The Secret Of The Unicorn Queen -The Dark Gods (4 page)

     "Why would he bother?" 

     "Oh, Laric!" Illyria impatiently tossed back her mane of silvery hair. "We both know Kumuru is an ambitious man. An ambitious king! He was eager enough to make that pact with Dynasian. Well, now he doesn't have to. Thanks to us, Dynasian is. . . out of the way. And, thanks to us, there won't be any interference from Ankzar, either. What better time than this for Kumuru to feed his ambition by conquering new lands?" 

     "Granted." 

     "How can you be so calm about it? Laric, what if Kumuru is after your very throne?" 

     ''Oh, I don't doubt that he is! I'm sure the man would simply love to extend his power and take over Campora. All the more reason for us to ride to that circle and stop him before-" 

     "But what if I'm right? What if the whole thing really is only a trick?" 

     "All right, Illyria. Go on. What if it is?" 

     "What easier way to rob a prince of his throne than to lure him away from it with a false threat of danger? All the usurper would have to do then is see that the prince met with a fatal 'accident,' come in with troops while the capital is leaderless and in a state of confusion, and simply take over!" 

     Sheila could tell from Laric's suddenly uneasy expression that he was seriously listening to Illyria's words. But then the young prince shook his head in denial, saying stubbornly, "No. That hardly sounds credible." 

     "Well, yes, perhaps not. But what if I'm right? Laric, for the sake of Campora, you can't afford to take the risk." 

     He turned sharply away. "And what would you have me do? Up and run home like a frightened child, and leave you to face who knows what peril?" 

     Illyria's eyes flashed. She stalked forward to face the man again. "And what do you think I am? A helpless little girl-child in need of protecting?" 

     Laric grinned. "Hardly." 

     Sheila saw the corners of Illyria's mouth begin to twitch up into a smile, but then the Unicorn Queen resolutely forced her face back into a scowl. "What, then?" she challenged sharply. "A soft, pretty fool, waiting meekly for some big strong hero to come and save me from the ogre?" 

     Laric's grin widened. "Oh, never that! You'd probably be the one to rescue the hero! Come now, my dearest warrior. Forgive me. You know I didn't mean to belittle you, or your skills. It's only .. . I do worry about you.” 

     At last Illyria's fierce scowl faded into gentleness. "And I, you. Oh, but my dear, you must forget us for now.” 

     "I know. I am the prince of Campora. And a prince's first duty must ever be toward his people." Laric threw up his hands in disgust. "I do believe I had more freedom when I was an eagle! But, since I am a prince, I will fly meekly home again, muster my troops, and guard the throne against all comers." 

     Illyria sighed, relieved. "And I and my warriors shall investigate this mysterious stone circle for you. Should Kumuru be foolish enough to linger . . ." Proudly, she looked around at the other women warriors, then suddenly drew her sword in a flash of steel. With a joyous shout, the unicorn warriors all drew their weapons. The sun glittered off the ring of blades, and Illyria laughed anew. "If Kumuru is foolish enough to linger, I promise you, Prince Laric of Campora, he will regret it!" 

    The unicorn warriors were ready and riding southward at a steady pace before the sun had risen too much higher in the sky. Though nobody said very much, Sheila could feel the excitement building in all of them. It was always this way just before a new adventure began: thrilling and scary at the same time. 

     But she found herself wondering . . . What if Kumuru and his men really were expecting them? What if Kumuru had some powerful, horrible spell all ready to cast? What if he had managed to summon his Dark Gods, and it was they who were awaiting the warriors? What if-No! Sheila told herself fiercely. I won't start scaring myself like this! 

     Instead, she thought about the sweet, sad parting that had taken place between Laric and Illyria. Oh, how romantic it had been! The young prince had swept his lady into his arms, kissed her so tenderly, and then, with one last, longing look back, Laric had transformed himself and his men into eagles. With a thunder of wings, they had flown off toward Campora, prepared to bravely hold the throne against all foes. 

     Sheila sighed. It was like something out of one of those fantasy books she had liked to read, back home in her own world. But this was real life, not fantasy, she reminded herself. And real life didn't always have neat and happy endings. Oh, no, she wasn't going to start worrying about those Dark Gods again! 

     Something else was bothering her, though, and at last Sheila reined in Morning Star a little so she could ask: 

     "Myno?" 

     “Mm.” 

     "Uh . . . what about Dian? Are we just going to ride off and forget all about her?" 

     The ex-slave gave her a troubled look. "Would you have us forget all about Kumuru, instead?" 

     "No, of course not. But-" 

     "Look, I don't know why she was silly enough to run away like this. You youngsters can do some pretty foolish things sometimes." Myno shrugged. "There's no help for it, girl. She'll just have to catch up with us on her own." 

     "Well, yes, but-" 

     "Sheila, Dian is a warrior. Don't you worry about her. She can take care of herself." 

     "I . . . guess so.” 

     But Sheila wasn't so sure. 

     Almost as if he had read her mind, Darian suddenly rode up beside her.      "You're worrying about Dian, aren't you?" he asked softly. 

     Sheila nodded. "I wish she hadn't run off like that." 

     Darian sighed. "Me, too. I wish we could have had a chance to talk to her. Really talk, I mean, not argue. But then, I wish you and I had more time to talk," he said, keeping his dark eyes focused on the path ahead. "It seems we've hardly had a moment together since we returned from Queelotoo." 

     Sheila suddenly remembered the way Darian had kissed her the last time they had been alone together. "I'd like that, too," she said, and felt her face flush. "But I guess this isn't the right time, either. We've got to find the stone circle before it's too late." 

     Darian reached over to squeeze her hand, and Sheila gave him a warm smile. But then a sudden flicker of motion up ahead caught her eye. 

     Drawing herself as tall in the stirrupless saddle as possible, Sheila said, "Wait a minute, Darian. Look, up that way. . . . There's someone ahead of us on the road. Someone on foot, walking toward us." 

     Darian shaded his eyes with a hand. "You're right. Probably some goatherd." 

     "No . . . there's something familiar about . . . Dian! Darian, that's Dian! And I think she's hurt!" 

     The other warriors had seen her, too. They flung themselves from their unicorns and raced forward, just as Dian staggered and crumpled to the ground. By the time Sheila reached her side, Pelu was gently raising the girl's head. 

     "Here, Dian," the healer murmured. "Drink this potion. It will revive you.” 

     Sheila bit her lip. What had happened to Dian? Her clothing was dirt-stained and disheveled, and the usually neat dark hair hung about her pale face in a wild tangle. 

     And what about Dian's unicorn? wondered Sheila, her heart racing. Swiftfoot would never willingly abandon her rider. Where was she? 

     Dian's eyes fluttered open. For a moment they were glazed and blind with terror, but then they focused. Seeing the worried faces before her, she gave a shaky sigh of relief. 

     "Pelu. Sheila. Illyria." 

     ''Yes, Dian.'' 

     Illyria's voice was so cool that Sheila looked at her in surprise. 

     "We're all here," the Unicorn Queen continued. "Come, now. Try to sit up." 

     Dian took one last sip of Pelu's potion, then obeyed. 

     "I-I think I can stand now. I'm not hurt, really. I just I've been running all night and I-I just couldn't go any farther." 

     "I see." There wasn't much sympathy in Illyria's eyes. "Can you talk now?" 

     Swallowing convulsively, Dian nodded. 

     "Fine," said the Unicorn Queen emotionlessly. "You are one of my warriors, Dian. I don't take kindly to desertion." 

     "It wasn't . . . I didn't 

     "No? Then tell me what it was—what you did do." 

     "Illyria," Pelu began, but the Unicorn Queen shook her head. 

     "If she is to remain one of us, Pelu, she must act like one of us. Come, Dian. Speak." 

     Dian sighed. "I didn't mean to desert, truly. I didn't mean to run off like that at all. What happened was… Well, I had a fight with someone last night. Someone I thought cared about— Never mind." She shot Sheila a quick, spiteful glance, but added, "I would rather not say with whom I had the fight." 

     Illyria waved that off impatiently. "I believe I can guess. But forget that for now. Continue your story." 

     "Oh. Yes. Anyhow, the fight made me so angry, I guess I just stopped thinking. I just wanted to get away from there, so I…” 

     "Rushed heedlessly off?" Pelu prompted gently. 

     Dian nodded. "Oh, I left a note. I didn't want you to worry about me. Then . . I didn't bother with a saddle. I just jumped onto Swiftfoot's back and rode. I didn't know where I was going. And I really didn't care. We rode on and on, I'm not sure how far. Pretty soon Swiftfoot started insisting she wanted to go back. And I . . . Well, by that point, I had forgotten all about being angry. I just wanted to get back to the estate, too. But I couldn't find it!" 

     "Why didn't you simply let Swiftfoot find the way?" asked Illyria. 

     "I tried that. But she didn't know which way to turn, either." 

     "Come, now, I can't believe-" 

     "It's true! You see, even though the night had been clear up to that point, all of a sudden, there was a weird fog all around us, a thick, dank, evil-smelling fog." 

     "So," murmured Illyria, and Sheila shuddered, recalling Cam's account of that vile fog. "Continue." 

     Dian bowed her head submissively. "Ahead of me I could hear voices. I wanted to call for help, but . . . something made me hesitate. Instead, I rode cautiously forward through the fog. And suddenly I realized the truth: those voices belonged to King Kumuru and his followers!" Dian broke off with a sob, staring fearfully at the Unicorn Queen. 

     Fearfully? thought Sheila. That's funny. She looks scared, all right. But her eyes are so—so blank! Nobody else seemed to notice, though, so Sheila didn't say anything. Dian continued, trembling, "Oh, Illyria, I overheard all their plans! Kumuru has worked some sort of mighty sorcery. He's opened a magic portal in the stone circle, a sorcerous doorway."

     Sheila tensed, thinking of Dr. Reit and the "magic portal" that had first brought her to this world. "A doorway? To where?"