Piers Anthony - Unicorn Point

After three hours Fleta returned. Obviously she had been grazing near the village, in her natural form. Tania didn’t care; she knew that the ears, eyes and nose of a unicorn missed nothing, and that if anything had approached this house, the mare would have intercepted it. The mare might not care for her, Tania, at all, but when the mare was committed to stand guard, the mare would be the best possible guard.

Also, the mare would have known immediately had any thing occurred between Bane and Tania in the house. One night, Tania intended to give the mare excellent grounds for her concern. But that would take time, because of the stricture against employing the Eye. Even if it were not for that, it would be pointless to use it on Bane; it would have greatly diminished effect on him, and thereafter he would be proof against it. No, she had to win him the hard way.

Tania roused herself. “Very well, animal; I be alert.” The mare’s ears seemed to flatten against her skull, though she was in human form at the moment. She departed again, for further grazing; this time she would sleep while doing it. Tania spent her watch time pondering the quest they were on. Where could that brat have gone? If he’d assumed bird form, he could be anywhere—but surely he would have lacked the flying experience and stamina to wing far, for none had ever seen him assume that form before. Where could he have gone that was near to where he started from? South, maybe, to the Purple Mountain Range. But there were few unicorns there, and few human folk, and many predators. Translucent was probably right: he had assumed another form, a fourth form. What would that be? That of an elf or gnome? Or a dragon?

Nothing seemed to make much sense. Well, he had to have assumed some form, and she would find that form. In due course.

She gazed at the sleeping Bane. Oh, he was a handsome cuss! And a talented one, too. An excellent match for her. It was really infuriating that the mixup of the exchange of iden tities had occurred, bringing him love in Proton before Tania had had proper opportunity to take him. She had been as sured that he would be hers, so had not rushed it, preferring to have him pursue her, not she him, so that most of the con cessions would have been his to make. Who needed the other frame? She would have roped him in, in time, and the issue between Adepts would have been settled in favor of the Tan Demesnes before it ever came to a head. But everything had gone awry, and only now, with the interruption in contact, did she have a proper chance at him again.

She daydreamed, how it would be. Perhaps she would let him have some modicum of pleasure, before closing down his options. Let him indulge his appetite on her body, convinced it was his own idea. Then, slowly, gradually, she would assume control, and finally indulge her appetites on his body. A man could experience a lot of pain, and not only of the body, when things were properly managed. At first she would scream in simulated rapture as he took her; later he would scream in unsimulated agony as she took him. But there would never be, of course, aught that showed. “Ah, I have plans for thee, fair man,” she murmured, her eyes dwelling fondly on him.

But first she would have to win him away from his alien creature lover in Proton. That would not be easy—but of course there was pleasure in the challenge, too. When her watch was up, she arranged herself artfully in the lone shaft of moonlight that entered the house, draped her cloak so that one breast and parts of both thighs were dimly illuminated, and called to him. “Bane—it be thy turn.” He woke. His eyes opened, scanned the ceiling, then dropped to orient on her. She lifted her knees so that nothing but shadow masked the space between her thighs; he would see only the most tantalizing suggestion. “Thy watch,” she reminded him innocently.

He squinted, attempting to fathorn the shadow; then he caught himself, and stretched, trying to make it seem that he hadn’t looked. “Got it,” he agreed, standing. “Where be Fleta?”

“Where else? Out grazing. It requires much fodder to maintain a mass like hers.”

He did not answer. He walked around the room, getting his circulation going. Tania lay down to resume her sleep, drawing the cloak across her torso imperfectly, so that neither breast nor thigh was fully covered. Let him gaze at her while she slept, as she had gazed at him! He would deny it, most of all to himself, but he would desire her. Desire was the hook that would hold him, night after night, until at last she reeled him in. That was a man’s most singular weakness: his inability to control his lust.

At dawn she woke, discovering herself completely covered by the cloak. Had she moved it in her sleep, changing it as she turned, or had Bane done it? It hardly mattered, yet she was inordinately curious.

She sat up and stretched, so that her belly thinned and her breasts lifted, choosing her moment when Bane was facing her. Then she stood and pulled the cloak on over her head, and shook her hair into place. She stepped out back to the privy, then took the short walk to the stream near the village where she could wash her face and arms. This was not exactly the Tan Demesnes, but it was a pleasant enough bucolic locale, and she rather liked it. She saw Fleta in animal form, still grazing in the near distance, and marveled again how the rovot could love such a creature, knowing her to be an animal. Bane’s dalliances with her in the early days had been but natural; a young man experimented on whatever was available. So did a young woman; Tania had practiced both Eye and sex with village louts, getting the details of it straight. She knew how to make a man respond. But love? Marriage? Reproduction? It was laughable!

She returned to find a breakfast of fruits and nuts and milk in the process of delivery. The townsfolk were being most hospitable! Did this owe more to the Eye she had given the patriarch, or to their ardent wish not to affront the Adepts in any manner, so that there would be no cause to harm the village? A bit of both, she concluded, satisfied. She had for gotten what pleasure it could be to intimidate rustics! Fleta came in to share the meal, resuming human form. “What, not enough greenery?” Tania inquired lightly. “Me thought thou wouldst have got a bellyful by now!”

“Aye,” the mare agreed, giving her a direct look. Bane kept a straight face. Tania smiled, masking her ire; the animal had struck back effectively enough. Well, it was a useful reminder; she might address the mare contemptuously, but she must never forget that this was a canny creature whose intellect was the equal of most full-blooded humans. The king of the snow demons swore by her ability in chess. Tania knew nothing of chess, finding such pastimes boring, but it was said that it required considerable savvy for good playing. She must confine her contempt to her manner, not her belief, or she could one day regret it.

And of course she knew why the mare had come in: she could not graze enough in six hours to carry her the rest of the day and night, unless the foraging was excellent, and here it was only average. Also, she intended to prevent Tania from flirting with Bane during the meal. Lots o’ luck, filly! she thought. It was almost as much fun aggravating the unicorn as it was tempting the man.

So it went for the days and nights until the village personnel assembled. Bane never gave a sign of being affected, but she knew he was, in the way a piling was weakened by the surging water of the shore; eventually it would give way. On the morning of the third day the villagers lined up: a motley collection of men, youths, women and children. They hardly seemed to have a good suit of clothing between them. Tania stood before them and made her statement: “We search for a child who may have joined you this past week. Bring forth your children.”