Once there lived a woman who conceived a child long after she was believed to be barren. Many years before, she had born one son, who had grown into a young man. But his birth was a violent one and no child had thrived in her womb 'till many years later. People of the town claimed it a miracle, but her husband claimed it deceit and her soon to be born son the work of the devil. So after a month of seeing this child grow in her womb her husband left and was never seen again. But her eldest son stayed to care for her.

When the birth finally came he was so scared that he rushed for the town's midwife, who was shocked at the site. The woman screamed in agony with each breath, yet after many hours the baby was born, a scrawny and wide-eyed boy. Weakened from all the blood she had lost, she christened him Rampion with her final gasp and died.

Raised by his brother, the boy grew to be small and slight, but with a terrifying brilliance of mind. Secretly his brother feared him, believing him to be the cause of his mother's death and his father's disappearance. Day and night he worked to purge Rampion of this sin and yet nothing would work, not even prayer. Deciding to keep his evil influence from the world, his brother placed his terrifying charge in a tower with no doors and only one window so he could never get out.

At the mercy of his brother and kept from the company of men, Rampion grew bitter and lonely, unable to escape his prison. To proclaim his sadness to the world, he built the most beautiful flying machines in the land, some in the shape of birds, others in the shape of dragons. Each inside contained a message:

"If you don't want me to jump out a window

And plummet to my death

Come to the clearing encircled by willows

And you shall find me there."

When this did not work, he tried again with messages more pitiful than the last:

"Driven to madness by my prison

I have a meager rope waiting for my throat

To free myself from this Hell

Come to the clearing encircled by willows

And please find me there."

For many months no answer came, no dashing knight, nor valiant prince. Each day Rampion grew more and more despondent 'till he came to the decision that his life should end on the winter solstice, the day when he was born. Steadfast in resolution, it was to be by the rope that he was hung and the knife that he was cut.

That very day a knight, handsome in body and soul, happened to be riding his horse through the forest when he came upon one of Rampion's delicate birds. Curious to see a message in its beak, the fair knight grasped the bird and pulled the message from its place and read:

"On the darkest night of the year

I, Rampion, shall be no more

But if you seek to save my life

Come to the clearing encircled by willows

And you shall find me there."

The knight, pure of soul and pure of heart, was so moved that he wept for Rampion and vowed that he would find the clearing encircled by willows. Through the trees he rode, unabated by weather or beast, till he came to the tower where Rampion was imprisoned. The knight dismounted from his horse and said:

"Rampion, Rampion

Come to thy window

The Scarlet Knight is here to save you!"

Rampion appeared to see the knight and then cried out with all his might:

"Enough enough!

I beg you, leave me be!

I'm done with this pathetic entreaty!

Let me die and die alone!

Death has come for me

Ready with the hangman's noose."

The knight tried his best to hide his tears, but Rampion could still see their gleam on the knight's pale cheeks. With a heavy heart, Rampion relented to the knight's pleas, but gave the knight only an hour to persuade him that his terminal plans were foolish. The knight was ready for this challenge, his love for life so strong it repelled death itself. He took his rope from the saddle and climbed the tower, alighting into Rampion's chambers.

"Rampion, Rampion

Listen to me!

Life is as beautiful

As the birds in the trees!

Come with me

And I will take care of thee!"

"No no, fair knight

These birds of which you speak

Kill the insects

With no regard for their poor life."

The knight tried again:

"Rampion Rampion

Listen to me!

You are as beautiful as

The sun in the sky!

Come with me

And I will take care of thee!"

These words so surprised Rampion that his legs became unsteady and he fell to his bed, for no one had ever directed such words towards him. The knight, alarmed, went up to him but Rampion stood and cried out as a large, booming voice boar down on him.

"Who is this knave?

Are you such a heathen

That you would take away such a creature?"

It was Rampion's brother, clothed in black, who stared down on them from his great height. Rampion trembled but the Scarlet Knight stood still, raising his sword.

"Rampion now belongs to me

And he shall be treated like a king

For you do not know who I am

But I am prince of this very land."

Rampion's brother fell to the ground in supplication, begging for forgiveness, knowing what a prince could do. His only chance to escape death, he knew, would be to give the prince Rampion for his own.

"He is yours,

He is yours!

But please,

Spare my life!"

The prince gave Rampion his hand and brought him close to him, saying:

"You are free of this prison,

Do as you will.

But if you come with me,

a King I will make of thee."

Rampion looked at his brother, who lay prostrate on the ground. Then he looked at his prince.

"Of course I will go with thee."

And so the prince and Rampion left the cursed tower and ruled all the land 'till a very old age.

The End