The Darkest Unicorn

by Alice Hemming

  He could achieve great things and lead whole cities, but he needed to harness that power. He needed more emotion: Sadness, compassion, anger, love. He had limited access to these feelings himself but he had begun to wonder if there was a way he might be able to use the emotions of others, for his own purposes. And that was where Sander could help him. Finally, it was time. Sander had work to do.

  Sander had protested, of course. He did not want to lead people away, knew that it was cruel to tempt them with the promise of wishes granted, but by then of course, it was too late.

  It was only now, after spending time with Thandie, that he realized he had a choice. He didn’t have to live this way any more.

  So now he turned to face the unicorn, fully aware of what he was doing.

  “I have worked for you for years. My debt is paid. Undo the sorcery. I take back my wish. I wish now only to be free from you – whatever that means.”

  The interpreter spoke for the unicorn once again. “So, you think that the girl is special? You think that she can free all these people by herself?”

  Sander said nothing.

  “She may be brave and self-assured but she is not special. Before you intervened, she was about to give me all her memories. She was no stronger than any of the others. Weaker than them, even, because of all that emotion she keeps stored up inside.”

  “Thandie is not weak,” said Sander. He had never met a braver person. He wished that he could say the same about himself.

  “Sometimes we are drawn to those who have the strengths we desire for ourselves. I once thought you were special. You have charm, a way with people and a gift for music that I do not possess. I thought that you would support me in my goals: that you would be a loyal servant. But I was blind to your weaknesses. You are, it seems, too easily swayed by others. I cannot trust you. And an untrustworthy subordinate is of no use to me. You have betrayed me and now I will take back what is mine.”

  THE STOLEN ONES

  Thandie

  Thandie flung open the double doors. She didn’t know what she had been expecting – a dark prison, a fight with some guards – but it certainly hadn’t been this.

  As she stepped into the room and closed the doors behind her, the warmth struck Thandie. The throne room had been icy and dark but this room was golden and cosy. And it was full of people. Happy-looking people, dressed in fine clothes. They didn’t look like prisoners. It was the most beautiful room that Thandie had ever seen. Light streamed in from high windows and lower windows were free of bars. There were paintings and tapestries of beautiful beasts: a dragon, a phoenix and some snowy white flying wolves. There was even a set of glass doors, leading out into the mist.

  Long, rectangular pools like the ones in the throne room ran along both sides of this room. There were toys, puzzles and other playthings. For a moment, Thandie wondered if she had come to the right place. These people could not be the stolen ones. But then she looked more closely. They were smiling and seemed content, but their eyes were not engaging with the world around them or with each other. No one turned to look at her: a stranger entering the room.

  Maybe all was not as it first appeared.

  Thandie looked at each face in turn, hoping to see someone she recognized. As she did so, she realized she had been doing this for years: every time she entered a room full of people. She was looking for her mother’s face. But she had to stop looking. She would not find her mother here. Instead, she must free these people and take them home. For Linnell’s father. For Linnell. For Sander. For Tib. And, most importantly, for herself.

  Besides, her mother could not be here. There was nobody here over about the age of eighteen – they were all on the cusp of adulthood. The stolen ones. They didn’t know it, but they were about to be free.

  Thandie breathed deeply, trying to calm her panic. She reached into her pocket and felt the worn cover of her diary. This would help her, just as it helped Sander to save her from the unicorn. She needed to find Linnell. All she had to go on was Sander’s description and her father’s. So she knew she was looking for someone beautiful (although that may have been a loving father’s biased opinion) with blonde hair, who must be one of the oldest here. It was so hard to tell. Countless girls had fair hair and it was so difficult to tell their ages. She would just have to approach people one by one.

  She began walking through the room, looking at each individual face. One boy with freckles – a bit younger that her – pushed a little model sailboat along the sparkling water. Two smiling boys in close-fitting blue outfits were juggling, throwing wooden batons to each other and expertly catching every one. Another girl absent-mindedly unwrapped candies from coloured papers in a glass dish. Another looked so like Hetty from the back that she had to walk around and stare at her, just to check. She ran up to the first girl. The one with the toffees. She dispensed with any formal greetings and launched straight into an explanation of why she was there.

  “I am Thandie and I am here to rescue you. I am looking for Linnell Redfern. What is your name?”

  The girl did not reply at first. She popped one of the sweet treats into her mouth and chewed slowly, looking almost at Thandie but not quite. “I’m not sure,” she said, through the chewing.

  Thandie took out the little leather book and read a few of the female names aloud.

  “Marietta? Posy? Flora? Fay?”

  There seemed to be a glimmer of recognition and the girl sat up straighter and smoothed down her skirts. But then the blank look came over her once again. “Would you like one?” she offered, pushing the dish towards Thandie.

  Thandie shook her head. This was a waste of time. She stood up and called into the room, “I am here to free you all.” Her voice wasn’t particularly loud but nobody else was making any noise and the sound echoed alarmingly around the room.

  A couple of people glanced at her, smiling softly, but not one replied. They were all caught up in their own mundane activities. Thandie shuddered. It could have so easily been her, if Sander hadn’t pulled her back. She would have been like these people: mute and blankly smiling.

  She walked slowly around the room, hands clasped to her mouth. What was she going to do now, if nobody even remembered their own names? This wasn’t going to work. And if it didn’t work, what would she do? Run away on her own? She took another deep breath to compose herself. If she couldn’t find Linnell, she would search for the Essendor people. Although Essendor was a big city, it was still small enough that one started to see familiar faces, especially those of a similar age. She knew little Clover Malling – the youngest to go missing – had red curly hair. Perhaps Thandie would recognize her.

  She continued scanning the crowded room, and then she saw a face that she was sure could only be Linnell. The girl was really quite beautiful, with straw-coloured hair braided tightly around her head, a deep blue dress and pearls in her hair. She sat in a high-backed gilt chair, hands clasped in her lap, gazing up at one of the high windows. Most people in the room were silent, or talking to themselves, but this girl was singing. Or rather humming a pretty but meandering tune, as if she couldn’t remember the words. She had a sweet singing voice.

  “Linnell!” called Thandie, rushing to her, but the girl did not turn around. Still, there was a definite resemblance to the portrait that she’d seen in Linnell’s bedroom, which must have been her mother. And the singing, of course. Thandie stood right by her and said her name again: “Linnell?” The girl smiled politely and looked faintly puzzled, gazing around as if there was a Linnell in the room but she just couldn’t identify her.

  She seemed to want to help. “I think I knew a Linnell once,” she said, her brows knitting together. Her voice was clear and high.

  “Yes,” said Thandie, rummaging in her bag and bringing out the flower crown and the books. “These belonged to her.”

  Linnell held the dried flower crown flat in her hands like a dinner plate. Then she reached for a brown stalk that had come loose and tucked it tidil
y back in place. She hummed again as she did so, and then stopped, gazing up at Thandie with wide blue eyes. “Did I make this? A long time ago?”

  Thandie nodded. As much as she wanted to shout at Linnell, shake at her, get her away from this place, she sensed she shouldn’t rush her.

  Linnell frowned. “There were some woods. Some flowers…” she began. She stared towards Thandie, but not directly at her, as though she were trying to recollect a dream.

  “That’s right,” said Thandie gently. “Some woods, and a farm. Your cottage with just you and your father. A little yellow bird called Sunbeam. Do you remember?”

  Linnell reached her hand forward and looked up, as if expecting a little yellow canary to fly over and perch there. But then she stopped and lowered her hand. The memory had fluttered away. But Thandie could help retrieve it, she knew it. “You went to the woods with your schoolbooks, and you met a boy. He brought you here, do you remember?”

  Linnell shook her head but Thandie continued. “The boy played a pipe. You liked the music. He played along to your song.”

  The pipe. It was still slung in its holder across her shoulder. She brought it out, put it to her lips and began to play, steadily and carefully. She played the same notes that Sander had played at Linnell’s father’s house. It was a simple tune and she could do it if she concentrated.

  The girl knew the tune. Her eyes looked into Thandie’s, properly this time. She looked sharper, and her blank smile dropped away. She began to hum along, but this time there was a shape to the tune. She followed the notes perfectly.

  “Words. We need the words,” said Thandie. She put the pipe away and opened her diary. The loose paper covered in Yannick’s handwritten lyrics was still tucked inside. Thandie unfolded it. She was not a great singer but she had to do this: it was a way to break through to Linnell. She took a deep breath and sang, as loudly and in tune as she could manage.

  “To me you are a diamond,

  To me you are a pearl,

  To me you are an emerald,

  To me you are the world.

  “I’d give you a diamond to shine the whole day long,

  But I have no diamond, so I give to you this song.”

  Some of the other children in the room stopped and stared at her but the thought of an audience listening to her questionable singing voice didn’t concern Thandie as it might usually. Because the song was working its magic.

  Recognition shone in Linnell’s expression like a lit lamp. She was coming back. As if to prove Thandie right, she joined in with the next verse.

  “To me you are the mountain,

  To me you are the sea,

  To me you are the forest,

  You’re everything to me.”

  Thandie picked up the pipe again and played the melody, her fingers finding the notes easily. And Linnell sang the next words without prompting.

  “I’d give you a diamond to shine the whole day long,

  But I have no diamond, so I give to you this song.”

  At the end of the song, Linnell stood quite still, her mouth slightly open. “My song,” she whispered. “My mother’s song. My father’s song. My father…”

  She turned slowly and gazed around, as if expecting to find him, but instead, seeing this room and all these people for the first time.

  “Why am I here?” she asked softly, tears filling in her eyes.

  Thandie found it difficult to watch her struggling. “There was a unicorn, do you remember?”

  Linnell nodded slowly and looked down at her clothes. She smoothed out the skirt with her hand. “Yes, I remember the unicorn. He granted my wish. But then—” She trailed off and closed her eyes.

  “The unicorn is evil,” explained Thandie. “He takes people’s memories from them to stay powerful and strong. Every person in this room has had their memories – their life – stolen from them. But I am here to help. My name is Thandie and I am a friend. Do you want your memories back?”

  Linnell nodded again. “My father—”

  “He’s waiting for you back home,” said Thandie. “Your old life awaits as it always has. But you can’t have both. It is your memories or your wish, do you understand?”

  Linnell began to cry. “My wish was foolish. I don’t really care about fine clothes. Not if my sacrifice must be so great. I choose my memories. I want them all back.”

  Thandie stared open-mouthed at Linnell’s hair and clothes. They were changing. “I think it is working. All you had to do was to take back the wish.”

  Linnell looked down at her skirt and stroked the embroidered fabric. The detailed gold embroidery unravelled and shrank back into the material of the skirt, as if someone were unpicking it from the wrong side. At the same time, the vivid colour of the dress faded before their eyes, turning from a deep blue to nondescript beige. Her bodice loosened and the pearls fell from her hair, bouncing on the marble floor and disappearing like raindrops.

  At the same time, some colour returned to Linnell’s face, and some lucidity to her expression. Linnell was back. She was still as beautiful as ever, but now she looked like an ordinary peasant girl rather than a member of the royal court. Thandie thought she might prefer her this way. She looked like someone who might become a friend.

  Then Thandie’s heart leaped as she realized exactly what this transformation meant. The spell was undone. It had worked. As long as no one followed her in and stopped her, she could save everyone in this room. The thought made her heart beat faster in panic. She couldn’t let that happen. She ran to the double doors. If she wedged something between the two handles, then it would prevent them from opening and give her time to free as many people as possible.

  She looked around for something to lodge there but could see nothing suitable. Then she remembered the Y-shaped stick that was Tib’s catapult. It was the perfect size and shape. She slid it between the handles so that the upper part was caught between them and they couldn’t open.

  Thandie turned and Linnell was behind her, following her like a stray pup.

  “How long have I been here?” whispered Linnell softly.

  Thandie put a hand on the other girl’s arm. “Later. I will tell you everything later. But for now, I need your help. We need to free all these other people.”

  BACK IN THE THRONE ROOM

  Sander

  The unicorn suddenly flinched, as if under attack from an invisible source. Sander smiled. Was this a sign that he was losing power? Perhaps Thandie was having some success in the other room “Some of the memories have been returned to their rightful owner, haven’t they?”

  The interpreter spoke for the unicorn again.

  “Of course the girl will be able to communicate with Linnell. She knows about her, from you and Linnell’s father. But there is no way she will do the same with the other young people in that room. All she has is their names, which they will not even recognize.”

  Sander’s smile faltered. He feared this might be true.

  The interpreter continued.

  “She will fail, then she will come back and see you for who you really are. She won’t be interested in your explanations. She will be defeated, vulnerable and still searching for her mother. Then, one way or another, she will give up her precious memories to my master. There will be forty-four people in that room and the Greatest Unicorn will be greater still.”

  “But what then? If you don’t have me, how will you find any more young people?”

  “My master does not plan to stay up in this castle forever. With just one more young person’s memories, he will be strong enough to execute the second part of his plan to take over the kingdom. And Thandie’s memories are so powerful, so emotional, so perfect! You picked a good candidate, Sander.”

  Sander was filled with hate.

  “We will start with the city of Essendor. They are weak without their precious queen and her sister. There is no Midnight Unicorn to protect them.

  “The Greatest Unicorn will appear in a golden haze –
delivering their precious children to their homes. The people will hear how the evil Midnight Unicorn kept the stolen ones captive and will be eternally grateful for their return. They will look for a new saviour. The poor Queen Audrey will die of her mysterious sleeping sickness, her sister will be banished, and the throne will be free for the taking.”

  Sander’s heart beat faster. Could a fourteen-year-old girl really undo all these years of planning? He hoped so.

  “Had you waited, had you continued in your work, then you would have been able to share in that power. Now, you will be nothing.”

  Sander would be nothing. Yet the thought that he was finally doing the right thing made him feel stronger and braver than ever before.

  He turned to face the unicorn, ready to accept his fate.

  THE OTHERS

  Thandie

  Thandie made a sweeping gesture to the other people in the room. “We need to help these people. They have all had their memories taken, just like you. Can you tell me any of their names?” asked Thandie.

  “No.” Linnell hung her head. “I have been here for a long time but I don’t think I have ever spoken to any of the others…”

  “Don’t be ashamed. None of this is your fault,” said Thandie, putting her hands on Linnell’s shoulders. Linnell’s eyes darted to the doorway, which was now temporarily locked by Tib’s catapult.

  “Where is he?” she whispered. “Does he know you’re here?”

  She was talking about the unicorn, of course. Thandie could tell how scared the poor girl was. “Yes, but don’t worry, my friend is keeping him occupied.” She tried not to think about Sander, about how he was getting on. Or about what would happen if Sander’s plan failed. “Try not to think about the unicorn. We need to concentrate on taking back the stolen memories.”

  Linnell looked around at the door again and clasped Thandie’s hands “Let’s not. Let’s just lead the people out of the castle to safety. They will come with us, I’m sure. They will do anything they are told.”