The Midnight Unicorn, page 4
THE TRUTH
Alette
The sorcerer gazed at the grey stone floor for half a minute. Then he sat at the bench across from where Alette stood and poured himself a goblet of wine.
“Alette. The truth-seeker. I knew this time would come,” he said. “I have never wanted to keep the truth from you and yet I fear it is a lot for you to hear at once.”
Alette’s eyes flashed. “I want to know everything.”
“Then I shall tell you everything.”
The sorcerer used his wand to light a fire in the cold grate and Alette sat near to its warmth, her hair still dripping. The sorcerer’s tale transported her back to Essendor, thirteen years ago.
Alette watched the usually composed Maneo stammer over the information. She was not his own. Her mother was in fact the great Queen Bia and her father the king. This meant she was an orphan. Everyone knew about the death of the royal couple. Even Alette, cut off from civilization out here, had heard the story of how the Midnight Unicorn had deserted the city and they had died in suspicious circumstances soon afterwards.
Maneo continued. When her parents had sensed danger, the queen had entrusted Alette to Maneo, her most loyal aide.
Maneo was not of her blood but had cared for her for thirteen years. This made sense to Alette. Her features were different to Maneo’s – rounder – and her limbs were sturdier. She had always thought that she had inherited her mother’s looks but now she understood she was probably a combination of both parents.
But this was not the whole story. She knew there was a mystery over the death of the late king and queen – her parents – and their babies. Weren’t there two babies? And who was the reflection in the water with whom she felt such a deep connection? She sensed it was not her mother.
“I have a sister.”
Maneo nodded. “A twin.” He told her how Audrey had been put in the care of the king’s nanny.
The truth at last. Alette felt as if she were not in this room at all but back out by the waterfall, water roaring in her ears. Maneo was not her father. Her parents were of royal blood. Her parents were dead. She would never meet them. She had a sister. How should she feel about all this? Alette wasn’t sure. It was too big for her to know what to do with it.
But Maneo had not finished his tale. There was more.
“I found out later what happened to your parents. Security in the city was not strong. The Midnight Unicorn had protected the city for so long that the people had forgotten how to fight off attackers themselves. There was an army, of course, but their role had become more ceremonial. But this time, the Midnight Unicorn did not come. The people were alone.
“The attacking army was small but well-organized. The city’s guards battled valiantly to keep them at bay but the attackers fought through easily. The enemy’s soldiers surrounded the castle.
“Your parents, the king and queen, had already escaped. They took a separate path, out of the back gates of the castle, in an attempt to get away before the attackers arrived. But someone noticed them and sent word to the queen’s brother. They were ambushed just a few hundred yards from the castle. They both died in the road that night as your Uncle Zelos stormed the castle and took control.”
And that was the last hidden truth, now uncovered for Alette. Her parents had been murdered by her mother’s brother. Her own uncle.
“How did they die?”
“We had gone by then, you understand, but I heard later that they were cut down by the swords of Zelos’s henchmen. He himself was not present.”
Alette was silent. She heard the voices in the night, smelled the yellow roses in the queen’s chamber and felt the murder of the parents she had never known deep within her own heart. She tried to make sense of what this man who used to be her father was telling her.
“But I remember now – the royal princesses were killed alongside their parents.”
“No. This was what your uncle wanted the world to believe. The news was announced: the queen was dead. The king was dead. The baby princesses were dead. If people knew that you were alive, then that would put your uncle’s right to the throne into question.”
A hot rage bubbled up inside of Alette, running right to her toes and fingertips. Now, she knew where to direct the anger that had always lived inside her. Towards her uncle – the evil King Zelos. She already knew of his reputation as a reclusive and stern man – and she had heard from Maneo how the kingdom had changed for the worse under his rule – but now she had real reason to despise the man.
Right now, however, the news of her parents’ murder, even her royal blood, paled into insignificance beside the other piece of news she had been given.
“My sister. Where is she now?”
“I know not. It would have been dangerous to maintain any communication. I have not seen or heard of your sister or the nanny since we parted ways thirteen years ago.”
Alette sat on the bench opposite Maneo, whom (she was trying to process) was not her father. “You told me about my mother. You showed me a pencil portrait of her. You said that she died in childbirth. Who was that woman? A mere invention? Something to distract me from the truth?”
Maneo sighed. “There was a woman. For a year, I employed a wet nurse to look after you. After that, it was just the two of us. Father and daughter. We have not needed anyone.”
“What happened to the nurse?” Alette tried to imagine how different their home might have been with a woman around the place. A mother. Would she have brought flowers inside? Maybe she had sewn baby clothes for Alette.
“She died. Of tuberculosis.” The sorcerer’s voice did not falter but Alette sensed strength of emotion that she did not normally hear from her father.
“I was going to tell you but I wanted to wait until the time was right. Until you came of age. Then, if it was what you wanted, we would find your sister and you could claim the throne together.”
Alette said nothing. She scrubbed at her hair, drying it roughly, then went to her clothes chest and threw a few items into a travelling bag. She grabbed a hunk of hard bread and cheese from the side and threw those in as well. Then she picked up a sharp knife, a strong rope, a needle and thread.
“What are you doing?” asked the sorcerer.
“I have a sister. A twin sister. I am going to find her, then we are going to travel to Essendor to claim our right to the throne.”
CHAPTER FIVE
HALF OF SOMETHING
Audrey
“How are you feeling, Mother?” Audrey wiped a warm wet cloth around her mother’s tired face. “You are working too hard.”
“Nonsense,” said her mother. “I am quite well. I was just hot. And momentarily surprised.”
“By what, Mother?”
“By your design. On the bread. It looked so real. Like somewhere I once knew.”
“Like Essendor?” Audrey knew that her mother had worked there long ago as a nanny for a rich family. Her real parents.
Her mother nodded weakly. “How do you know what it looks like? Has someone been talking to you? Have you been there?”
Audrey laughed and shook her head. Her mother must be confused. The capital city was a good few days’ journey from here. “Of course not! I didn’t even know I was making Essendor. Maybe I saw it once in a picture. Or maybe it came to me in a dream.”
Audrey’s mother frowned, the vertical crease between her brows deepening. She struggled to get to her feet, and Audrey reached out a hand to help.
Her mother steadied herself on the counter and looked once more at the decorative bread. “How do you explain the unicorns? And why are there two?”
Audrey shrugged. “I don’t know. I added them as a little amusement. They seemed to belong there. Of course – like the Midnight Unicorn of Essendor. Maybe I was thinking of that legend without realizing.”
“Mmmm. Unicorns are not always a good sign. Some say that if you dream of unicorns, then you will soon be deceived,” said her mother, making her way to the wooden steps.
Audrey was concerned. Should her mother be up on her feet again so quickly? “Where are you going?”
“To get those buns out of the oven. We don’t want to burn another batch now, do we?”
Audrey watched her go and played absent-mindedly with the chain of her necklace. She pulled it out from under the collar of her dress to examine the pendant. It was made of a thick, dark silver, like pewter. The shape was odd: a teardrop but with one flat edge. It felt sturdy, yet the design was delicate. An engraved line followed the curve of the outside edge and branched off like a young tree. On the middle branch, like a single blossom on the tree, was a white stone with iridescent flashes. Precious opal, Mother said.
Audrey ran her finger along the flat edge. Why did the silversmith leave it straight rather than curved? It seemed unfinished. Like half of something.
She had often wondered about it. Her mother had told her that it came from her real parents, that it was precious and she should wear it always.
She tucked it back under her clothes. And for the very first time she wondered, was there another pendant? And if so, where was it now?
THE OTHER PENDANT
Alette
Alette ran her thumb over the embossed design. Maneo had told her that the necklace had belonged to her mother, which she supposed was true. But now she understood the whole story.
“My sister has the other half, doesn’t she?”
Maneo nodded.
“Then that will be our proof. When I find the pendant that matches this one, I have found my twin.”
“You cannot travel the kingdom far and wide looking for the other half of a silver necklace!”
“That is exactly what I intend to do.”
“But you would have to knock on every door asking if they have seen anything like it.”
“If that is what I have to do, then that is what I will do.”
Alette made her way to the stables to prepare her horse, Storm, for the long journey ahead. The sorcerer followed.
Maneo stood behind her as she adjusted the saddle. “This is foolhardy, Alette. To leave in such a hurry. These things take preparation.”
Alette shrugged in response.
“Why don’t you wait until the light of the morning to leave? The moors will be dangerous at this hour. And in this weather – it may be dry again now but you know as well as I how changeable it can be.”
Alette was fastening the stirrups and did not turn around. “What do I even call you now?”
“‘Father’ will still be adequate, if you do not object.”
“But you are not my father. I no longer have to listen to a word you say. I shall call you by your given name.”
“Sometimes, other ties can be more powerful than blood. The ties of commitment, loyalty, time.”
Alette did not answer. She and the horse tossed their glossy manes in unison.
The sorcerer tried again. “Alette, do you not think that we should wait a few more years? When you are eighteen, you will be stronger. You will have mastered your craft. I was eighteen myself when I joined the royal household.”
Alette stared at the sorcerer in disbelief. “A few years? You tell me this news and now you want me to wait five more years to find my sister?”
“Well then, can you wait five more minutes? If I cannot dissuade you, then perhaps you will let me accompany you. But I will have to gather a few things first. A map, at least?”
Alette mounted her horse and said nothing.
The sorcerer sighed. “I will protect you. Continue to teach you. If you are going to claim your right to the throne, then you will need good counsel. And good spells. Maybe now is the time to consider taking a wand. You could be a talented sorcerer if you applied yourself.”
“I do not want to be a sorcerer. I have my own power without wands or spells. Together my sister and I will be strong enough to defeat our uncle.”
“So will you let me accompany you?”
“I leave now. If you wish to follow then you can catch me up,” said Alette.
CHANGE APPROACHING
Audrey
Audrey went upstairs to the bakery, where her mother was kneading the dough. She took half of it and started kneading opposite her.
“Why did it make you upset to speak of Essendor?”
“Upset! You are mistaken, child. Thoughts of Essendor do not upset me.”
“Did something happen there? Long ago, when I was a baby?”
Her mother shook her head.
“Something with my birth mother?”
For a few seconds, her mother paused, fist sunk into the puffy dough. Then she carried on kneading. “It cannot do any good to rake over the past.”
Audrey left her dough on the board, wiped her hands on her apron and stood at the open window. She looked out, past the village, over to the golden wheatfields that surrounded them. A little floating seed flew in on the breeze and she swept it from her cheek. “I feel that change is blowing in our direction.” She half expected to see someone riding through the fields towards them. But there was no one there.
“Your place is right here in the village with me, Audrey. But maybe you spend too long cooped up in this bakery. The Harvest Dance is what you need, a chance to let your hair down with people your own age. You can dance all these silly thoughts out of your head! Speaking of which, are you planning to get that decorative bread of yours baked and ready, or are you going to leave it sitting on the counter?”
THE ROCKY MOORS
Alette
Alette left the house at a canter, wanting to put some distance between her and Maneo. She frequently travelled up to sixty miles in any direction around her home, although rarely came in this direction – east – because of the rocky outcrops that stood between their home and the rest of civilization. She urged Storm onwards but soon his pace slowed to a trot, and then a walk, as his footing became less steady and he started to climb.
Alette had grown up on these unpredictable moorlands and knew no other environment. She loved it deeply. She loved the way that, like today, the weather could change in a heartbeat. Now a chill early autumn wind blew in from the coast, transforming the mild afternoon into a gusty battle of a day. The sky darkened to grey and wind whipped her hair around her face. She tossed it back, pushing on with determination. She tasted the salt from the sea in the air. Storm fought his way bravely through the brownish purple heather. She knew he liked it here too. Storm knew her better than Maneo; they had similar temperaments and moods.
The rain came with virtually no warning. Heavy, soaking rain that blurred her vision. It would be over soon and there was no shelter to be found now. She kept on, pulling the hood of her riding cloak further over her face.
In fact she was glad of the rain. There was no room for the dark thoughts to creep in when she was out here, fighting against the elements. She didn’t have to think about her dead parents or her twin or a plan for where she was heading. She simply had to press onwards – it was a question of survival.
But Storm seemed to be struggling. He was stumbling, losing his footing. The rain made it difficult to see and they had inadvertently walked into a boggy patch of land. Alette looked right and then left, but there were pools of water all around. She shifted her weight back in her seat and Storm took a couple of tentative steps backwards but then lost his footing and slipped sideways. One of his back legs sunk into a muddy pool. Alette tried to coax him in the other direction, but he panicked, his front hooves pawing uselessly at the ground and his ears flicking rapidly back and forth. He side-stepped in the wrong direction and his other back leg sunk into the same pool as the first.
Alette dismounted and slipped off Storm’s right flank. She groped in her travelling bag to find the rope, which she tied around her waist and fastened with a bowline. She knew what to do – she would transform. In her transformed state she was much stronger and, if Storm calmed down, she would be able to pull him out.
But Storm was growing more and more panicky. He squealed loudly and reared round, nearly colliding with Alette. She stepped out of his way but then she too fell into the boggy trap. The ground put up no resistance and her feet sunk straight down until her legs were buried to the tops of her riding boots. Both she and Storm were stuck, on this desolate moorland where a person could ride for a day and not meet another soul.
A few minutes ago, Alette had not cared if she ever saw Maneo again but now she needed him. Had he followed them? She hoped so.
“Help!” she cried. “Help!”
SHOUTS
Audrey
Audrey heard the shrieking of a horse first. It was the sound that an animal only makes in real danger. She rushed back to the window, although as she looked out, she knew she would not see a horse. The sound was coming from inside her mind. Next, came the girl’s voice. “Help! Help!”
It was so loud and clear that Audrey put her hands to her head. Shadow is in danger. The rational part of her knew that Shadow was a construct of her imagination, yet this felt so real.
Her pulse pounded in her ears, deafening her. It seemed to her an actual possibility that she might lose Shadow. She couldn’t allow this to happen.
“Whatever is wrong, don’t give up,” she whispered. “Hold on. For me.”
HOLDING ON
Alette
The rain had stopped but now the thick evening mist rose and swirled from the scrubland like smoke. Alette couldn’t see even as far as Storm’s hindquarters and she was growing cold and weak. She held on to the reins with numb, pink fingers but she was no longer trying to pull him, or herself, from the mud. She was just holding herself upright. Storm was shivering and blowing rhythmically through his nostrils but had stopped squealing. Maybe this was where it ended for both of them.
And then, another horse stood at Storm’s side. A creature Alette recognized. Dark, with a white mane. This creature didn’t sink into the bog, or twitch, or panic, but stood upright and calm as if it were floating above the ground.
And although it couldn’t possibly speak, Alette heard a voice saying, “Hold on.”
