Many years ago I found myself working in Paris<\/p>\n
My office was in the centre of the city<\/p>\n
Although I could have walked from my apartment<\/p>\n
I was lazy and used the Metro<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This had been my method of travel for a number of months<\/p>\n
But then as the summer breezes had begun to breathe<\/p>\n
I decided to walk to my office until the weather grew cooler<\/p>\n
But on my last Metro I met a beautiful woman who wanted to tell me a very sad story<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I invited her for a coffee but she insisted that the story be told on the train<\/p>\n
She would meet me at the same time on six consecutive days in June<\/p>\n
And during the time that we were together she would relate her ancient tale<\/p>\n
The woman also insisted that I alight from the train at my appointed station each day<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My name was Deidre and I had been named by the druid Cathbad<\/p>\n
The druid prophesised that my beauty would cause much trouble and strife in kingdoms near and far<\/p>\n
This worried the assembled lords who wanted me slain and forgotten by history<\/p>\n
King Conchobar forbade this and commanded that I be raised in seclusion until I was old enough to marry him<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When I was quite young my foster father slaughtered a calf and then six raven fell to drink the animals blood<\/p>\n
This incident happened on a day of deep snow and on that exact day I swore that my future husband<\/p>\n
Would have hair as black as the ravens who swooped low to drink of the blood of the calf<\/p>\n
I was pale of skin but my husbands skin would have to be as white as that of the corrupted snow<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His cheeks like mine would be as red as the poor creatures blood but did such as boy exist<\/p>\n
I was told by a passing eagle that a boy much as the one I had described lived not so far away<\/p>\n
He was Naoise the son of Usnach but he was timid and afraid of the King who desired me<\/p>\n
When I met my handsome boy I confessed my love for him and requested that we elope<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The King was unaware of our liaison and grew more attracted to me on each occasion of our meeting<\/p>\n
And although he was afraid of Conchobar my youth through his love for me grew stronger and together we chose exile<\/p>\n
In the dead of night Naoise and one hundred and fifty loyal men left the land of their birth<\/p>\n
They pledged their service to the King of Scotland but soon my beauty began to bewitch the elderly king<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ill became of this and we were soon persecuted and many bloody battles were fought with the loss of many of our men<\/p>\n
The elderly king died and his eldest son told Naoise that we were not welcome in his kingdom<\/p>\n
As he was much afraid that I would cast a spell on him as he thought I had done to his father<\/p>\n
The new king then gifted us an island between the two shores where we would live under his protection<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the eve of our sixth year on the island my late sister came to me in a dream and said that I would never bear children<\/p>\n
This devastated me as I knew that I was cursed and the only person who could lift the curse was the cruel Conchobar<\/p>\n
Such was our desire for children that we decided to return to the country of our birth to request that the curse be lifted<\/p>\n
This we would do in peace leaving the King of Scotland to protect our gentle island home<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
By this time Conchobar was an ill and worried man he expected death but his true regret was that he did not have an heir<\/p>\n
When news of my arrival reached his ears he sent a spy to report on my appearance<\/p>\n
The spy returned and said that I was more beautiful than memories could recall<\/p>\n
This enraged the cruel king and he had the spy burnt to death as a punishment for his lust<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Conchobar in a hidden act of conciliation invited both of us to a feast in our honour<\/p>\n
At first we were suspicious but I sent word to the king that we would attend if the curse was lifted<\/p>\n
And indeed the king did lift the curse from my barren womb but at the very moment of our greatest happiness<\/p>\n
He ordered that my beloved Naoise be slaughtered by the sword of Eogan and his head be given to the ravens<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I asked the king that I might be slaughtered too but he said that he intended to marry me before the month was cold<\/p>\n
On our wedding night I refused to disrobe so the king ordered that his knights reveal my nakedness<\/p>\n
I repeated this theatre for three hundred and twenty-one nights<\/p>\n
Until the weary king asked what I desired from him in exchange for an heir<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I told the king that I desired to see the head of Naoise’s executioner delivered to me on a plate<\/p>\n
And upon receipt I would cast his head to the rapacious birds and ready myself for the journey<\/p>\n
The king complied and the head of Eogan was presented to me on a tragic plate<\/p>\n
I removed the eyes of the assassin and cast his head into the yard where Naoise’s bleached skull lay abandoned<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Conchobar’s furthest castle was positioned on a cliff in sight of my island home<\/p>\n
And this is where the king decided with a certain degree of cruelty that our union would take place<\/p>\n
His plan was that as I conceived his heir that I be able to see my beloved island for one last time<\/p>\n
Before it vanished into the grey sea mists redundant in my memory<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For the journey the king insisted on the finest furs so that I would not chill<\/p>\n
But what he did not know was that I was quite naked under my gown<\/p>\n
Conchobar who was good of mood was too pleased with himself to notice my disguise<\/p>\n
The high chariot on his command stopped at the great castle gate<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was then that I cast away my furs and dived naked onto the spears of the assembled guards<\/p>\n
The spear of the nearest guard pierced my heart but I did not fade immediately<\/p>\n
As I lay some say crucified on the guards razor spears I raised my head for a final time<\/p>\n
And looked at the island of my happiness and watched my beautiful blood slowly polluted his wretched sea<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman said that we would not meet again but requested that I recorded her story<\/p>\n
I promised that I would and soon the whole world would know of Conchobar’s dreadful cruelty<\/p>\n
But this did not happen for as I climbed the stairs towards the street I fell backwards and suffered a serious injury<\/p>\n
I was in hospital for over a month and when I recovered I was sent to London to convalesce<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I never returned to Paris in a working capacity as my memory was sometimes frail<\/p>\n
This story which I have recalled here is as much as I can remember clearly<\/p>\n
But as I sit quietly on the Metro station waiting for her to return<\/p>\n
I sense that I will not see the beautiful woman again but know her story has now escaped<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many years ago I found myself working in Paris My office was in the centre of the city Although I could have walked from my apartment I was lazy and used the Metro This had been my method of travel for a number of months But then as the summer breezes had begun to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuartmillerosborne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}