Gifts of the Light

"Black is so much more beautiful," Amalia whispered into the unicorn's silky mane that she was brushing as the animal's head was bent down into her feed bucket. Amalia smiled at her own brown hand on the brush. She knew that in other lands, she was considered "black." She learned that in school and thought it was completely ridiculous. She wasn't black. This unicorn was black -- as black as the night sky when even the stars had gone to bed. Liliana would love her. And her own white unicorn, Lumen, would have a playmate finally.

But when Amalia went into Lumen's stall to feed and brush her, she was lying down in the straw. Usually Amalia could see Lumen's horn poking out, waiting to greet her, so this was highly unusual.

"Lumen?" Amalia said tentatively. Amalia could see Lumen's sides moving with her breath, so that quelled her fears a little. Maybe she was sick? She opened the stall door and knelt down beside her.

"Lumen? Honey? Wake up; it's time to eat."

No movement. This was not good.

"Lumen!" Amalia said, louder this time, attempting to shake the large animal. "Wake! Up!" Her voice went up an octave and caught in her throat. She could hear the new addition to the stable stamping her hooves nervously. Amalia maneuvered around to Lumen's head, putting her hand on her face and calling her name again. No response, but she could feel the breath going in and out of her nostrils.

She glanced over to the corner of the stall and saw the top of an apple lying there. "That's odd," she thought, "I didn't give her that. Maybe Liliana did?" Which would also be odd. Liliana was very jealous of Lumen, so she never came to see her. This is why Amalia got her the black unicorn for her Candlewalk gift -- she figured that if she got her an animal even more precious and rare, Liliana would be satisfied, and it would improve their relationship. Amalia had gotten used to Liliana's ways since she had come to live with her. She was very forgiving, since up until Amalia found out she had a half-sister and tracked Liliana down, Liliana had had nobody in her life who really cared about her, so Amalia didn't mind making concessions, buying her gifts, and generally putting up with her mannerisms that could be interpreted as spoiled, but Amalia knew better. Lilana was damaged. She had never known their parents at all, while Amalia had grown up with both of them, until they died two years ago in a mysterious accident. When Amalia found out about Liliana, it changed the way she felt about her father especially. How could he just abandon his own child? The only way she could justify it was if he didn't know. But with him gone, and Liliana's mother nowhere to be found, they would probably never really know.

Amalia could hear the black unicorn's agitation increasing in the stall down the aisle and across the way. Maybe she could sense that something was wrong with Lumen? How could they be so connected when Amalia hadn't even introduced them yet? But the snorting and stamping noises were doing nothing to quell Amalia's anxiety. If that animal could tell something was wrong from all the way over there, then Amalia needed to get help. Now.

She didn't want to leave Lumen alone, but she didn't have time to do anything else. She also knew that she wasn't supposed to fly during the day, but they lived in the middle of nowhere and she needed to get to Violaine the medicine woman as fast as possible.

Amalia rarely needed to call on Violaine. The last time was when Liliana first came to live with her and she was very sick, a result of not having had proper nutrition or sleep for years. For someone so alone, Liliana had not been very good at taking care of herself. But Violaine had given her plenty of vitamins and supplements and put her on a strict, nutrient-rich food plan that had Liliana's strength up in no time.