“Do you know him?” Heather asked.
“No,” Jonah interrupted, “Diten does not know Charles. She’s just particularly friendly.”
Diten then leaned close to Heather and whispered loud enough for Charles to hear, “Maybe I want to know him. Maybe I want to know you.” Her purr seemed a constant in her voice.
“I need to present them to the Queen, Diten.” Jonah said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Make new friends later.”
Diten walked her fingers over Jonah’s hand on her shoulder. “Oh, I will, unless I decide to renew some old friendships.”
As she walked away her hair swayed in an almost mesmerizing dance around her body. Heather grabbed Charles's jaw and turned him to face her. “I think we were off to see the Queen. I think we’ve seen enough of Diten.”
“She not often here,” Jonah said. “She’s a friend, but not one of us. She’s not a gypsy.” He led them to a carriage with a balcony. A middle aged woman sat on a pile of pillows on the balcony. “Bow,” Johan told them.
They did and Jonah did as well.
The woman looked up at them then, in a panicked flurry, rolled to her feet, scrambled over the railing of her balcony and knelt on the grass, bowing towards them with her hands outstretched.
Jonah straightened and tapped Charles. He and Heather stood as well. The woman, whom Charles had assumed was the Queen, continued to prostrate herself before them.
“I’m not sure this is what I expected,” Heather said. “Isn’t she the Queen?”
“She is.” Jonah grabbed Charles’ arm and nodded to the queen. “Tell her she may rise.”
These folks had strange customs, Charles thought. “You may rise,” Charles said as gently as he could. When Jonah released his arm, Charles stepped up to offer the Queen his hand. The queen took his hand, but kept her head bowed towards him as she climbed to her feet.
“Thank you, Majesty,” the Queen said. “We’ve been expecting you.”
“Now I’m twice confused,” Charles said. Why would a queen be expecting him, and why would she address him with such an honorific as ‘Majesty’?
Jonah stepped to the Queen’s side. “Charles is not yet fully aware of who he is.”
“Then it’s time he was,” The queen said. “My name is Queen Azalea of the Wandering Rose Clan. Your name is Kehet, Prince of the Unicorns.”
“I’m who of what?” Charles asked. The name was familiar from Jonah’s stories. He looked around to see if a crowd had gathered to see how they’d react to the Queen’s joke. Surely, this had to be a joke. A crowd had gathered, but no one was laughing.
Heather was nodding.
“Do you know something I don’t?” Charles whispered.
“It makes sense,” Heather said.
“Unicorns aren’t even real.” Charles said.
“That’s a myth,” Jonah said.
“Right,” Charles agreed. “Unicorns are a myth.”
Jonah shook his head. “No, the part about them not being real is a myth. They’re quite real. They just don’t like to be hunted, so they like to keep the myth that they are a myth going.”
“Woman,” The Queen said, addressing Heather. “You said this made sense; how?”
“He could be anyone,” Heather said. “I found him by the river three years ago. He had no memories at that time and still can’t remember anything before that. And he heals unlike a normal person would. I saw him return to how he looks now from a body covered in nothing but charred flesh. There was an explosion at the Blackstone mines. He wouldn’t be alive if he were human.”
“So you would be Heather?” The Queen said, it barely sounded like a question so much as a confirmation. “Thomas told us to expect both of you. Jonah’s been out looking for you for almost three weeks.”
“Thomas?” Charles asked.
“This town of Blackstone, from whence you came, must be quite remote,” The Queen said. The mirth in her tone was the first lightening of the mood since they’d arrived at the Gypsies’ town. “Jonah, tell them who Thomas is.”
“Thomas Boncanta is the greatest bard to ever live.” Jonah said. “And, some myths say that he’s lived forever and some say he’s lived forever thrice. I know him as a close friend, as I know you as a close friend, or knew you until your disappearance a millennia ago. About a decade ago, Thomas dropped of a box for the two of you when you returned. That was the last anyone has seen of Thomas. He told me he was setting sail to see the other continents. He had some secret to keep.”
The Queen went to her wagon, this time using a door on the side. When she returned she held a simple and crudely carved wooden box. She opened the box and presented the contents to Charles and Heather. “The bracelets are for the Wizard, the ring for the Unicorn.”
Heather gagged and gasped. No one had mentioned her talents.
“Your secret is safe among us,” The Queen said. “Gypsies may have the reputation for not recognizing property and selling anything and everything, but we keep secrets.” She handed the box to Jonah then pulled the bracelets out and offered to help Heather put them on. The bracelets were gold and wide enough to cover most of Heather’s forearm. They looked heavy. As soon as the inside of the bracer touched Heather’s skin, they flowed onto her, appearing almost molten then hardening again on her arms. They were skin tight.
“How strange,” Heather said. “They’re very comfortable, they feel soft inside but…” The tapped her arms together and the bracelets emitted a dull metallic thud. “They are rock hard on the outside. They’re pretty but, how do I take them off?”
“You don’t,” Queen Azalea said. “But panic not; they are not a bad thing. These are enchanted to prevent you from channeling more fire than you can control. Such explosions as the one in Blackstone are all but impossible with those on.”
Heather held out her hands, cupped with her palms towards the sky. A sphere of flame formed in the air above her hands. With a sudden lift, Heather flung the fire into the sky where it exploded like a firework. “I can still work my magic,” she said. “I did not take responsibility for the explosion, just to be clear.”
“A Wizard and an explosion at the same location are rarely unrelated,” the Queen said. “For you, Kehet, I have this simple ring.” She pulled from the box a wrought silver ring in the form of a stylized Unicorn chasing its tail, biting the end. “Thomas said this will aid you in discovering your true form.”
“Thanks,” Charles said. Though he was still unsure who they thought he was, he accepted the ring. He tried it on several of his fingers to discover it fit almost perfectly on his left middle finger.
“It’s time to eat,” Queen Azalea said. “I eat alone in my wagon, but you are welcome to join the rest of the Gypsies at the tables. Kehet and Heather, you will always be welcome at our tables.” She bowed towards Kehet and then walked back to the door of her wagon.
“I think tonight’s meal is carrots stewed in potatoes,” Jonah said. “Like I said, we were expecting you, so we won’t be serving meat for a while.”
“How do you know that I can’t stomach meat?” Charles asked. But he realized they seemed to know so much about him, that they knew his diet hardly seemed surprising.
“All Unicorns are vegetarian,” Jonah said. “And, like I said, I know you.”
“I’m not a vegetarian,” Heather said. “I’ll be fine for tonight, but a week without meat seems unpleasant.”
“There will be meat available, just not served at dinner,” Jonah said. “I wouldn’t worry. We’ll take care of you while you are with us and with those bracelets, you shouldn’t feel the need to be so rushed in your journey. There are people here who would like to talk to you both.”
“Are you gypsies always this friendly?” Heather asked.
“Not at all,” Jonah laughed. “The Gypsies of the Wandering Rose don’t normally allow outsiders near our camp. They get a bit paranoid it might be someone who wants to take something, and by take something I usually mean taking it back. The Gypsies make most of their living through honest means, making clothes from imported silk, carved trinkets and such. But if one sees something they like and can’t think of a reason why it shouldn’t be theirs, they just take it.
