Custos Unicorium 1 ~Longe Aluid--Something Very Different~

Chapter Twenty: Loose Ends Up to Speed

The next time I awoke it was to a light shaking feeling. I swatted my arm in the direction it was coming from.  

"Well thanks Regina." 

Oops. It was Allistair. 

"Sorry," I said, sitting up. One of my blankets encased my arms, and I fought to free myself from it, unsuccessfully. 

"You see what a bother these things are?" Allistair asked as he helped me free my arms. I shook my head. 

"I see you're still out of it?" 

"Only a little," I replied. Mostly I was just tired. I leaned my head against Allistair's shoulder. 

"We've got to go then. It's past full sun now, and I'm surprised that Josephine hasn't shown up here already." 

"That's right," I mumbled, vaguely remembering the discussion in the Dispatchers' hut. 

Allistair eventually managed to drag me out of the bed, and we ambled along through the forest. It wasn't quite as hot as it had been. The summer had passed its height. 

We reached Koriun's pasture to find a loose circle of people. And one unicorn. Hayden and Koriun were--of course-- there, as was Josephine. One face I hadn't expected to see was Menefer. The Listener. 

"Welcome Lady Regina," Menefer said as we approached, without looking up. The rest of the eyes shot up, and welcomed me to the pasture. 

"So we have defeated our man, and the haven is safe. We have to go over how this happened," Josephine's calm voice opened. 

"Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Wait," I said. 

Everyone waited. Cool. A dumb smile probably spread to cover my face. 

"I'm asking questions before I'm telling stories," I said. 

"Okay," came the reply. 

"Because Koriun said; 'Survive now, explain later'." I said Koriun's part in a dorky voice that Koriun definitely did not have. Besides a snort from Koriun everyone sat silently waiting for me to continue. "Start explaining unicorn." 

"What do you want to know?" Koriun asked. 

"I could see you. Haha, you're wolf speak sucks, but I could see you. It shouldn't have been long enough for me to be able to see you." 

"But remember, I disappeared from your view shortly after," Koriun didn't really answer my question yet. 

"Yeah," I mumbled, "so?" 

"I remembered a song my mother used to sing to me sometimes--" 

"Sing it for us," I giggled. 

"No. Part of it went 'those who should not see, may sometimes see, if it is chosen so by we.' It made me wonder, and I started trying to figure it out. I got lucky though, I'd never tested it other than a few minutes before a day was up before... Hey, what did I say in wolf? I guessed mostly, I assumed they knew unicorn so I didn't use that." 

"You didn't use wolf too well," I laughed to myself. "Ah, you said 'I look shy, but I attack.' What did you mean?" 

"Well I was just trying to say 'tell them I'm shy.' Wolf speak is a lot more complex than I'd thought." 

"Oh yeah. Definitely." I paused, and my eyes drifted to the sky. The sun was starting its journey back down the sky. "How long has it been?" 

"Huh?" 

"Since it all went down." 

"It was nearly sunset when Amanda failed," Koriun answered. "By the time we got to the evacuation, the moon was almost at the top of its rise. You woke up in the Dispatchers' hut this morning, only the next sun rise."