Nora Darhk, Journeywoman Magician, unfolded the parchment she'd chosen. Gradually her brow wrinkled as she looked down at the words she'd just read, with more than a little dismay. This could not be her destined Quest, surely? Her tutors had praised her skills with herb magic and the invention of rhyming spells for various purposes. She had always thought that she would set off in search of a plant that would see off one of the more stubborn ailments or or compose a verse to prevent a drought, a flood or whatever. Her skills at - well, this sort of thing - had never been more that average. Had she somehow got hold of the parchment intended for her twin brother, Norman? No, apparently not, for he was grinning as he showed her his Quest - to collect the rare metals and horns and the rest of the paraphernalia needed to make a magical sword for a king or queen.
Norman looked sympathetic for a moment, but was too caught up in his own pleasure to spare much time for his sibling's woes. Nor would there be any point in appealing to their father. She all too well what he would - rightly - say.
''I am Deputy Head of the Order of Magicians. I cannot show favouritism to one of my children.''
No, she would have to take this as her Quest. Which meant she had work to do - and rather boring work at that. She would have to go to the library and pour over dull tomes, finding out all she could about - unicorns.
X
In another part of the city, Raymond Palmer, squire, was also preparing to set off on his Quest - to find and carry out a Deed of Valour that would qualify him for knighthood. Raymond's romantic streak hoped that would take the form of rescuing a damsel in distress - but those were hard to come by. Nora - whom he rather admired - would be anything but helpless in the face of most dangers. And these days dragons tended to be in short supply and were generally reserved for the sons of the Great Houses whose lands they ranged over. Raymond, raised by his widowed mother, should not even be thinking of that, Sir Oliver had told him more than once.
He thought for a moment about his rather dour Mentor. Sir Oliver's skills had been acquired in actual warfare - during the Talbot rebellion - and he tended to look down on what he referred to as 'tournament knights'. For all his grim manner, he was one of the best knights in the kingdom - Raymond knew he's been lucky to be accepted by Sir Oliver for his training.
So, he sat back in his chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him, thinking about where he might ride to find a suitable Quest. As Lady Felicity - probably the cleverest woman in the Kingdom - had pointed out, there were lesser - but still dangerous - beasts that he could slay. Lions sometimes attacked more isolated villages. Or what about a manticore? Nora had been thoughtful when he'd mentioned that her but, once shed read up about it, told him that she doubted they actually existed, outside of minstrel's tales. . Sir Oliver had spoken of evil knights and lesser villains in the wilder lands that bordered the kingdom - but somehow that didn't sound so valiant. Or perhaps Sir Oliver was right and he did have his head in the clouds half the time. He would ask Nora what she thought he should do.
X
Nora was reading a highly fanciful account of the land of forests and waterfalls, where unicorns roamed at will and rainbows danced - presumably at will as well - when Raymond found her.
''Is that interesting?'' he asked her, rather doubtfully, knowing that her taste ran to the practical rather than the fanciful.
'Not really'' she closed the book with a sigh. ''Somehow I've been lumbered with a Quest to find and ride a unicorn. ''
That really didn't sound like her kind of thing at all. He paused, uncertain about adding to her problems by asking her for advice about his own Quest.
Abruptly, she got up and looped her arm through his.
''Come on'' she said. ''Let's go for a walk in the gardens before supper. I need something to take my mind off unicorns for a bit.''
So they strolled through the early evening quiet, along tree shaded paths. They were passing through a stand of oaks when nit happened. Raymond had an idea.