Prince of Time

Chapter Twelve - The Compound of Unicorns

Maple woke up and dressed with first late. Pepper was up only seconds after her, both of them alert and attentive. Ane still lay asleep.

“Looks like an angel,” Pepper sighed, wistfully. “All pink and white and gold. Delicate. Innocent. Don’t you ever wish you were beautiful like that?”

“She might not be innocent,” Maple said, grimly.

Quietly, hoping to tell all she knew before Ane woke up, she told Pepper about the night before. Pepper uttered a slow, stunned curse.

“She’s a traitor?” she shook her head. “You really can’t judge on first impressions.”

“Well, I don’t know she’s a traitor,” Maple chewed the inside of her cheek. “But it certainly looks that way.”

Ane’s eyes fluttered open and she stared up at Maple and Pepper. She blinked at the both of them, obviously bewildered, still half asleep.

“Have I overslept?” she looked worried. “Is everything alright?”

“That’s what we wanted to ask you,” Pepper fixed a concerned expression on her face. “Are you alright? Only we heard you leave last night.”

Ane hesitated just a split second too long before answering.

“I went for a walk,” she said. “To clear my head. I couldn’t sleep.”

“A walk,” Maple said, perfectly deadpan. “In the forest? At night?”

Ane’s eyes started to look panicked. “I like the forest. I grew up in the forest.”

“At night,” Maple repeated. “The bodyguard of the prince, in a time of apparent darkness and imminent war, went for a walk alone in the forest, deep in the forest, at night.”

Ane gave up. “If you must know, I was meeting someone.”

“A boy?” Pepper looked delighted.  “That’s code for ‘I was seeing a boy’, isn’t it?”

“What? No!” Ane cried. “I don’t have a boy!”

“Don’t you have a unicorn boy?” Pepper was shocked. “No charming young scholar with untidy hair and clever eyes? No rebellious hunter who sweeps you off your feet?”

“No!” Ane almost laughed. “Why would I?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Pepper rolled her eyes. “Because you look like an angel, you can heal almost anything and you’re the sweetest person I’ve ever met?”

“I guess boys don’t like that sort of girl,” Ane shrugged.

“You’re lying,” Maple challenged.

Ane blushed scarlet. “No, I’m not!”

“Who is he, Anemone?” Pepper leant forward. “Who did you meet last night?”

“His name is Origen,” Ane gave up. “But it’s complicated.”

“He’s an evil murderer?” Maple looked sympathetic. “He’s not a unicorn heart?”

“No. He’s not alive.”

The pause stretched on and on for a long time.

“This needs talking over,” Pepper decided. “Scoot over, Ane. I want to sit down.”

The three girls sat on the bed, all of them with intent expressions. Ane wanted this over as soon as possible. Maple wanted to eliminate a possible threat. Pepper simply wanted to hear about the boy.

“I met him in the forest,” Ane began.

She told them of how she had walked deeper and deeper and had come across a pool amongst the trees, a place where the air seemed to be still and untouched. It was peaceful, almost welcoming, and she got the impression that it knew she was there.