Black Unicorn, Tanith Lee [famous ebook reader txt] 📗

sky, carved with prayers or quotations. Onthe ninth day they reached another waterhole. On the sixteenthday, near sunset, there was a large oasis of palms, acacias, and figtrees, with a village at its edge. Tanaquil was nervous; they mightput her off here. Nothing else had had to be mended, and sheadded weight to the cart in which she traveled. The peeve, too,had caused problems. Although she had still been able to con vince listeners that its grumblings and exclamations were an oddtype of barking, she had seen various people, including the mer chants who rode in the silk cages, making superstitious signsagainst the peeve. Twice it had gone among these merchants’shelters at night and used someone’s costly rug as a bathroom.The previous night had been the worst. The peeve had laid itsdung near the head of sleeping Gork, then, in covering it, nearlyburied the man alive. However, no sooner were they in the oasis,than frowning Gork’s gold pocket watch ceased ticking. Havingshaken it, cursed it, and hurled it in the sand, Gork found Tanaquil at his elbow. He gave her the watch with awful threats,but she repaired it in half an hour. Not even a hint was madeafter this that Tanaquil should leave the caravan.

The leader she seldom saw. He rode by day as the merchants

did, in a bulb of silk pulled over a wicker frame, on a camel. Theother men in charge of the caravan gave orders, shouted, laid down the law on every topic, discussed chariot races, and playedviolent gambling games. The male servants treated Tanaquil muchas one of themselves, although she was a girl and thereforeinferior. She had been given their castoffs to replace her gaudydress. As far as she could tell from splits in the sacks, smells, andaccidents, the caravan carried cakes of soap, sugar, conifer in cense, and paper, from a city to the east. Tanaquil had neverheard of this city. Her mother, who had given her lessons, hadonly ever spoken of the city to the west. Was this significant?

Mostly Tanaquil tried not to think of her mother at all.

Also, she tried not to think of the unicorn.

The unicorn was something so bizarre that it could onlyhappen once. If that. Perhaps it had assisted her in the desert, orperhaps she had only made that up. Maybe the bush had caughtalight in the cold cave naturally. Maybe she had only crawled byherself towards the well.

It seemed to her now that it was possible she and the peeve had not found anything under the rock hill. That nothing hadgone wrong at Jaive’s feast except that Tanaquil herself had flungopen a door and run away.

One morning she actually said to the peeve, “Do you recallthe starry bone you found?”

“Bone?” said the peeve gladly, “where?”

And a merchant going by, fanning himself, glared at thepeeve and made the sign against evil spirits.

It was the nineteenth day of Tanaquil’s journey with thecaravan, and a wonderful sunset inflamed the sky, glowing ver milion and amber, with clouds in the west like furled magenta wings. The general opinion was that they would reach the citythe following evening. Everyone was pleased, and the servantshad all day given Tanaquil tales of the city that were plainly quiteabsurd. The city’s prince was supposed, for example, to have apalace of white marble fifteen stories high. Tanaquil nodded politely.

In the afternoon they had passed a great obelisk with a brassarrow at its top pointing west. The prayer on the obelisk read:We give thanks to God, who brings us to Sea City.

The desert changed. Low rocky cliffs drew up out of thedunes, and then the cliffs had dry brown shrubs on them, and

here and there a warped, wild tree. As the light blushed, theycame into round hills with stands of green cedar. Flocks were pastured, and little villages lay in every direction, one after an other, with their fires and lamps burning up like bits of the redsky.

The leader came down from his cage and mounted a mule.He rode at the head of the caravan, with Gork walking besidehim. “We’ll spend the night at Horn Spring,” said the leader in a ritualistic, syrupy voice.

Tanaquil felt something like a twitch of a curtain inside hermind.

She turned to one of the servants, Foot.

“Why is it called Horn Spring?”

“A sacred legend of the city,” said Foot.

“An ignorant villager like me,” said Tanaquil, “hasn’t heardof it.”

“No,” sneered Foot. He decided to be nice to her. “Theysay a prince from the city came there. It was a very sandy year,and he was parched with thirst. He asked the God for water, and a beast with a horn ran up out of the desert and cleft a rock withthis horn, and out burst the water.”

“How convenient,” said Tanaquil. The hair had risen on herscalp.“Watch it, your funny animal’s in the soap again,” said Foot.

The sky was wine-red, fading. The caravan wound up adusty trail and they were on a bare dark hill. Above, the top ofthe hill ended in a big rock, like a chimney. Under the rock was agrove of trees and another well with a stone curb, which was notspectacular. The leader got off his mule and, going to the well,thanked God for the caravan’s safe arrival.

The camp was made below the grove, and water drawn fromthe well. Foot advised Tanaquil to drink some, as it was veryhealth-giving and said to grant wishes. Tanaquil, though, did notgo to look at the well; it was dark now, and growing cold, thethin snow whipping out on a buffeting wind that rose soon afterthe sun set.

Tanaquil sat near one of the fires and ate her rations, sharingthem with the peeve. “What shall we do in Sea City?” she said toit, then hastily, “Don’t say anything, here’s Gork.”

“Nasty,” said the peeve.

“That animal really does have an odd bark,” said Gork. The

peeve snarled and went under a cart with a salted biscuit. “Whatwill you do in the city?” Gork asked Tanaquil with unknowing repetition.

“Oh, this and that.” Gork studied his pocket watch, tapped his boots and whis tled.