Róis paced the castle floor. She was waiting for Duke Féchín, her lover.

He had told her he would come and yet he was not there.

Anxiously she waited for him. What could be detaining him from such a mission?
Pondering these things frantically, she watched the hour trickle slowly away.

She looked out the window for the hundredth time that evening, but to her dismay
instead of Duke Féchín she saw a black knight riding toward the castle with the banner of Duke
Cormac of Northumbria.

Duke Cormac was known for his cruelty and evil ways—and she did not like him.

Róis ran outside to the courtyard in her despair, not knowing what to do.
The knight, she presumed, had never seen her before so if she had nothing on her to prove that
she was the Lady Róis, daughter of the great Duke, Edward of Woulfwyck, then surely, he would
not carry her off.

Yanking off her signet ring she tossed it into the moat surrounding the castle.

“Oh dear!” she gasped, realizing her mistake. Stunned by the hastiness of her action,
she stumbled backwards into a nearby swing.

Now, not only would the black knight not know her but she could no longer could prove
to anyone that she was Lady Róis! Oh, what had she done! She moaned, covering her face with
her frail hands.

“Well, perhaps I cannot prove to others that I am Lady Róis,” she meditated, “but Duke
Féchín surely will recognize me and know me even if I do not have the ring.” Thus she
comforted herself while anxiously awaiting the black knight.

Swinging herself rapidly, she attempted to build up some courage.

The black knight galloped towards the castle at a gallant speed.

“Ugh,” he complained, “of all the things I hate, going on dumb love missions for people
who hate each other is by far the worst! Why did Duke Cormac have to send me? Probably
because all his knights are on other love missions!” mocked the unhappy black knight, rolling his
eyes.

Arriving at his destination, the knight crossed the drawbridge. He dismounted and and entered the courtyard in search of Lady Róis.

A glance around sufficed for the knight to observe Róis.

He sourly stalked up to her, unsheathing his sword.

Róis trembled.

“You!” He pointed out Róis with his sword, although there was no one else in the
courtyard. “Show me your ring,” he ordered, for though he guessed that the girl in front of him
was Lady Róis, he had orders not to take her until the signet ring proved her identity.

Weakly, she lifted bare hands. “I have no ring, sir knight,” she said, wringing her hands.

“Where is the Lady?” he demanded, seeing that indeed she wore no ring.

Róis did not answer.

“Answer! Hurry up!” he commanded, menacing her with his sword.

“I cannot say,” she replied timidly.

The knight glared, but tired of trying to find out where the Lady with the ring was from a
wimp who would not speak, left her and hoped he would have better results with the next
person.

He didn’t.

***

The moat surrounding the castle happened to be a moat infested with alligators.

When Róis had toss the ring into the moat, it had not fallen into the water as she
supposed.

Instead, it had fallen on the back of one of the alligators.

That alligator, while the former occurrences were transpiring, had floated to the other
side where a young peasant girl was enjoying the cool breeze of the evening.

Upon noticing the ring on the back of the alligator with some surprise, she quickly
thought of a way to recover it, for it seemed a precious ring. She scurried hurriedly away to bring
her thought into action.

When she returned, the alligator had fortunately come nearer to the bank, which made
the process all the easier.

Throwing herself flat on the ground, the girl stretched out her arm holding a thin stick,
which she had brought. Hooking the ring onto the stick she lifted it up to the bank and set it
down.

The peasant girl stood gazing at the beauty of the signet ring.

But not for very long, for she soon mischievously picked it up and stuck it on her finger.

“Why not?” she thought. “After all, I was the one who found it.”

All of a sudden in a cloud of dust Duke Féchín, a great and noble Duke, came riding up
to the girl.

“My Lady!” the slightly surprised Duke Féchín greeted, jumping off his horse and kissing
her ring. “Why are you dressed in such old clothes? You have not been waiting that long, I
hope!” he chuckled, though he thought it a little strange for such a high ranking Lady to be
wearing the coarse clothes of a peasant.

“Oh!” the girl grinned contentedly.

“Well come, you shall wait no longer!” Duke Féchín ordered, swooping her up and
placing her on the horse, then mounting it himself.
***

The moment the black knight left, Róis ordered her horses and set off to look for Duke
Féchín, for whom she had waited far too long.

Róis sped her horse on at a fast galloped and rode all the way to the village, not finding
him anywhere.

Reaching the small village near which she resided, she observed a crowd at the door of
the cathedral and thinking it rather strange she went to inquire of the commotion.

“Why, what is all the commotion?” she asked of the local butcher near her.

“My Lady, have you not heard?” exclaimed the butcher.

“I do hear, but what is it that I hear?” she replied impatiently.

“Duke Féchín’s wedding. Right here, right now!” explained the excited butcher.

Gasping, Róis pushed her way past the crowd and entered the cathedral.

To her dismay, she saw Duke Féchín and heard the words…

“I do.”

***
Despite all, Róis lived to be a happy old spinster.