As the unicorn lifted its head, she rose to her feet. Lord Watorej and his officers had formed a semicircle around her and the unicorn, Nadin behind them. The light, filtered as it was through a lattice of cedar, came to rest on the forest floor as graceful as a deer. Beneath her feet, the moss- and needle-covered ground released the sharp scent of pine. A chipmunk chattered somewhere behind her, followed up by the cranky squawks of jays. Every scene, no matter how pastoral, had its own share of grumps.
“Lord Watorej, I lied.” Adren could tell he wanted to do something about this, but he stopped when she held his gaze and didn’t let go. “The unicorn can’t help you. And the potion maker lied, too. She won’t help you. She promised me a cure for madness at the cost of the money I stole from you and, when I brought it, at the cost of the sealskin. But she never gave it. And, with everything else she’s done, I wouldn’t trust her with anything more than a jail cell for the rest of her life. You want the curse broken? Accept the fact that you wanted to control a selkie more than you loved her, that it got you into this mess, and that I’m going to leave you to deal with it like the adult you are.”
His face contorted under the power of the curse, and his hands trembled, causing the sword to wobble.
“If you leave now, I’ll come after you!” he said.
“And I’ll kill you. Remember the people I burned?”
The lord blanched.
Adren left.
When she and the unicorn returned to her camp, she started uncovering everything she’d hidden in order to put it into her pack, only to remember that she didn’t have her pack. Lord Watorej must have taken it, along with the money and her knife.
After a steady stream of swearing, which alarmed the unicorn, she sat down. The unicorn went to her and prodded her with a hoof.
“And it was such a good exit, too!” she complained to it. Then she got up again and shook out the blanket.
Returning to town to… obtain a pack was out of the question with the lord’s curse possibly still in effect. If she could wrap everything up in the blanket, maybe get creative with fitting things into her pockets, she might be able to make it to the next town and get a new pack without yelling at inanimate objects. Speaking of pockets, she still had on that awful livery, and had conveniently left a set of clothes at Nadin’s house. This was why anyone with their head on straight would always bring another set while travelling. You never knew what might happen. She got out her spare clothing and changed, grumbling. The unicorn took the opportunity to wander off. Not out of her sight, but certainly out of her way.
In the beginning of her search for a cure for the unicorn, Adren had been so naive. She had known so little about humans and had thought all of them were decent, kind, and honest. For a while, this had served her well enough, and she had forgiven the few times that someone fell short of her expectations. The only problem was that she couldn’t find a cure in the obvious places, which meant that she’d had to start looking under the veneer of morality that humans liked to keep their societies cloaked in. It had been more out of luck than skill that she had managed to escape every time she came across trouble but, as she got hurt, she had learned. And she had learned well.
It hadn’t just been Pider. There had been others—so many others. In her dealings with them, she discovered people who had no qualms about lying, cheating, stealing, killing, if it meant monetary gain. They preyed on other humans, especially the gullible ones, and Adren had been so gullible. If she had not been able to turn invisible, if she had not known how to fight, she wouldn’t have been able to avoid the worst that those people could have done.
For some time, she’d been willing to think that these traits only applied to the humans in that particular layer of society but, as she dealt with more people in more varied situations, she'd found echoes of those traits everywhere she went. Greed, pride, dishonesty, violence, a hunger for power, an indifference to others’ need: all these and more she had seen and they disgusted her. Ordinary people, the ones that thought themselves at least moderately good, would sometimes talk about how morality got in the way of success and prosperity. They would brag about drunkenness and toying with the hearts of others. They would say one thing to a friend’s face and another behind their back. They would break promises for the sake of convenience. And the most hateful thing of all was that they considered themselves pure while they condemned others for doing exactly what they did. People like that didn’t deserve her gentleness, only her steel. That was how justice worked.
When she realized this and gave back what she had received, it had kept her safe from the corruption around her. Of course, they didn’t like it. Those who had called her the White Changeling before because of the strangeness of her appearance began to use the name as a warning to those she might deal with. But no matter what humans called her or did to her, she would be able to fight back and she would be able to win. For herself, for the unicorn, for the lady and those in situations like hers. Her only regret in all of this was that she wasn’t able to help Nadin. Even if he had to hide his magic from his own mother, he shouldn’t have to bear the burden of her illness.
A good portion of her belongings fit in the blanket and the rest she'd managed to fit in her pockets, like she thought she would. Walking would be awkward, but the rope from her food cache would make sure that nothing would fall out while the bundle was attached to her back. So long as the unicorn didn’t get ideas and try to pull a prank, that is. She hoisted it onto her back and checked to make sure the contraption was as solid as she thought. It was, so she removed it and sat back down.
If she had said what Lord Watorej needed to dislodge his pride, she shouldn’t have to wait too long before Nadin came by to tell her that it had worked. She hadn’t told him to do that, but it was fairly obvious that she would need the news. She hoped. The question, of course, was how long she could wait without endangerment if the curse still remained. Nadin had better be sensible enough to have figured that out for himself.
The unicorn spat a mouthful of fern onto Adren’s lap, wrinkling its lips in distaste.
“What am I supposed to do with it?” she asked as she picked up the soggy vegetation.
If unicorns could shrug, it would have. Adren shook her head in mock dismay.
“Did I give permission to thee that thou mayest attempt imitation of Nadin’s gestures?” She stuck out her tongue and threw away the greenery.
Ears pricked up, the unicorn lifted its head and Adren followed its gaze. Nadin waved as he approached. He had changed, too, and now sported a red cap on his head and a full pack on his back. Red. Of course it would be red. Under one arm, he carried something and, as he handed it to her, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her pack. She took it.
“Your knife’s inside,” he said. “Also hi.”
Adren undid her bundle. “Why do you have one?”
“A knife?”
Unamused, Adren lifted her pack.
“Don’t you want to hear what happened after you left?”
“Depends on how long it takes.” She removed her belongings from the blanket, brushed the needles off, and then rolled it up.
“Well, Lord Watorej was angry after you left, and all the security officers were pretty confused.” Nadin’s words came out in a rush. “I don’t blame them. I wouldn’t know what to do if I were them, either. He paced for a while, muttering. Then he stopped and stared for a long time. Then his hand went numb or something because he dropped his sword in this really weird way and yelled something that… uh… I don’t want to repeat.”
“So don’t.” The biggest items now packed, Adren emptied her pockets. Oh. Wait. The livery. That might have to go in last.
“And then it worked, Adren! I don’t know how you did it, but it worked! The curse was gone.”
“I figured that part out.”
“Well, he told me to tell you thank you. Lady Watorej used to say things like you did to him a lot, and now he finally understands what she meant. O
r is willing to. I’m not sure. He was really excited when he told me, and it was hard to understand everything he was saying. He’d been trying to love her all these years, even with the curse, and couldn’t figure out why it wasn’t working. I guess you were right—it wasn’t love. I hope Lady Watorej will be able to forgive him someday. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone that happy.”
“Good for him,” Adren said. Why couldn’t he have said, ‘You broke the curse and Lord Watorej says thank you,’ and left it at that? But this was Nadin, after all. She sighed. “Why didn’t he come tell me in person?”
“He said he's too busy putting the potion maker in jail and finding a legal way not to let her out again, like you suggested.”
“Really?” A one-sentence answer. It was a miracle.
“Really.”
“So what about that pack?”
“I wanted to ask if I could come with you.”
Adren stopped packing. Nadin looked at his feet and scratched his nose.
“What about taking care of your mother?”
“That’s why I want to come. I’ve run out of options here, and I haven’t found out what’s wrong with her. You’re looking for a cure for the unicorn, and I could never do this by myself, so I thought we might be able to help each other as we go. Lord Watorej promised to take care of my mother while I’m gone, to thank me for… whatever he thinks I did to help. And he gave me what I’d need to travel. Unless…” He gestured to the unicorn.
“It can’t heal your mother. We tried.”
“You went into my house and tried even though you hate humans?” Nadin’s eyes shone with tears. Feeling uncomfortable, Adren nodded. “Thank you. Does that mean you’ll let me come? I have everything with me, including food.”
“Let me think.” He nodded, so she finished packed. Slowly.
Nadin had been helpful, this she couldn’t deny, and his skills would be useful to her in future. Perhaps he could teach her to use her magic, if she ever decided she needed that. Beyond that, he was loyal, almost to a fault.
On the other hand, his confidence issues could cause more trouble than his help was worth. His talkativeness would take a long time to get used to and, though she didn’t know by how much, she was sure he’d slow her down while travelling. That, and despite all his words, he didn’t always give her all the relevant information, like the lady’s sleepwalking, and tended to give a lot more information she didn’t need, like, well, just now. There was also his tendency to try to make a plan for everything. She shuddered. And was he only part human, like she hoped?
And yet, when he found out the lady was a selkie, he’d taken it upon himself at once to free her. It was as if he’d become immovable. In almost every other circumstance, he’d gone along with what Adren wanted, but the moment he found a captive magical creature, he would have done anything to see her out of her cage. That was something Adren couldn’t ignore.
“Do you remember the footman who thought we were… together?” asked Nadin. Adren nodded, annoyed at the interruption of her thoughts, but not so much that she did anything more than fold the livery. “Lord Watorej said he had too many servants and that he needed to let some go, so I told him to fire the footman. I thought you’d want to know.”
Oh, excellently done.
“You’re not keeping the livery, are you?” he asked, eyeing it with concern. Adren grinned.
“Verily, I shall abscond with it.” Nadin looked blank and she sighed. Evidently, he didn’t understand the dialect. “I’m keeping it. Lord Watorej has my money.”
“Except you stole—” He bit his lip. He was right, of course, but he seemed eager to please her so that she’d agree to his request. His attempt to make her think well of him reminded her of why he kept his magic hidden from those around him.
“Nadin, you know as well as I do what you told me about the Sight is nonsense. Where does your magic really come from?” She didn’t think his explanation would differ from hers, but she wanted to hear it from his own lips.
He swallowed, then broke their gaze and rubbed his nose with his fist. “I can’t tell you.” His voice was raw with a mix of emotions she couldn’t identify. Adren tried to meet his eyes, but he wouldn’t let her. She thought of the dark place in her mind. The image of the dancing girl and the crying man, all that her magic could catch before they disappeared back into the blackness. While his mind worked so differently than hers, she understood just how many reasons someone might be unable to speak the truth, no matter how strong the confrontation.
The unicorn, bored with their conversation, butted Adren in the back with its nose. Its impatience and desire to leave rang clear within her, and her own emotions reflected the same back.
“You can come with me,” Adren said, closing her pack. Nadin’s whole face lit up.
“Really?”
“No, I was speaking hypothetically.” She raised an eyebrow, shouldered the pack, and stood. “Are you ready?”
Nadin grinned and, when he came beside her, she turned and they started off, the unicorn following behind. Chickadees sang, their two-note call cheerful in spite of the overcast sky, and Adren let everything relax as she walked through the trees and breathed the fresh air.
Nadin could keep his secrets. At least he knew what his were.
Coming in 2016
Like Mist Over the Eyes
Adren and Nadin meet a fairy who is quick to offer her people’s help in getting the cures they seek… but can she be trusted?
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Also by Thea
The Tree Remembers
(available as an ebook)
A young not-quite-human woman is pulled back home to confront the people she hurt when she left (including the only man she ever loved), her origins, and what she must do now that everything’s changed.
The Illuminated Heart
(available as both ebook and paperback)
A retelling of the Norwegian fairy tale ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon,’ except in Iceland and with Norse zombies. And, woven through that, the story of a girl who struggles to trust God after the untimely death and undeath of her only brother.
“I’m a cynical, crotchety atheist and was ready with all my crotchety cynicism on starting this read.
“It melted me.”
~Rachael Stephen, author of State of Flux
Dreaming of Her and Other Stories
(available as an ebook - paperback forthcoming)
An anthology of short stories and poetry, written as refreshers, reminders of what makes life beautiful. Pieces include a story of the life of a river as he discovers his true self, a poetic retelling of Daphne’s flight from Apollo, and, in the titular story, a literal nightmare as a girl comes to terms with the death of her sister.
“…a buffet of exquisite bites of literary, emotional, and devotional grace.”
~Bookloving Gal, Amazon reviewer
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About the Author
Thea van Diepen hails from the snowy land of Canada and that fairest of cities, Edmonton, Alberta. She is, of course, entirely unbiased, due to her Bachelor’s in psychology (wait, that's not how that works…) and is also obsessed with Orphan Black, Madeleine L’Engle's books, and nerdy language things.
When Thea was eight years old, she took a test in school that required her to write a story. This prospect excited her greatly, and she decided to write an epic fantasy adventure. Upon opening the test, she discovered she had to incorporate a girl going on a hike with her family. Thinking fast, she opened the story with said hike, dropped the girl through a hole into a magical world, thereby ditching the girl's family up on the mountainside, and happily wrote whatever she wanted until the end of the test.
Her website is Expect
ed Aberrations, home of all things that lie on the edge of the bell curve, and she can be contacted via email or Twitter, in English or French. If you do contact her in French, though, please don’t ask her to count in it as she tends to skip numbers ending in six entirely by accident.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to:
Roberto Calas for designing an amazing cover (and for putting up with me).
EJ Clarke at Silver Jay Media for being an awesome editor willing to go the extra mile to hit a tight deadline and for adding a phrase to the story that made me stop and laugh for about a minute because it was just that perfect.
Margaux Yiu for giving a typography workshop years ago. I never would have been able to make these words look this pretty if not for you.
The writers in the Forward Motion chatrooms who helped me figure out ways to wake up a unicorn: Inkling, NPhoenix (even if you were in an odd mood that day), and Gerri.
Lewinna Solwing, for giving me feedback before I started editing and thereby helping me catch things that needed fixing early on. And for giving me plot bunnies every time I read your stories. Though distracting, it is still always delightful.
Lizzie Fowler, for giving feedback both before and after my edits, and for letting me read your stories-in-progress. One day, I will come and visit you in person, and it will be awesome.
Taryn Hunchak for always being willing to read and listen to all the things, even when I’m not even sure if all the things make sense. You're far more tolerant of spoilers than I, for which I am grateful. And also for all your superb help with editing. I don’t know how I would have gotten it done without you. I think it goes without saying: you're a fantastic best friend.
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