Page 26 of Winter Goddess
He flutters his eyelashes at me. "Not a word. Although you should know, unicorn babies are born without horns."
"Blaze!"
He cackles. "Don't worry, Princess, my lips are sealed. But if you're ever interested in how unicorn foals are made, you know where to find me."
"Are you propositioning me?" I ask, stunned.
"No, I'm offering you a science lesson. I'm not into humanoids."
"Thank the Gods."
He grins and gets up on all fours, shaking his shimmering mane.
"Now, why have you come, if not to get sparklies and talk about foals?"
I take a deep breath, before blurting out, "I'm becoming Queen."
He doesn't react surprised at all. "Was there ever any question about that?"
"Yes! My mother is still alive and usually, one Queen has to die before another is crowned."
"Technicalities," he says dismissively. "You've got the makings of a great Queen, and that's what counts."
"Thanks, I think," I mutter, a bit disappointed that I won't be able to get any commiseration from him either. I wish my mum was here. I could do with a hug and some whispered words of confidence and comfort. But no, the Morrigan has taken her away from me. I'll never be able to snuggle against her again. She'll never be able to hold me ever, ever again. The gravity of it all slams down on my heart. I've grieved, but there is still so much sadness deep within me. It hurts.
"Sparklies?" Blaze whispers, but I glare at him and step away.
"Don't tempt me. Please, don't."
He nods. "Sorry, bad joke. Do you want to talk? Is that what humans do?"
"I guess they do, but there's not much to talk about. My mum's dead, my mother is so weak she couldn't even talk to me today, and my dad is traumatised. Everybody wants me to be Queen, but all I want is time to deal with what's happened and spend time with my men. I just want some peace and quiet, Blaze."
He's quiet for a moment, watching me through his dark, beautiful eyes. Then he says, "Touch my horn, Princess."
"No way!" I protest. I have no intentions of blubbering nonsense about baby unicorns again, or worse.
"It's not for sparklies," he explains. "I want to give you that moment of peace that you're craving. No side effects, I promise, and there won't be any time passing here while you're gone. Special unicorn magic."
He gives me a wink. Do I trust him? Well, that's the wrong question. I trust him to be on my side and not to kill me. Do I trust him not to mess with my head and turn me into a lunatic for his own amusement? I'm not so sure about that.
"I promise," he repeats. "It's nothing bad. You helped me, now this is me helping you in return."
"No sparklies?" I ask one last time and he shakes his head with a smile.
"Definitely no sparklies."
"Okay then... but if you're lying about this, I'm going to make you a very, very dead unicorn. I'm sure a unicorn pelt would look lovely on my office floor."
He winces. "I'm about to retract my offer."
Before he can do that, I touch his horn and am whisked away from the courtyard and through the magnificent light of a sparkling rainbow.
* * *
I know this place.There’s no mistaking the familiar rock formation on the pristine white beach. I’ve been here many times on family holidays. Barra, one of the islands of the Outer Hebrides, an island where the plane lands on the beach. I used to love that as a child. Oh, who am I kidding, I loved it as an adult too. That moment when the plane wheels hit the ground and sand is thrown into the air, hiding the tiny little airport from view. We got stranded there twice because the plane couldn’t take off due to high winds. It’s a beautiful place, but why am I here?
"To relax!"
