'Oh,' said Princess Alanah. 'I see. You would like to come closer.'
'I would indeed, my lady,' the unicorn replied, raising its head from the bow in, oh, such a graceful arc.
Its voice, too, was mellow - and melodic.
'Please,' Alanah croaked. She cleared her throat as the unicorn stepped a soft clop across the forest floor towards her.
Then, it knelt, and settled down beside her. 'You are unwell.'
'I am,' she said, sighing. 'I don't suppose you know what it is? My sickness, I mean.'
'Nay, lady,' the equine replied. 'I am no healer: merely a Two-horned Unicorn.'
Princess Alanah smiled. ‘A twonicorn,’ she suggested.
Something twinkled in the equine's eye. ‘A fortunicorn!’
They chuckled together. Then: 'I expect you're wondering whether it's true,' the Twonicorn continued.
'Whether...' Alanah blinked. 'Sorry: what's true?'
'That meeting me brings good fortune,' the equine replied. 'Well,' it said, with a little snort, 'it is true. See!'
The Fortunicorn lowered its head to the forest floor so that the princess could get a better view. One horn was so transparent, she had thought it merely a branch of a birch that stood across the clearing.
The other horn was all in shadow.
Thanks for reading!
Since
helped me remember that ‘uni-’ means one, I thought it was time to explore the horns that Substack's image generator came up with, back in Part Two. Thanks for the prompt, David!This is the latest of my early entries1 to ‘Thorny Thursday’, a weekly love/romance challenge. Writers include:
@Maribel @The Chronicler @Josh Tatter @Patricia J.L. 👻🧶🖊️ @Jillian Spiridon @Joyce @Miguel S. @TSBOL @Bridget Riley @Bryan Pirolli @Yakubian Ape @Michael S. Atkinson @Michael P. Marpaung @Monte St Aubyn @Lizzy Co @E.B. Howard @T. Dalton Wolf @Carl Brown @DONN's WYKKYD AMBITIONS @Amanda V Shane @Scoot @V Kelly-Sibley @Isha Jain @maryh10000 @Marco @Jasini KC @The Casual Writer @TJ Patton @Jason Link @Rene Volpi @R. H. Snow @Jon T @Saumya Sharma @A.C. Cargill, Author @Jean Marie Bauhaus @Jolan Hildebrandt
and , I'm also publishing an extra post next Thursday (15th Feb) - the inaugral chapter of my ‘Novelling Now and Then’ bonus content.Since that post coincides with TT, and is still a new series for me to write, I'll leave it free to read. I do intend to use the paywall on these, though - the minimum payment here is £55.
Check out the ‘Prologue’ for more info:
Prologue: The Birth of a Writer
Welcome to ‘Novelling Now and Then’! This is a monthly non-fiction series, where I take you behind the scenes of my novel-writing - and help you start your own.
Next Time:
Part Five
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Copyright © E.A. Colquitt 2024
I publish fiction on weekends, after all. Thursdays aren’t great for me right now, but what can I say? I was new to Substack - and looking for a challenge - just as ‘Thorny Thursday’ began…
You are welcome- glad to help.
Cool can't wait for that inaugeral piece!