fanged, broken jaw.
Arcadian bowed low to the Thane, who turned a bright shade of red and gritted his teeth at being manipulated so. However, a Thane does not go back on his word, not when he has sworn on the heart of Brighid—and especially not when the court bore witness to it.
He swallowed his pride and announced to a hushed court, some flaith suppressing irreverent giggles, "My courageous connachta, I see that I was too hasty in my judgement of you and your friends. Truly you have the worth of a hero, and you have slain a demon which has made travel on the road to the east a perilous one. I am true to my word, and tonight, Fetlar will feast in your honor. We will spare no expense to make this celebration a truly spectacular one."
He turned to his chief advisor and told him, "Let it be known that today is a holiday, and that the curfew shall be suspended. We shall hold a great feast in the hall, and the bards and dancers shall make it a merry night. Bring out the ale and mead, and let there be rejoicing in Fetlar!"
The court murmured in excitement and approval, but the Thane sighed inwardly at this thought, as all the expense of the festivities would come out of his coffers, including the bounty promised to Arcadian.
At this, the court pulled Arcadian and his two companions into their midst, asking eagerly for them to relate their daring adventures and wild stories, which they did most gladly.
That night, the torches lined the streets, and the town of Fetlar celebrated much, just as the Thane promised. There was ale aplenty, and there was cake and stew and bread and cheese and fruit to eat in voluminous quantities. The bards sang songs and a jester told some very off-color jokes to the party guests in the Great Hall. Outside were musicians and the ponies of Fetlar made merry with drink, dance and jokes in the lighted streets.
Inside, Arcadian sat near the head of the great table and conversed with the flaith of Fetlar and nearby manors. From them he learned much of the lands of Skye and Sutherland, and he learned of the state of the border with the Griffon Kingdom. They told him that the griffons were becoming much bolder in their attacks on the capall on the border. The griffons stole sheep and goats from herders, and occasionally robbed caravans or stole valuables right from a pony's homestead.
Even those griffons who supported King Hakon instead of the usurper Brandhard were not as well-disposed to the ponies of Skye as they were before. They sometimes refused to let them trade in their cities and arrested them on frivolous charges. The flaith told Arcadian that King Hakon had even increased the number of official raids by his kingdom on the ponies just so that he wouldn't lose his reputation in the face of the sheer brutality of Brandhard the tyrant.
Arcadian had told them of his sprioc deiridh, but he told them it belonged to a friend of his. They told him that his friend would surely be killed, and that Arcadian himself would be better suited to taking on Brandhard.
Arcadian took comfort from their frank admissions, loosened as the ponies were by ale and good spirits, and thanked them.
Later in the night, as most of the flaith went to the middle of the Great Hall to dance to the lively music or else kept to the corners to be intimate with another capall, Arcadian was absorbed in his ale. He did not notice Torrent's sister approach him until she leaned over his shoulder and pecked him on the ear.
He started, and she giggled.
He said to her, "Miss, you should be celebrating with the others." She shook her head and propped her head up with her hooves on the crest of his chair. Arcadian considered for a moment, then said, with an apologetic tone, "I never did catch your name, lass. What is it?"
"They cawl me Colleen mac Lief," she smiled at him. She edged closer to him, so that she was now perched on the arm of his seat and leaning in close to speak to him. "Now tha' ye'r weel-faured wi' th' nobles 'n' th' Thane, hae ye git any taem fae a Sutherlain filly loch me?"[12]
Arcadian said, "Surely I do. What do you wish to say?" To his surprise, Colleen plopped in his lap and embraced him fully while he was still seated.
She said, "Aye, 'tis naught but a bawherr taem Ah ask frae ye. Haud me fur a wee while, 'n' blether tae me sweetly." She stared into his eyes and pleaded to him with hers.
Cautiously, Arcadian returned the embrace, watching the dance while holding Colleen. She looked at him curiously and said, "Tha' was a brave thin' ye did fae me in th' quakin'-bog 'n' in th' Trow-hole. Ah thank ye muchly fae'r't. Ye didnae huvtae listen tae mah brother when he creed loch a wee bairn fae help."[13]
Arcadian stroked her mane and reprimanded her, "You are much too harsh on your brother, and too soft on me. I was only doing a good deed, nothing more."
Colleen nodded, "Och aye, but isnae tha' wha' aw heroes are defined bae? Daein' good deeds when nae a body else will? Ah dare nae sae tha' a single other capall would hae riskt their life tae sae a bow-houghed kimmer they kent nae."[14]
He remarked, "Bow-hough'd? You speak too poorly of yourself."
She countered, "An' yer tae good fae th' sel o' ye! Tae stoaner on meself, eh? Dae ye fin' me brinkie, an ea?"[15]
"You're a right fine filly, I think. Your family must be proud," he murmured in response. She leaned in close to him to whisper in his ear.
"Aam thinkin' ay havin' a new bairntime, awa' frae my fowk in Sutherlain. Mebbe start a body here, or in some else lain. wi' a dashin' young hero. It's only a norrie now, but mebbe wi' th' reit colt..."[16] She trailed off, getting rather close to Arcadian's face.
He smelled her breath, and responded, "I think you're a little drunk."
Colleen laughed boisterously, making some of the other capall glance over for a moment, "Aye! Ah main be bitchfou! Ah had some penny-wheaps meself, an' Ah kinnae bevvy tae much liquur afair Ah gang wild!"[17] At that, she planted a big kiss on Arcadian's face.
Arcadian glanced over at Torrent, seated at the far end of another table. He was turned away at the moment, but Arcadian said anyway, "I wonder what your brother might think of this. I think he might be uncomfortable."
Colleen waved it off, totally unconcerned, "Let him. Ah dunnae care wha' he thinks ae me." She returned her attention to Arcadian. "Ah'm nae behavin' undecent. Ah'm jist havin' a good time wi' me rescuer."[18]
She waited a moment for him to kiss her at this point. When he didn't, she took the initiative herself and kissed him on the lips very furiously.
He pushed her away and told her that he really couldn't make love with her tonight. He was going away on a journey, from which he might not return, in the harsh lands of the Griffon Kingdom, and she interrupted him, saying, "Ach, Ah hae heard it, yer sprioc deiridh. Wha' reck, Ah'm nae carin'. We can still hae a good romp now. Wudnae ye loch a plaesunt nicht afair ye sinder us?"[19]
She leaned in very close to him now, so that he could see nothing else but her intent face staring right into his eyes. "Ah coods gi' ye pleasin' smourichs, an' Ah coods widdle in yer lap until ye taek me scratcher." To emphasize, she kissed him lightly on the lips and made small noises while wriggling in his lap.
Colleen continued, whispering softly, drawing out every Sutherland-accented word, "We coods gi' bare-scud in th' Thane's scratcher frae midnicht till day, or ye coods taek me in mah wyliecoat in a mirk wynd. We coods hae a bonnie buck inna th' weeoors."[20] She played with his belt buckle and nipped at his ear.
"By th' gods, am Ah waukit. Let's thrummle."[21]
After taking a moment to calm himself, Arcadian firmly pushed Colleen to the edge of his lap. He said to her, gently, "Colleen, I cannot."
She looked at him as though he was insane for five full seconds, then sighed, "Are ye uggit wi' me? Think ye tha' Ah'm a huggerie kimmer?"[22] Arcadian assured her that no, no, he didn't think that. He just did not feel right about taking advantage of a filly like her while she was drunk and naive.
She sighed again and looked away, saying, "Aye, Ah suppose. Both ae us suidna. Ah wist we coods. It seems such a sham tae allaw our affections to wynt. Alas."[23]
She paused before leaning once again towards Arcadian, who braced for pushing her away again. However, she merely leaned in close to tell him confidentially, "It's nae th' ale talkin' when Ah say Ah wan' tae buck. Back in th' quakin'-bog, when ye slew th' beest, ye gae me... ye gae me..." She motioned to her torso, and said, "Ye gae me wooer-babs. In my wame, in my intimmers. Ah kinnae explaint, but Ah wanted tae biggen wi' yer bairns..."[24]
She smiled helplessly at Arcadian. She told him to have a good night, wished him luck on his adventure, and kissed him on the nose before taking her leave to rejoin the festivities.
Arcadian was stunned by the whole exchange, and as he let out the deep breath he was holding in, he realized that of all the trials he had encountered thus far in his lochragh oireach, what he just endured was the one that required the most of his willpower yet to overcome.
The festivities went on for most of the night, but Arcadian took his leave and collected his gold from the Thane before dawn, heading out on the north road towards the Griffon Kingdom, while Colleen and Torrent slept through morning and midday after the late-night feast. They were not able to wish Arcadian well on the final legs of his lochragh oireach.
This would not be the last time their paths crossed, but that is not the tale now.
And thusly was Arcadian's adventure in Fetlar concluded.
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