Kayleigh appeared skittish, almost as if she feared that, when she went inside, the group would simply ride away, like some kind of cruel human joke. Majherri stared at the young female and tried to reassure her. She mustered her courage and went inside.
“What do you propose we do with a sixteen year old recruit?” Meghan immediately growled at Lindsey.
The black haired woman shifted in Pasha’s saddle. “I believe we will train her, test her, and perhaps fight alongside her. But I am newly returned to The Academy and this is my first season teaching, Captain Lynch. What problems do you expect from having a sixteen year old first year recruit?”
“Think about the difference between yourself at thirteen and sixteen. She’ll either start as lead rider or be thrown in over her head with the third years. Either way, she will upset the balance of the class she is in. Then someone gets to escort her back here as a failure.”
“Much of your argument is based on the girl being a failure. She’s been selected for all of fifteen minutes and you’re already preparing for the day that her bond is broken and she returns here in disgrace. What if she does not, Captain?”
“Let’s hope you are right then, Lieutenant Sheppard.”
Majherri snorted reminding them that he was here and could understand what they are saying.
Lindsey pivoted Pasha to face her superior. She reared Pasha’s forelegs and smacked them down on the street. A release of magic from the earth maiden sent a small tremor through the ground and rattled the windows of the surrounding houses. “I think Majherri believes he can train this young girl. Even if he can’t, he’ll try harder – just to spite you. Every one of us here, humans and unicorns, knows the problem is between the two of you. This girl, through no fault of her own, is now caught up in your feud.”
“You will mind your place, Lieutenant!” Meghan said sharply.
“As long as you do as well, Captain.”
Majherri glared at Meghan Lynch and the woman stared back with accusing eyes that blamed him for the way things were going as well.
The tense atmosphere was broken by Kayleigh leading an older woman out the front of the door.
“I still don’t see how this is possible, dear. We had you tested on your twelfth birthday in Laurent. You didn’t react to anything, whatsoever.”
Lindsey spoke, “Good evening, Madame. I am Lieutenant Lindsey Sheppard and this is Captain Meghan Lynch. We were quite surprised when your daughter made a connection with this unicorn. I assure you my mount was there and she sensed the Bondspark.”
Majherri assessed the human female. She was slim and wore nice clothing. Her hands were spotted, not by signs of age, but rather that watery substance humans drew pictures with. Kayleigh’s mother was obviously an artist. Occasionally, these artists came to the academy to attempt to preserve images forever in canvas or stone.
“Greetings, noble riders and steeds, I bid you welcome. My name is Brenda Reese. When Kayleigh was tested, the acolyte conducting it said she was very inert and had no affinity towards any magic at all.”
Meghan said, “The testing procedure is not always accurate. Sometimes oversights happen. Mistakes can occur.”
“Of course, but may I see proof? Not that I doubt your word or that of your unicorns, but my daughter is all I have.”
Meghan nodded. His future rider approached and rested the back of her hand on his cheek. Fortunately, the spark that connected them was still there. Majherri felt her apprehension and she, doubtless, felt his left over hostility towards T’rsa’s rider.
“If there was no semblance of a bond, he would have shied away from her by now and on the beach, your daughter was able to lead him up the slope with hardly any trouble at all.”
“But I thought this was only for thirteen year olds. That is the custom. This is all very peculiar.”
Majherri watched the other humans debate this. It was strange to observe. Some humans actually rejected the bonds and turned their back on his brethren. It seemed so … wrong. Kayleigh kept her hand on him throughout. This was a good sign. Unicorns that fail to find a rider age quickly and die. When he first returned from the wastelands after losing Danella, the other humans and even the herd thought he would as well. If he were to be honest with himself, Majherri had been waiting for the chance to die – until now.
“No, I don't think this is a good idea. You get squeamish when you gut a fish, dear. It's not the life you want.” Turning to the humans, Brenda nodded and said, “Thank you for the opportunity, but we are not interested.”
Majherri felt a swell of resentment from Kayleigh. He may have even fanned the flames, “What kind of life do I want? I think that's the first time you've ever taken that into consideration.”
“And what do you mean by that!” The mother exclaimed.
“We've never stayed in one place more than three years in my life! Every time I make friends and start to settle in, you move us again. You've been hinting that we've been here too long, already. I want to feel like I belong to something … anything.”
The mother looked stunned at the daughter's rebellion. “After all I've done for you! You treat me like … this? How dare you?”
Majherri felt Kayleigh's remorse instantly, but he had found a rider again and this was as much about him as it was Kayleigh.
Captain Lynch broke the tension. “If the parent refuses, we don't take runaways. Am I to understand that you do not give your permission, Madame?”
“No, forgive me Kayleigh, but the High-King's city is no place for a girl like you.”
The unicorn felt tremors of panic coursing through his body. He couldn't even tell if they were coming from him or her. Meghan dismounted and started to move toward them. She was going to forcibly separate him from Kayleigh.
I’ll fight for her, human.
“But I'm sixteen, not thirteen,” Kayleigh said in a hushed tone. Majherri sensed that she'd stand by him as well. Raw determination beat back the fear and panic.
“The young woman does have a point.” Lindsey said brushing a strand of hair away with a gauntleted hand. “She is within her rights to claim her independence.”
“You would renounce me!” The thin mother growled in anger, swelling beyond the petite size of her frame.
Tears flowed freely down the rider's cheeks and Majherri felt a sharp twinge of betrayal. “What would you do with me, mother? Am I supposed to be your assistant for all time, wandering from one town to the next? I could marry one of the boys on the docks. I've always wanted to be a fisherman's wife. Isn't there a saying, ‘Only fools turn their backs on the chance to do magic?’ Is that what you want me to be, a fool? Even more mocked than I am already?”
An angry staring match began – a battle of wills. Without the connection, Majherri wasn't certain of Kayleigh's resolve, but fortunately, she still clung to him. Her hand reversed and was firmly on the back of his neck, slightly painful, but he savored the pain as something that made his life meaningful again. He wanted this. He needed this.
Slowly, Brenda Reese, a rigid personification of fury spoke, challenging her daughter, “Go ahead then, renounce me. We don't even need to go to the elders. These warriors are able to bear witness.”
“I don't want to, Mama, but I will.”
Lynch intervened. “Before you do this, girl, take your hand off the unicorn. If this is to be your decision, it shall be of your own volition and not influenced by your fledgling bond with that one.”
Anger, guilt, and apprehension swirled between the two of them and Kayleigh let go. She stared at him, confused and perhaps wary.
Lindsey dismounted and took Kayleigh’s hand. “We'll walk up the street for a minute and let this young lady clear her head. She has a very important decision to make.”
Majherri watched fearfully as his rider was led away.
Meghan turned to the angry mother and pointed an accusing finger at him and said, "This one wants your daughter as his rider. He is strong-willed and could easily have be
en feeding her emotions. He understands how the bond works. She does not."
Long minutes passed and the mother glared at him. Meghan glared at him. The two female unicorns glared at him. He simply turned and looked at the two shadowy figures walking along the darkening street. The rest of them did not matter – only his rider. His fate belonged to someone else now. It was out of his control.
He raised his head and looked at the stars as they began to appear in the fading light of the day. Some sought predictions, or made wishes to them. Majherri didn't believe in any of that, but even so, the tiny lights in the sky always fascinated him.
Pasha moved next to him and looked up at the sky as well. He wasn't certain if she was mocking him, or simply interested in what he was doing. He knew she was easily six years younger and entering the stage of life where she'd be looking for her first mate.
That idea suddenly piqued his interest. Unicorn relationships were much less complicated than those of their riders. Danella would often vent her frustrations in that area with Majherri. The same skills that made her a terror on the battlefield tended to intimidate those interested in her. He'd pretend to be sympathetic, but it actually had been rather humorous. Danella understood this and entertained him anyway.
Was he betraying her memory? Did he even deserve another rider? He was torn. The bond, once fully realized, wasn't something that could just be broken and rebuilt. He'd seen many of his kind wither and die without their riders. That was always the way it had been.
Except for now … now, everything was different.
Chapter 4 – A Parting of the Ways
“You need to calm down and find your emotional center.” Kayleigh listened to the woman's voice. She had long jet-black hair and probing blue eyes that looked at her intently. They were nearly the same height at five foot seven inches, but the battle maiden was a powerfully built bundle of muscles, the likes of which Kayleigh had never seen.
“What just happened? I’ve never been that upset with my mother before.” Then again, she’s never told me I can’t have a unicorn.
The woman walked easily in her armor, barely making any noise and said, “The bond can be powerful, sometimes even overwhelming for both parties involved. It’s like suddenly gaining a sister or a brother. You might have noticed at the selection ceremony that the candidates ride in a wagon. Through most of the first year, we limit the amount of time a rider spends with her unicorn on purpose, since the early teenage years are already difficult enough.”
“I didn’t stay for the ceremony.” Kayleigh admitted while looking down at the street.
“Is that so?” Lindsey asked, making her feel even more uncomfortable.
Kayleigh decided to change the subject. “What can you tell me about Majherri?”
“I do not know everything, but he survived the loss of his first rider – a fire maiden named Danella. That has never happened before and has many of us confused. If that shatters your image of us as all-knowing protectors of the realm, I’m sorry, but that is the truth.”
“And why does Majherri hate Meghan?”
“First off, if you do intend to leave this town with us, her name is Captain Lynch and I am Lieutenant Sheppard. The easiest way to explain the rift between them is to tell you that Danella’s last name was also Lynch. They were twin sisters selected by a pair of sibling unicorns – again, a most unusual occurrence. T’rsa, Captain Lynch’s partner is Majherri’s sister.”
Kayleigh’s thoughts swirled trying to digest all of this. “Thank you. That explains a lot.”
They walked in silence as Lindsey led her down a side street toward an area where they could overlook the ocean. In the faltering light, the waves were hard to see. The reassuring crash of the water hitting the rocky shore created a steady tone that the townsfolk referred to as the ‘heartbeat’ of Helden.
“I grew up in the northern kingdom of Geron. We have lots of lakes, but no oceans. Do you dislike living here?”
“It’s just a place,” Kayleigh replied. “We move every few years. Mama is always looking for new inspirations for her paintings and sculptures.”
“Are you an artist as well?”
“I dabble. I don’t quite have the eye for it. I could paint this landscape and it would probably be technically perfect, but bland and boring at the same time.”
“Perhaps you are being smothered by your mother’s creativity and need to find your own inspirations?”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as her.”
“Maybe not with canvas or stone, but riding a creature that shares an emotional bond with you is something of an art. If you’re both afraid and angry, the bond will feed it and double the effect. You will spend a lot of time in your first year meditating and learning how to accept the bond.”
“Do you think I should come with you? What happens to Majherri if I don’t?”
“It’s not important what I think. I made my choice long ago. As for Majherri, I don’t know. He shouldn’t have survived the loss of his first rider. If he doesn’t have a rider when we return, he returns to the pasture, a great field where the herd roams. You’ll become well acquainted with those riderless unicorns. Part of your duties will be taking care of them as well.”
“I don’t know anything about taking care of horses, much less unicorns.”
“You’ll learn,” Lindsey answered with a reassuring tone. “One of the problems you’ll have is because of your age.”
“What do you mean?” Kayleigh looked at the moon peeking out from behind the cloud cover.
“You’re three years older than the others in your class. Traditionally, the oldest is made lead rider for their class. The position makes you the recruit in charge of the others. After the first few months, the other recruits will be allowed to challenge you in a jousting match or hand to hand combat to see if they can unseat you. In a class full of girls the same age, this allows the most competitive and capable to rise to the top. You will make this more difficult, because you have a natural advantage over them, but it would be grossly unfair to thrust you into third year training. But, that is a decision for people higher in rank than even Captain Lynch.”
Kayleigh kicked a stone with her shoes. Her tone was somewhat dejected as she said, “You’re saying that I’ll be something of an outsider there as well.”
“Perhaps, perhaps not. Your future really depends on what you make of it. I would heartily recommend a positive attitude. Plus, you have another advantage. Majherri is already a battle tested mount and a fighter. The new unicorns are just as much a question as their chosen riders. Graduate from The Academy and you’ll never have to worry about belonging somewhere again. You’ll be a battle maiden and part of an elite warrior caste. People will cheer your arrival. Enemies will fear your presence.”
She listened to the battle maiden carefully and tried to picture herself riding Majherri in full armor. Her heartbeat quickened, and she liked what she saw in her mind’s eye.
But to have this, I must renounce my mother to her face. If I don’t have the courage to do this, I probably don’t belong on Majherri in the first place! Why can’t she be more supportive? Why does it have to be like this?
Taking a deep breath she said, “Let’s go back. I know what I must do.”
Lieutenant Sheppard nodded and didn’t ask for her answer. As Kayleigh walked, she became more aware of Helden than she ever had before. Almost like a painting, she saw the sharp details in the growing darkness. True, she was leaving this place, but it was where destiny found her and made an offer that she’d be a fool to refuse. She wanted to remember this place. It was where her life made an abrupt change. As she walked, Kayleigh steeled herself in preparation for what was to come. It would be the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she knew that there were much harder things ahead of her.
The small group was still there. A few of the neighbors were outside as well, drawn to the majestic presence of the unicorns. Her heart leapt at the sight of Majherri. He stood
away from the rest, keeping his own council. From what she just learned about him, he was an outsider as well. That suited her. They could be outsiders together.
Her leaping heart met the pit of her stomach upon seeing her mother’s angry face. She’d never seen that look before. It tested her will to continue. It demanded she be an obedient daughter and follow her mother’s orders. Kayleigh forced her legs forward.
If this is my first fight as a battle maiden, let it be my first victory!
“Well?” Brenda Reese demanded. Kayleigh instinctively trembled at the harsh tone.
“I’m going with them. Majherri found me, even when I wasn’t at the ceremony. My decision affects him as well. If I don’t go, I’ll be a painter, a basket weaver, or who knows what. If I go and fail, I can still be any of those things, but I might just have a greater destiny ahead of me and I have to try. If I don’t, I’ll always be looking over my shoulder and wondering what if? Give me your blessing, Mother. Don’t make me do this. Please!”
“You want to run off and become a warrior and you want me to approve! I will do no such thing! Are you in that much of a hurry to die?”
“Mama …” Kayleigh started, but was cut off by her mother pointing an accusing finger and shouting at Lieutenant Sheppard.
“You! Tell her how many of your ilk died in the last civil war. The southern nations rose up and tried to free themselves from the High-King’s rule. Don’t bother. I’ll say it for you – hundreds died, nearly one in five of your riders. Besides them, tens of thousands died. Entire cities were put to the torch. It cost me her father!”
Lieutenant Sheppard nodded. “You are correct. It was a very costly war almost two decades ago.”
“War is not the answer! War is blind obedience! I did not raise you to be a murderer! I saw that war with my own eyes and know that no matter what anyone says – war is evil. It is never, ever justifiable and if you ever had one shred of respect for me, you will not do this.”
There was a pause after Brenda’s eruption. Kayleigh knew her mother hated violence, but she’d never vented so. It was so raw and painful. Mama never talked about her wanderings before Kayleigh was born. Now, she had an idea why. She never spoke about Kayleigh’s father, but now she knew that he died in that war.
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