BY RAY E. LIPINSKI

Caledon had made the journey from Lindashire to the market in Falkirk a thousand times in boredom, dreading the thought of overseeing the sale of the new cattle.  It was late spring, and Caledon knew, being the overseer for his father, this was one of the menial tasks of being nobility.  But the last few trips he was anxious and gleefully happy, and for the third time since the journey began, he broke out in song. The troupe traveling together all rolled their eyes. John, Caledon’s Master-At -Arms just shook his head in exasperation. 

“Oh, not that weary song about the distraught gray-haired maiden?” 

Caledon pretended to be hurt and sang louder. “But upon the knight’s kiss, her hair turned to gold…”

“Will you sing that to Freya behind the grove today, my Lord?”

“Aye, I most certainly will.”  

“Your liking of mistress Freya will not sit well with your father,” warned John.

“Aye, I know.  You’ve told me a thousand times. We will find a way.” Caledon knew John was right, but he could not help himself.  True love had struck when he had first seen Freya at the Christmas banquet his family held each year for the entire village, and for the last five months Freya was all he could think about.  

The market was bustling with all kinds of activity. The recent rains that had plagued the countryside were over, bringing out farmers and villagers alike to sell their wares.  Pilgrims were on the road to see the Shrine of St. Columba and were stopping by and of course the cattle and sheep auction was being held that had brought Caledon.  There was a general excitement in the air as Caledon saw in the distance a group of men playing the athletic games of the caber toss and stone putting and children running to and from with painted faces waving flags and pennants. 

Caledon knew exactly where he was going as he led his horse into the walled complex that housed the market. There were a few makeshift buildings and a dozen or so wooden stalls, but most were just homemade tents tied to poles.  Candle makers, soap makers, dyers of clothes and several booths selling everything from bread to exotic fruit and other delicacies.   Caledon tied his horse to one of the posts and walked towards the last row of stalls.  His heart skipped a beat and he smiled to himself as he saw Freya from across the yard talking with the vendor next to her.  Old Elias was famous throughout the land for his smoked and salted eel.  Caledon’s stomach growled at the thought of eating a few of them, but he was more excited at seeing Freya.  He rushed quietly from behind picking her up and swinging her around gleefully.  

“Hello, my love, the beauty of the day has now begun.”

“The wait has been too long my Lord.” Freya giggled with delight and then kissed him eagerly.  

“My Lord,” interrupted John, “the auction has already started, and we have yet to get the cattle situated.”

Throwing a leather pouch at John that contained gold coin for any purchases and the stamp of the family seal needed for parchment transactions, Caleb gave a deep bow, then grabbing Freya’s hand, took off in a run and shouted, “I trust your good judgment, Sir, but matters of the heart must be attended to first.” 

“They certainly must,” agreed Freya. 

The couple ran around the outside of the market walls and down a small slope where an old barn and hayloft stood dilapidated, one of their favorite trysting places.  They laughed and smiled and exchanged kisses before falling onto a fresh bed of hay strewn on the floor.  Their passions became heated, and they both laughed as their clothes were now covered in hay.  Caledon’s shirt was already unbuttoned, and he began to pull at Freya’s corset, desire burning in both their eyes. 

“No, my Lord,” Freya said with a half-wicked smile, “anything more will have to wait until our wedding night.”

“An event that will never happen, I’m sure!”

The enamored couple looked up to see Caledon’s father standing in the doorway. 

“FATHER!”

“Lord Ross!,” Freya said embarrassingly

“Boy, gather yourself together and make haste to Lindashire to be dealt with. Sara tend to your daughter.”

Freya’s mother Sara entered the shed, her face flushed with anger. 

“Oh God!,” moaned Freya.

“Yes. God help you, child,” yelled Sara.

Once all were outside two guards walked over and stood on either side of Caledon.

“What is this? Am I under arrest?,” barked Caledon.

“No, my idiot son. They are going to make sure you return home.”

Caledon began to protest but the guards forcibly led him away. 

Freya began to weep and ran off back toward the market. 

Lord Andrew looked cross but sad.

“I am sorry, Sara. You know that it cannot be.”

“Oh yes, all too well my lord. Funny how history has a way of repeating itself.” Sara looked at Andrew in a longingly stare, gave a slight bow and made her way back to the market.  Lord Andrew watched her with the same stare until she disappeared back into the crowd.  

The Great Hall had never heard such shouting when Caledon burst through the oak doors yelling at the top of his lungs. 

“How dare you, Father? How dare you try and come between me and the woman I love!”
“You impetuous boy, SIT DOWN! You know nothing could come of this flirtation. You are of noble birth, and she is a peasant girl. Nothing else need be said.”

“First of all, I love her, and she is an artisan, not a peasant.  Half of the blankets and tapestries hanging in this castle come from her loom and nobody seems to care.  I will marry her.”

Pounding his fists on the table, Lord Andrew exclaimed, “No, no you will not!”

Father and son argued until nightfall, neither one of them giving up their side of the argument.  

“You cannot do whatever you want or marry whomever you want. I am living proof of that. So, unless you can find the King’s Ransom, bring me a unicorn or slay a dragon in the hopes of winning the King’s favor and securing a knighthood, you are never to see Freya again.”

“I’ll do just that, Father. Wrong time of the year to hunt a dragon, the King’s Ransom is just some fable, but I know where to go for a unicorn.”

“Oh, do you now? Well, then bring me back a real unicorn and all of this will be solved!,” laughed Lord Andrew.

Glaring with a contemptuous look, Caledon responded, “You will remember this day, Father, when Freya and I are living in this castle.” Caledon stormed out of the hall. 

Three days later Caledon had arranged a hunting party and along with John had set out before dawn.  At the gate of the village Caledon met Freya.  He told her of his plan to secure their future and said he would not return until his task was complete.  She wished him well and waved at the group until they were out of site.  They traveled along the Old King’s Road into the Darcientra forest for a full day until they came upon Hunter’s Pass.  This was the boundary between the lowlands and highlands and the Orkny valley where the rumors of the unicorn’s playground evolved.  A few miles into the valley the hunting group descended into a grove of trees.  While the onset looked like just a cropping of about twelve trees, once inside, the grove seemed to expand and stretch for miles.  

“This is unnatural” John exclaimed. “This is a man-made path.”

“Aye, like something is leading us here to go forward.” replied Caledon.

“It’s the fairy folk my Lord, we should be cautious “one of the guards added.  

The grove seemed to increase in foliage, the trees and their branches clinging to each other at times seemingly to block out the morning light, only leaving shadows.  The path lead around a steep corner and John gasped. 

“Look at that my Lord, the ground is covered in white thistles.” 

“Surely a sign that the magical beast treads here and is close by.” whispered Caledon as he dismounted his horse.  

John followed, grabbing his crossbow and securing it across his back.  Likewise, Caledon retrieved his sword and made sure it was fastened securely against his belt.  Ordering his men to stay with the horses, he signaled John to follow him, and they disappeared behind the bend.  What now seemed like a wooded cathedral, stood the largest grouping of oak and magnolia trees Caledon had ever seen. The branches of the oak trees on either side grew up and over making a natural umbrella.  The magnolia trees were in full bloom with their intoxicating, perfumed scent heavy in the air.  Caledon noticed that there were exactly six trees on either side of them and they were perfectly aligned opposite of each other. Definitely not natural, for God does not grow in straight lines 

“I remember my mother telling me a story of when she would follow the men on their hunting expeditions, she said you could tell when unicorns were close because the thistles would turn white…. she told me about this place… she would leave pomegranates for them to eat.”

“Aye, the Lady Ella was always feeding animals of some sort, made Lord Andrew crazy.”

 The men continued walking down the wooded path and at the end of the tree line came to a formation of large flat like rocks that seemed purposely laid out to form what looked like steps and where the white thistles abruptly stopped.  

“This can’t be it,” said Calderon.

“It’s a dead end my Lord.” replied John.

Caledon walked up on the grouping of stones jumping up to the tallest one that almost looked like a platform, John in unison did the same thing.  What happened next was in quick succession.  Both men gasped when they jumped on the rocky platform at what they must have thought was an optical illusion.  Directly beneath them was a sheer drop off that led into a deep gorge. While jumping so fast, both men were startled and lost their balance and fell right over one after the other. In what seemed like eternity, Caledon and John rolled head over heels, tumbling down the side of the gorge. They were protected by a cushion of moss that was growing up the side of the cliff but then they hit something hard, bounced and then landed with a huge thump into a thicket of trees and brush.  Caledon felt something prickly on his forehead and the sensation of somebody wiping his face with what smelled and felt like burlap.  He thought he was dreaming when he opened his eyes and saw what appeared to be a little old man with a grey beard, red shoes and a long grey night cap standing over him.  

“You’re okay lad, come now, sit up, you and your friend will be fit as a fiddle in no time, just a few scrapes.”

Caledon rubbed his eyes and looked over to see John was sitting up and looking around. 

“Where am I, who… who are you?” asked Caledon. 

“I am Fenwick Puppers, I am the watchman here, you are in the Veil of Etherea  

“The veil of what?” asked Caledon.

“The name would mean nothing to you, the Norseman named this place when they would travel across the land to the other side of the sea. It was their favorite roadway to use.” replied Fenwick. 

“I’ve never been to this place.”

“No, no you wouldn’t, hard to find for regular humans, quite hidden we are in this little paradise.”

Caledon heard a small, faint voice, almost like a whisper.

“Are you injured young Caledon?”

Caledon turned around and gasped in utter amazement.  Fenwick pulled his cap off and immediately bent to one knee and bowed his head.  

Standing gallantly a short distance away, before Caledon was a perfect, beaming, dazzling white unicorn, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  He fell back in astonishment, unable to believe the site that was before him. He stammered on the words he couldn’t find…. “I…don’t believe…. I don’t believe it…. you’re a… a unicorn!” 

“Yes, a unicorn, although my ancient name is Rhinocornus but I prefer to be called Avellina.  I see that you are not injured from your fall, a comfort to me that is.”

“It cannot be…” Caledon exclaimed still unbelieving.  

“I assure you, you are not seeing things, yes we are real”

“We…?” asked Caledon.

“Yes, myself, my brother Osimooth, and two sisters, Cyntheena and Michella.”

Suddenly there was a yelp from Fenwick, John had been listening out of site, hiding in the grass and using a sling shot, shot a rock that hit Fenwick square across the face.  He now had a foothold on the little gnome and had his cross bow pulled and aiming at the unicorn. 

“All the more prize for my lord with three additional pointed mares.”

Avellina gasped.  “A pointed mare you call me; you insult me John Lourve” 

“John what are your doing, you fool, put that down.” Yelled Caledon. 

“Securing your knighthood, my lord, we have our prize, the first ever in all of Caledonia to kill a unicorn.”

Avellina, with a half-smile just stood there confidently and then approached John slowly.

“The methods of men, to kill or destroy what they don’t understand and that will solve everything.  You John Lourve are a bully and have not learned anything from when Robert Davies chased you up that cherry tree when you were a wee lad, embarrassing you because you were too scared to fight him in front of your friends.” 

John gasped in surprise at the forthcoming knowledge as he recalled the memory and took a step back, perplexed but then held fast to the bow pulling it again, ready to shoot.  

“What sort of trickery is this?” replied John

“No trickery stupid lad, once you step in the veil the true of heart can always tell what intentions others have” answered Fenwick.

Starring John in the eyes, Avellina walked closer to him until she was a breath away.  “I mean you no harm to you or your master, please help Fenwick up, his ear is bleeding.  Look in your heart John Louvre, nothing is dark here.”

Suddenly the crossbow began to glow, first an ashen white and then an amber red.  John looked down at the weapon, it began smoldering and then started to burn his hands.  John threw it on the nearby grass and upon hitting the ground, at once broke into several pieces like a vase breaking on marble.  As if realizing the error of his ways, he broke into tears.  

“Forgive me, I am sorry my lord, my lady.” 

Then at once he began to tend to Fenwick.  Avellina walked back to Caledon and started off down the trail. 

 “If you follow me young Caledon, I will show you something that will be worth much more than myself in the eyes of your father.”  

After making sure that Fenwick was fine, Caledon leaving his sword and scabbard behind walked alongside the magical beast and they disappeared into the glen.  

They walked along the shore of what was called the Heughan River for what seemed like an entire day.  Avellina seemed to know all about the dilemma that Caledon was having with Freya and the obstacles they faced with their parents.  She told the old story of when Lord Andrew secretly courted Sara, how they were going to elope to France and then lead a peaceful life tending one of his old uncle’s vineyards in Bordeaux.  They had made it to the seaside town of Honfleur and on the morning of their wedding were found out and brought back to Lindashire.  A marriage alliance was quickly made between Andrew and Lady Ella whose family had been in the Highlands for generations.  Sara was promised to much of the delight of Gordon Sinclair a sheep farmer from Midlothian and just far enough away from the castle.  The whole episode was deemed romantic teenage nonsense by the Ross family and as the years went by Andrew and Sara settled into their marriages and grew to love their spouses.  Caledon was amusingly amazed that his father, the great noble lord had once fallen in love with someone “beneath” his station, much less Freya’s mother.  He hoped that wherever they were traveling to and whatever Avellina was going to show him would be enough to change his fate.  He decided to change the subject.  

“Avellina, so all the stories my mother told me, about the unicorn, playing with her, feeding her pomegranates, that was all true, that was you?”  

“Yes, your father loved to hunt in the KayKendry valley, which is only a short distance away, your mother would sit at the edge of the veil where you first came in and just sit there and sing for hours.”

“Ahh, she loved to sing.”

“Yes, her voice was like an angel, always songs about sweet maidens and green, terrible dragons, so one day I had to make an appearance to let her know, not all dragons are green or are bad, there are a few good ones.”

“There are?”

Avellina laughed, “Yes a few and your mother always left a pomegranate for me, I miss those.”

They walked a few more miles encroached in conversation, Caledon eagerly telling her of all his secret meetings with Freya and the plans they had for the future and the dreams they shared. They came around a bend where the river leveled into a lagoon with a beautiful waterfall looming overhead.  Caledon looked around; it was a tranquil scene.  Two swans appeared to be frolicking with each other close to the falls, a pair of blue jays flew overhead lost in song, a fox chasing his tail near his burrow, made everything seem so surreal.   

“I could imagine this is what Heaven might be like, everything is so quiet, peaceful.”

“Yes, not many men have ever trodden in this place, it’s untouched….and under the waterfall is the answer to what you seek”

Avellina pointed with her horn and a small path could be seen leading from a bed of yellow and red tulips up the small embankment that lead to the back of the waterfall.  Caledon anxiously walked down to the water’s edge and began to follow the path which led him to a small crevice about four feet wide.  The sound from the cascading water was now deafening and he was now soaked from the mist.  He jumped across a small ravine and entered the crevice which then opened into a large cave with the waterfall churning overhead.  At once Caledon gasped in utter surprise.  Directly in front of him was what appeared to be a small iron, Viking long boat.  It looked to be about three yards long, the unmistakable dragon head on the prowl and three war shields of silver and gold on each side.  Inside the miniature ship was chests of gold and silver, a statue of a warrior, bejeweled armor, silver swords with rubies and sapphires embedded on the hilt.  There were wall hangings of battle scenes, arrows and weapons made of copper and pewter and more sparkling jewelry than the eye could see. He knelt down, still in disbelief he muttered “The Kings Ransom.”

Avellina was now standing at the entrance to the cave.

“It was found in the veil over two hundred years ago, where Fenwick guards the entrance, there used to be an old road. The Norseman, the stone worshipper ones, would travel that road to the edge of the sea to explore more of the world.  It was said that the King of the Norse, Benjork was kidnapped by the Pics and taken to the Layden Islands where he was held captive.  A ransom was demanded and all this you see was obtained for his release.”

“So why was the ransom never delivered, that part of the story was never explained?”

“Without King Benjork the rescue party lost its way. Some ended up getting lost as far as the Emerald Isle trying to find the king. Some followed the old trails that led them to the mountains of Nevis never to be heard form again and still some got lost in the great lochs where it was said they were devoured by sea creatures.  And some just abandoned the search and went back home.  But one day my brother Osimooth saw this very ship floating in our valley among the grass and reeds, abandoned, so he brought it here for safe keeping.”

Caledon laughed, “And you’re going to just give it to me?” 

“Yes, on the promise that when you return to Lindashire no one will know the path that led you here.”

“It’s worth…worth…a…”

“A knighthood and a royal seat with freedom to marry whom you wish.” reminded Avellina. 

Caledon just beamed a great smile and shouted for joy!

It took almost a full day for Caledon and his men to transport the Kings Ransom to the edge of the veil.  John and the other men built a cart to carry the treasure and a wagon to pull the miniature ship.  Standing by the last magnolia tree in the grove, the entourage was about to leave, when Avellina walked up to Caledon in a slow trot.  

“If you wish, from time to time, you may bring your children here, I would like to see them… Sir Caledon.”

“Yes, that would bring much joy to me, thank you, I will never forget you Avellina.”

Caledon signaled his men and all of them at once knelt and bowed their heads in honor.  Avellina, in kind, bowed her head.  

“Safe journey noble men.”

 And with a swift gallop disappeared into the dusk of the setting sun.  

The news of the Kings’ Ransom reached Lindashire before Caledon and his men arrived.  All along the roads anxious on lookers gave shouts and cheers looking on in excitement at the gilded treasure.  Before the city gates there was a large crowd that had gathered and Caledon caught site of Freya standing by the watch tower looking in anticipation, her golden red hair flowing in the breeze.  She spotted him and ran to greet him.  

“My lord, I see you are safe and well.”

“Yes, and today our life begins together.” As he extended his hand and pulled her onto his horse, they embraced passionately. They rode the rest of the way arm in arm right up to the steps of St. Cyril’s abbey where his father was waiting. The two men embraced, and Lord Andrew informed Caledon that a messenger had already been sent to King Giric.  The clergy came out of the church in procession and gathered around the treasure, blessing it with readings from scripture and wishing Caledon good health and prosperity.  Two weeks later in a double ceremony, Caledon was knighted by the king and he and Freya were wed.  Lord Andrew and Sara were standing side by side. He lightly took her hand and smiled as she did the same.  The celebrations in Lindashire lasted a fortnight until the King and all the noble dignitaries left to go back to Edinburgh.  The story of the Kings Ransom was told throughout the land and the rumors that a unicorn helped to find it added to the legend that was told around campfires and talked about in taverns and spinning wheel circles for centuries to come. 

It was a beautiful, warm, spring day.  The tulips were vibrant with their pinks, yellows and reds blooming towards the skies and the white thistles were growing in abundance almost like patches of new fallen snow on the ground.  As he watched his children play, Caledon smiled to himself, she was close by, he could feel it.   Elfric and Renly were playing with their wooden swords, the brothers saving each other from a fierce dragon and Caprinica was just pulling up handfuls of grass and letting them blow in the wind.  

“Come children, we must be on our way, your mother will be waiting.”

The children gathered their toys and belongings from the afternoon picnic that they had enjoyed, packed the horses and were leading them to the end of the grove.   

“Papa, we forgot the pomegranate for Avellina, we always leave them for her.” cried Caprinica.  

“You are right young one.” as Caledon reach in his satchel and pulled out two large pomegranates.  “Go and place them on the stones.” 

Caprinica took the fruits and scurried the short distance to the grouping of stones that had changed Caledon’s life so many years before.  She placed them on the top stone, then silently looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of the maiden unicorn that her father had told her about in so many of her bedtime stories.  

She waited a few minutes and then with a big sigh, ran to join her brothers and father, mounting the horse with him.  

“But papa, how do you know she will eat them?”

He smiled to himself, “Oh she’ll eat them my love, she’ll eat them”.

As they turned from the grove and galloped into the clearing, Caledon looked back and smiled again… the pomegranates were gone.

(This short story first published in Tales of Chivalry: A Medieval Anthology)