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Dusk didn’t know what to say.
“How... how is that even possible?” he asked, looking back at Meadow. “Queen Lobelia claims to have hunted them all to extinction.”
She gestured back to her father who replied, “She has no doubt it’s a unicorn foal. How long has she been like this?”
“Maybe three weeks? A month?”
Meadow continued as her father translated. “She’s already much further along than she would be with a normal foal. Most horses carry for at least eleven months before giving birth, but at this rate, she’ll be ready in six.” He watched Meadow for a moment before continuing. “She’ll need special care and lots to eat at this rate. As soon as the baby is born you’ll need to hide it. There are lots of people in the world who would pay a mountain of gold for a live unicorn, or just the horn if they can’t take it alive.”
“What have you done?” Tara grunted, looking up at Maribel. She turned to face Dusk. “This is what comes of spoiling her rotten all the damn time. Now she’s pregnant and there’s no father to be seen and we’re gonna get stuck with a high maintenance child. Perfect.”
“How is it my fault the farmer let her escape while he was supposed to be watching her?” Dusk called back.
Meadow began signing again, her father translating. “Unicorns are far more intelligent than humans and also possess inherent magic powers,” he said, trying to keep up with his daughter. “He probably let her out himself. She was chosen.”
“Great,” Tara scoffed, throwing her arms up. “Just what we need, another chosen one on this journey.”
Dusk glared at her, but turned back to Meadow, giving her a nod and a smile. “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of her and the foal when it’s born. Nothing will happen to them, you have my word.”
Meadow responded, her father’s voice trailing behind. “She’s glad to hear it. She says you should keep an eye open for the father when the time gets close, he’ll be sure to be there.”
“He would travel all that way?”
“The unicorns are almost extinct. He’s probably trying to rebuild their population.”
Dusk looked to Meadow’s father. “How do you two know all this? If they’re almost extinct and it’s so rare?”
Meadow looked at her father. He nodded to her with a gentle smile and she began to sign once more, her father speaking behind her and translating directly. “When I was a child I was very adventurous. I was always going out on horseback into the wilderness, looking for animals to watch, feed, or rescue. My father wasn’t very fond of all the injured creatures I brought home.” She turned back to look at him, both of them smiling. “But one day while I was out, something spooked my horse and I was thrown off. It ran back home, but I was trapped in the woods as darkness fell. It wasn’t long before a pack of wolves picked up my scent. Being small and unarmed, they were on my trail quickly.” Her signs were quick, but her face was contorted as if she were reliving a dark memory. “I tried to climb a tree, but one of the branches fell. They attacked. The first wolf had its jaws around my throat before I could scream. I was in so much pain, I thought I would die. But then I saw a bright flash of white, the wolf was thrown off of me, and then I passed out.
“The next morning I woke, warm and comfortable in the middle of the forest. A magnificent white horse was curled around me, keeping me warm. I touched my neck and found all my wounds healed miraculously, but I could no longer speak. As I tried to sneak away, the horse lifted his head and spoke to me. It was then I finally saw his ivory horn.” Meadow paused, her eyes glazed over as if she were seeing the unicorn again just in front of her. “He told me he saved me, but that he couldn’t fix all the damage that had been done. He brought me back home to my father safely. Over the next year, he visited often, teaching me how the horses thought, communicated, and functioned. Then he told me about his own people and how they were going missing. He said he wanted to bring them back.” Meadow looked up at Dusk, her eyes shining. “The sire to this foal may be the same unicorn that saved me.”
Dusk just stood there, flabbergasted at what he was hearing. Magic, dragons, and unicorns. Once his world had been nothing but sleep and salt mining, day in and day out. He never would have guessed there were so many odd and wonderful things out there. Thinking back to the night in the rain, west of Watersedge, he remembered the flowery smell and the flash of white in the distance. They had been followed on purpose.
“Hold on a second,” Tara said, holding her hand up. “The unicorn could talk?”
“Yes,” Meadow responded through her father. “They are much smarter than people and they have magical powers, usually directed towards healing.”
“By the gods,” Tara murmured in Dusk’s direction. “I thought they were just a legend. Now we’ve got talking horses.”
Dusk gave a sideways glance at Lex, forgetting he was still mad at him for a moment. The smallest hint of a smile pulled at Lex’s lips before Dusk forced his gaze away. He turned back to Meadow and her father, trying to remember to stay on task.
“Thank you so much for all of your advice,” he said with a slight bow of his head. “We wouldn’t know how to care for her otherwise.” He looked back at Tara who was beginning to tap her foot on the ground. “We could use some extra feed for her and we still need a couple of horses and the cart.”
“Right! Of course,” the man replied, palming his forehead. “I almost forgot!”
He ran off leaving Meadow standing amongst the group. Dusk gave her a quick smile. He wanted to continue talking with her, but without her father to translate, it would just be him talking to her. Instead he stayed silent, letting her move around Maribel, checking her hooves, the inside of her mouth, and listening to her belly. It wasn’t long before he came jogging back with a couple of halters, a little out of breath.
“Meadow, go round up the two geldings will you? They’ll be best for this type of journey.”
She gave a curt nod and gracefully hopped the fence. The herd of horses took off and she went chasing after them. Her father watched on for a moment, laughing, before turning back to the group.
“Thank you for being kind to my little girl,” he said to Dusk. “Not many people take the time to listen to her since she lost her voice, but you didn’t even so much as look the other way.”
“I... I didn’t know people did that. I’m sorry.”
“She’s a strong kid,” he replied, looking out across the pasture as Meadow roped one of the horses. “I worry about what she’ll do when I’m gone. I’m the only one that can speak for her.”
“No,” Tara stated, stepping up to Dusk’s side. “That’s not true. She proved today that she can speak for herself. If the people of this town want a qualified horse breeder to do business with, they best learn to talk to her. Maybe it’s time you stopped speaking for her and forced others to begin listening.”
The man looked up at her, his eyes a bit glassy. “You’re right,” he sighed. “She can do this, she’s proven that. Maybe I just need to let her run on her own. I’ve wanted to protect her ever since the accident. With no mother around, it was hard enough with just the two of us.”
Tara took a few steps, lifting a hand to rest on his shoulder. “She’s a woman now, and a strong one at that. If she can chase down and rope those horses, she can put anyone in their place that doesn’t treat her right.” Tara paused for a moment, gazing at him thoughtfully. She pulled a sheathed dagger from her belt, handing it over to him. “And this will help, just in case of an emergency.”
He looked down at the blade and began to laugh. “If you’d ever been on the receiving end of her right hook, you’d know she doesn’t need a blade.” He took the offered gift. “But thank you. I’m grateful for your kindness.”
“Here,” Tara added, pulling out half the coins Captain Benbow had given them. “For the cart, horses, and the spare feed.”
He looked down at the cloth bag bulging with gold. “That’s way too much! I can’t take all of that!”
Tara had to lean down to look directly into his eyes. “You make sure that girl has a good life, you hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied automatically, catching the sack of gold Tara dropped into his hands.
“I’m gonna check back in on her someday and if I hear anything to the contrary, if you aren’t in the ground yet, you will be.”
The farmer swallowed hard. The conversation had shifted from pleasant to threatening in under a second, which wasn’t that odd when Tara was around.
“Don’t scare the man to death, Tara!” Dusk called, walking up beside her and turning to the man. “Please forgive her, she gets a little passionate sometimes.”
“And I mean every word I said.”
“Yes, ma’am. It won’t be a problem at all, ma’am.”
The farmer totally ignored Dusk who rolled his eyes and leaned back. Off to his right, he heard the approach of hooves and turned to see Meadow pulling along a dappled gray horse and another that was solid black. Both looked to be well behaved and strong, towering over even Tara once they got to the fence.
Meadow began to sign again and her father translated, still glancing at Tara between words. “This is Bruno and Gus. They’ll get you wherever you need to go without a problem. They can drive a bit hard sometimes, but they’re very sweet.”
“Thank you, Meadow,” Tara nodded, stepping up to the fence. “I told your father that the people in this village are going to start treating you differently, but you need to be tough with them, okay? No more of this translating all the time, they need to learn to accommodate you.”
Meadow looked to her father with one eyebrow raised.
“Don’t look at me, listen to her,” he said, gesturing back to Tara.
“And if anyone gives you a hard time, tell them you’ve seen bigger dicks on mosquitos and then punch them.”
Meadow’s face twisted into a wide grin as she clapped her hand over her mouth. After a moment she pulled it away, and still smiling, signed a few more symbols into the air.
“By the gods...” her father sighed. “Why did you have to teach her to say that?”