Red Unicorn

by Tanith Lee

  "Yes, go on."

  "You're distracting me. Is it you, Tanaquil? Is it?"

  "It's not me at all. Please say the rest."

  "I'll cut it short. Basically the king arrived, and it was chaos. Morning, noon, night, fanfares, feasts, rituals—plucking the herring, kissing the cushion—you think I'm joking? Audiences all day. Spedbo said, and Mukk—"

  "Oh, Mukk and Spedbo!"

  "Yes. They said, If this was being powerful and rich, they were off."

  "But they didn't leave you—"

  "No. No, what happened was, one night when we were all going mad, because this new king insisted on passwords all over the city and the army, and he had given us this latest one which was, 'I won't be cooked, said the bad goose.' "

  "It was what?"

  "A gem, wouldn't you say. 'I won't be cooked—' "

  "Not Ook?"

  "Sorry? No, not ook." Honj shook their hands.

  "It's just—it's very like—no, never mind."

  "Anyway, in the midst of this completely useless idiocy, Worabex the great magician sent me a mousp. At first Mukk tried to slice it in half and we all got under the table. Then Spedbo identified it as our nonsting friend from the last time. Then he picked it up and it somehow produced, sorcerously, of course, you'd grasp it, I thought it a bit over the top: a letter."

  "The letter that I was—"

  "Had nearly been killed. Were lying near death."

  Tanaquil looked down. "That was some weeks ago."

  "Yes, Tanaquil. I've been travelling some weeks."

  "You mean that—"

  "I mean that I sat down, and Spedbo fanned me with half a loaf from breakfast. And Mukk said if I was going to throw up, lean that way and avoid the wine bottles. Then I explained. Then they shut up. And I went straight over to Lizra's rooms."

  "You . . . did . . ."

  "It was just before one of the awful dinners. She was done up in a black dress with sort of silver claws all over it. It made me superstitious. But anyway. I said what I must. That I was sorry. But I'd been very wrong. I had to be with you. I loved you. I tried to be tactful, but you can't be, saying something like that. I thought you were, I was afraid you'd die. I was cursing myself for letting you go. I thought Lizra would turn into the Ice Queen and have me whipped to death on the spot."

  "She didn't."

  Honj now lowered his eyes.

  "She said, I'll never forget it, she said, 'Oh, Honj, what a burden you've taken from me.' "

  "What?"

  "She said this password-crazy king—thirty-six if he was a day, old enough to be her father—had proposed he and she get married and unify their kingdoms. And she, she wanted to do just that. She said, and I quote here, 'I've loved you, Honj, but now I have to grow up.' " His eyes flamed with anger, then with laughter.

  Tanaquil cried, "Lili and Fnim!"

  "So you're insulting me already?"

  "No, I'll tell you one day. Oh, Honj. Oh—"

  "And so I was loaded with money and presents and terrible things I didn't want, but Spedbo and Mukk grabbed them like kids in a sweet-shop. And as for Waelorr—"

  "Wait again. Who?"

  "Waelorr. You never met him yet. Good man, tall, black, and handsome. All the girls are after him, but he only likes one called Lace—"

  "Not . . . Velvet?"

  "Did I say Velvet? I said Lace. Anyhow, those three are with me. Back up the road by a couple of cities. I wanted to get on."

  Tanaquil sat away the length of her arms, not letting go his hands. "You're free," she said.

  "No," he said. "I'm yours. So it's up to you. Do you want me? Say yes properly this time, or I'll push you in the fire."

  "Yes, properly."

  And for a moment, in that fire, she saw the shining scarlet shape of the unicorn, bright as a sun. Flying without wings.

  "I mean, Tanaquil, I mean I want to marry you, to stay with you. I expect you'll only reply with something sophisticatedly witty, now."

  "I'll reply with yes, now," she said. "Is that witty enough?"

  He drew her to him. She went to him. The unicorn dimmed. Now it was only in her heart.

  He said, in a different voice, "They say love makes the world go round."

  Looking at him, it seemed to her that never before had she seen anyone so clearly.

  "Then," she said, "we must help to keep it moving."

  Table of Contents

  (unlabled)

  (unlabled)

  Foreword

  OneI

  II

  III

  IV

  V

  TwoVI

  VII

  VIII

  IX

  X

  XI

  XII

  XIII

  XIV

  XV

  XVI

  ThreeXVII

  XVIII