e King's Son, "until you give what you promised me
at the end of my tasks--one of your three daughters for my wife."

The Enchanter brought him to a closed door. "My three daughters are
within that room," said he. "Put your hand through the hole in the door,
and the one whose hand you hold when I open it--it is she you will have
to marry."

Then wasn't the mind of the King's Son greatly troubled? If he held the
hand of Aefa or Gilveen he would lose his love Fedelma. He stood without
putting out his hand. "Put your hand through the hole of the door or
go away from my house altogether," said the Enchanter of the Black
Back-Lands.

The King of Ireland's Son ventured to put his hand through the hole in
the door. The hands of the maidens inside were all held in a bunch. But
no sooner did he touch them than he found that one had a broken finger.
This he knew was Fedelma's hand, and this was the hand he held.

"You may open the door now," said he to the Enchanter. He opened the
door and the King of Ireland's Son drew Fedelma to him. "This is the
maiden I choose," said he, "and now give her her dowry."

"The dowry that should go with me," said Fedelma, "is the Slight
Red Steed." "What dowry do you want with her, young man?" said the
Enchanter.

"No other dowry but the Slight Red Steed."

"Go round to the stable then and get it. And I hope no well-trained
wizard like you will come this way again."

"No well-trained wizard am I, but the King of Ire-land's Son. And I have
found your dwelling-place within a year and a day. And now I pluck the
three hairs out of your heard, Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands."

The beard of the Enchanter bristled like spikes on a hedgehog, and the
balls of his eyes stuck out of his head. The King's Son plucked the
three hairs of his beard before he could lift a hand or say a word.
"Mount the Slight Red Steed and be off, the two of you," said the
Enchanter.

The King of Ireland's Son and Fedelma mounted the Slight Red Steed
and rode off, and the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands, and his two
daughters, Aefa and Gilveen, in a rage watched them ride away.

IX

They crossed the River of the Ox, and went over the Mountain of the Fox
and were in the Glen of the Badger before the sun rose. And there, at
the foot of the Hill of Horns, they found an old man gathering dew from
the grass.

"Could you tell us where we might find the Little Sage of the Mountain?"
Fedelma asked the old man.