For three years since her first dream of Eoghan, her faerie prince, Mavourneen went out with her bear to stay with him. The last day of the last year stood alone from the others.

Having sat by the fire with the bear to eat she had retired to bed and there she fell fast asleep. Dreaming deeply she saw her prince walk about the room of the cave, pacing and muttering to himself. 

Eoghan sat himself by Mavourneen’s side as he had done in many dreams before. “Forgive me my darling,” he sighed, pulling the pelt of a bear from his shoulders. 

Taking the fur in his arms he approached the fire and cast it in. It erupted quickly burning through and each hole that appeared in the fur left an identical mark on Eoghan's skin. For a brief moment he watched but quickly fell to his knees choking on the smokey air. He grimaced watching yew needles grow from his flesh like dense patches of fur and fear filled his eyes. 

Grieved by the strange dream Mavourneen woke and threw herself out of the bed. She stood. “Eoghan? My Eoghan?” She quickly approached him, finding him in the same condition as her dream, screaming and writhing on the floor but there, ther in the flesh.

The prince turned back to his love. “Mavourneen,” he cried, stumbling on the name. He looked at her and nearly wept. “Listen, listen please,” he begged with haste in his voice.

She looked at him lovingly and took his hand, “A ghrá mo chorí . . . I’ve known you for three years yet I hear the first of your voice now and only now do I know your touch.”

Eoghan looked to her and shook his head, “No,” he said, “There was the bear, I had been cursed to be that bear. I had been cursed to die as that bear.”

Mavourneen looked down, ashamed for having not known. She nodded and spoke to her dear, “You had been cursed? You are here now, is it lifted?”

Her love shook his head, “Yes, cursed. Tonight marks the third year, should it not be broken by sundown I’ll die,” he answered, looking to the fire, “It was my brother who cast it, out of rage and blind jealousy. When his mind had cleared he had wept for what he’d done and vowed he should fix it.”

“But you are a man now! Surely it must be lifted.”

Eoghan hung his head, looking at the needles on his arm, “I’ll scarcely be a man at all. I threw the bear pelt into the fire, had I not I would be a bear the moment you woke. I thought I would like to die as a man, if I must go at all, but it’s killing me faster now.”

“You’ll die regardless? Oh, isn’t there something you can do?”

Eoghan sighed, “I’ve already died to my people, a curse is already an omen of death, for many are seldom cured. Curses are fickle things, their terms can change as often as the caster wants them to, but they cannot simply lift them just as you cannot take back a poisoned touch from the yew,” He shook his head and continued, “In a way it could be broken. My brother found that by a kiss of love it could be reversed, and he allowed me to visit my dearest in her dreams, and I would be able to return to my original form as long as she slept.”

“It was your brother then, the one who’s white as a lily?”

“Yes, Pádraig,” he nodded, “And he brought the necklace to you, and it is you who I love. But it is a kiss that will break the curse, and though I had the chance I could not draw myself to kiss you without you knowing.”

“And what was the significance of the necklace to begin with?” She asked.

Eoghan shrugged, “Both my brother and my father blessed it, it was to allow me to come to your world since I have no magic as a bear. It needed to be given to me by one of the human world so my brother gave it to you, and with his own magic took me the first night I visited.”

Mavourneen looked at him, “Is it too late now, to cure you? I know now that you tell me. If it is a kiss that will break it, then that is a good cure I believe. If it is a kiss from me that you need, then I will let you have it. I love you Eoghan.” She hung tight to his hand, unwilling to let it go.

Eoghan looked at her and reached up to caress her face. "I don't belive it's too late," he answered slowly, letting his voice grow soft. He breathed slowly, rested his forehead on hers, and kissed her. Eoghan closed his eyes as everything around him went still. Not even the fore crackled as the curse unwound itself. The chared fur in the ashes and soot unravled into golden thread that danced around the room like an artist's clever brushstroke. There the curse faded into droplets of light and ceased.

Taking Mavourneen's hand, Eoghan smiled. "The curse is gone," he said, "The curse is gone!" He stood excirtedly and squeezed Mavourneen's hand.

Eoghan took Mavourneen out to the woods and told her all the things he wished he could’ve before. He told her stories and songs, recited sonets and ballads composed in her name, and kissed her once more without fear of dieing. They left for Mavourneen's father’s palace and there they gained his blessing and wed shortly afterwards. They stayed in her father’s kingdom for several days then Eoghan took her to his own kingdom to meet his father and brothers and Pádraig wept when he saw his brother return happy and well.