Tales of Arilland by Alethea Kontis

Author:Alethea Kontis [Kontis, Alethea]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Fiction, Short Stories, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781942541066
Publisher: Alethea Kontis
Published: 2015-06-09T16:00:00+00:00

Unicorn Gold

Once upon a time, there lived a selfish young prince who was very bored. Moping about his castle one day, he overheard two men talking about a unicorn in the Wood. Unicorns were the most beautiful creatures in all the land, with hide like clouds and hair like rain and eyes like love, but they were swift and nigh impossible to catch. The only way anyone might capture one was with a harness of gold, fashioned by the hunter’s own hand.

Suddenly, the prince wanted a unicorn more than anything in the world.

Knowing that he could not ask his father to fund his quest, he brought a small chest of what gold coins he had down to the smithy. The prince promised a third of the finished product for teaching him how to make the harness.

“It is not enough gold, highness,” said the smith. “Then I shall borrow some,” said the prince. And so he did. But his friends were all as selfish as he, and they did not spare much.

“It is not enough gold, highness,” said the smith. “Then I shall beg for some,” said the prince. And so he did, dressing in vagrant’s robes and shaking a cup in the streets. But his subjects were all as selfish as he, and they did not spare much.

“It is still not enough gold, highness,” said the smith. “Then I shall steal some,” said the prince. And so he did, creeping into the jeweler’s shop late at night and selecting the finest golden wares. But this jeweler was no ordinary shopkeep; he was a fairy who magicked his wares. The night after a theft, every bit of stolen gold, and any other gold kept beside it, would find its way back to its rightful owner.

Ignorant of the curse, the prince brought his bounty to the smith, who finally proclaimed it enough. By midday he was done his hammering, by late afternoon he wandered the Wood, and by dusk he was tired enough to rest his weary bones against the trunk of a sturdy old tree. By nightfall, he was asleep. And as the stars winked into the black heavens, so did the golden harness disappear bit by bit: a third back to the jeweler, a third back to those who had given their charity, and a third to the coffers of the patient smith for payment.

When the unicorn woke him, the prince stared up at her gleaming horn, her skin like clouds, her hair like wind, and her eyes like love. She smelled like mist and whispers. She felt like peace and home. She stood right there before him, and he had nothing to hold her.

“Silly, selfish prince,” said the unicorn. “There was never a harness made of metal that could capture me. It is only gold from the heart which binds me.” She laid her gleaming horn upon his breast. “Had you fashioned a harness from what lay in here, you might have had me.” She lifted her head. “A false heart never won true love.

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