Cora had only gone out riding a few times since coming to live with the Forest People. The commune normally reserved their horses for pulling wagons when moving to a new camp or when going to trade with local villages. A few times, though, Cora and Maiya had been allowed to ride for leisure, to explore the nearby landscape outside a new campsite, or to simply exercise the horses. Before that, she’d ridden many times as a girl.
But never bareback.
Never racing through the night, her cheeks whipped by branches.
And never, of course, on a unicorn.
The ride was equal parts exhilarating and terrifying. She had to fight to keep her seat, and her inner thighs were burning within minutes. Maiya clung to her waist with all her might, her head tucked behind Cora’s shoulder. Their speed was a near neck-breaking pace. She’d never ridden so fast, not even on her most daring leisure ride as a girl. She was confident there was no way the hunters could keep pursuit.
Cora was breathless by the time the unicorn slowed his pace to a canter, then a trot. Finally, the unicorn stopped. Cora looked around, seeking signs that they were anywhere familiar. She knew the areas between camp and the hot spring caves, but other than that…
A fresh wave of panic climbed up Cora’s throat.
What if she couldn’t find her way back to the Forest People?
What if she and Maiya were lost?
The unicorn stomped his hooves in an agitated gesture, telling Cora he was ready for them to dismount. She hated the idea of being lost while the hunters could still be searching for them, but she had no right to expect anything more from a fae creature. She was lucky enough the unicorn had bothered to save their hides at all. Shifting in her seat, she climbed down and nearly fell over in the process. Once she had her feet beneath her, she helped Maiya come down far more gracefully, careful not to let her land on her injured ankle.
The unicorn backed away a few paces.
Cora turned to him with a grateful nod. “Thank you for saving us.”
Help, he relayed to her.
“Yes, you helped.”
Help, he repeated, the feeling-word tinged with urgency.
Cora shrugged. “What are you trying to tell me?”
“Cora, are you…talking to the unicorn?” Maiya asked, coming up beside her.
“Sort of,” she muttered, feeling somewhat self-conscious. “It’s more like a feeling of his that I’m picking up, and it…somehow turns to words in my mind. He keeps sayinghelp. The same isn’t happening to you?”
Maiya wrinkled her brow and closed her eyes. She was silent for a few moments as she breathed deeply. Her eyes flew open, and her expression went slack. Maiya was accessing her Art—claircognizance. After a few moments, she gave a solemn nod.
“Did he speak to you?” Cora asked.
“No,” she said softly, “but I did pick up on something. There are more like him.”
“Unicorns?”
“Not just that. Caged ones. They’re…they’re being harmed in a way I don’t understand. All I know is they’re in danger.”
Cora looked back at the unicorn. “You want our help rescuing more of your kind?”
He tossed his mane and Cora felt an approving emotion from the creature.
Cora and Maiya exchanged a look. “We…can’t help you,” Cora said, feeling her vengeful side rebel at her words. “We barely survived what just happened.”
The unicorn’s energy turned aggravated as he raked his hoof into the earth.
Maiya sighed and faced Cora. “I wish wecouldhelp. We were raised on tales about fae like him, raised to believe we’d never see them with our own eyes. Now that we know they aren’t extinct, it makes me sick that they’re being hunted.”
Cora could sense her friend’s sorrow, her desperation. Cora felt something similar herself. She remembered Gisele mentioning that James and his companions would be leaving in the morning to join the rest of their hunting party. She recalled how he’d boasted about the impressivethingawaiting at camp, and how there were more at his next destination. Cora hadn’t taken his words as anything more than a poor attempt at seduction, but now it all made sense.
There were more captive unicorns. More tormented fae.
