The scattered petals burst into flames then; their light a brilliant blue. The heat was so intense it made the crowd recoil.
Nina began to speak and flames died.“Protect these people from those with violence in their souls.”She pawed the stone floor with her front hoof, the sharp scrape echoing faintly. Ash from the petals began to float, swirling in the air as she continued,“Let this kingdom be hidden and forgotten from those souls. Burn the maps. Let their mind draw blanks when they think of us.”Nina lowered her head, her small horn touching the stone.“For this blessing, I willingly sacrifice a piece of my power.”
The priest came to stand at Nina’s side, holding a sword in his hand. He lifted it into the air and a brief moment of complete and utter silence ensued before the blade came down, slicing off the tip of Nina’s already broken horn.
She screamed; the sound guttural. Barbaric and soul crushing. It echoed, ringing through the air.
Luna flinched, her heart leaping to her throat. No matter the safety this ceremony brought, Nina’s sacrifice was too painful to ask of someone again and again. Subconsciously, she rubbed her forehead where her own horn had been only a night ago.
The ashes from the floating petals shot upwards, meeting the sky with a crack of lightning. Ash rained down, drenching the ground with its magic.
Nina crumpled; her body shifted from unicorn to human as she collapsed. She lay limp like a doll, eyes wide open, staring directly through Luna.
The priest slipped out his robe and draped it over her, covering her nakedness.
King Hendrix clapped, bringing the crowd’s attention to him. “I thank you, Nina, for your sacrifice, as always. Now has come the time for us to celebrate! Let us feast! Let us dance! Let us rejoice with no fear of our enemies!”
On his command, servants began to pile food onto tables they’d set up minutes prior.
Luna’s stomach hollowed and her throat burned. Her very skin wanted to crawl away.
Angie said something to her, but Luna failed to hear her, her mind consumed with disgust. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from Nina, who still laid motionless.
The crowd dispersed, moving towards the tables set with food, but Luna stayed frozen in place. Why wasn’t anyone helping Nina? It seemed she had been forgotten, her significance deemed complete with the ceremony’s conclusion. How unfathomable that not one person in the kingdom cared about her. They were all too busy gathering food and talking amongst themselves; even her own family had left to join the celebration.
Luna leaned forward, her head in her hands. She knew the hatred for unicorns ran deep, but she didn’t realize it was so profound that they wouldn’t even care for a unicorn that was helping to protect them. Nina had sacrificed a part of her horn for them, and they left her on the cold stone by herself, crying from pain, while they celebrated. Luna pressed her fingertips into her face so hard that they indented her skin, the pain grounding her. Nina had been discarded as if she was just a napkin that had been used and discarded, ruined. It wasn’t right. Luna stood to go to her, to at least help the woman to stand, but Clyde grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks.
“I don’t think so,” he said, glaring at Nina, his hand resting on the hilt of the sword. Did he truly believe she posed a threat? The woman was a mess of tears and pain, barely able to lift her own head, let alone challenge a trained guard.
“Clyde, show some humanity,” Luna implored. “She’s sacrificed part of herself for us. We should do something to help her.”
“That someone isn’t you.”
“Why not?”
“It’s beneath you to have anything to do with their kind,” he retorted sharply.
A chill tiptoed up her spine. What would he think if he knew she, too, was a unicorn? Would he leave her crying, alone and in pain like Nina? Even though it wasn’t happening to her, betrayal clouded Luna’s vision, and she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. “You’rebeneath me,” she hissed, attempting to storm away, but he grabbed her again, spinning her around to face him.
His dark eyes searched hers, a flicker of something softer passing briefly before his expression hardened. “You don’t mean that,” he insisted, his voice low, laced with an unmistakable threat. His grip tightened painfully on her arm as if he thought he could keep her if only he held on.
“I think the lady made her stance pretty clear,” a familiar, deep baritone voice said.
Luna’s heart stopped beating.
The man she had tried to kiss, the man who had seen her in her most vulnerable form, was here now, standing beside her.
Cockiness flowed from Damien like a river flows downstream, and with a sly grin on his face, he slowly looked Clyde up and down, before laughing—the sound deep, mocking. “She could do so much better than you.”
How did he know they were together? No one knew that . . . Well, except for Emily, but she was still nowhere to be seen.
Struggling to find words, Luna swallowed dryly. She didn’t think she’d see Damien again, and having decided she didn’t want anything to do with magic, she didn’t know what to do or say.
She clenched and unclenched her hands, nervous energy bubbling up inside her. Would Damien knock Clyde out again? Or worse, would Clyde recognize Damien as the intruder? If he did, would Damien spill her secret? Her palms grew slick with sweat, and she rubbed her hands against her dress, praying to the skies above she’d get through this.
Clyde turned to Damien with a raised brow, his hand still on his sword’s hilt. “Careful what you say, peasant, or I’ll cut your tongue out.”
Apparently, the skies were not in an answering prayers sort of mood.
