Adian smiled gently as he lowered his head to kiss his nephew's sun-bright hair. Five-year-old Saber laid in his four-poster bed, dressed in pajamas, blankets drawn up to his chin. He looked up at his uncle, blue eyes catching and holding blue eyes.
Stephen and Ceri were attending a necessary diplomatic function at Thavos, capital of Antir. Thavos being several days away from Rheidyr, Stephen and Ceri would be gone from the dukedom for almost two weeks. Thus, the task of tucking Saber into bed every night had fallen to Adian – a task that the affectionate uncle was glad to undertake.
"G'night, Saber," he whispered, grinning at the way Saber hugged his stuffed dog – a fuzzy black spaniel he called Toddy – to himself. In response, Saber yawned. The little boy was very tired – Adian had taken advantage of the absence of his highly overprotective younger sister to increase the rate of Saber's training, and it had accordingly tired Saber out. Adian grinned again, this time at how Saber's yawn reminded him very much of one of the Castle's kittens.
He left the room, switching off the light as he did so.
***
It had been two weeks since Ceri and Stephen had gone; the Lord and Lady would be returning in the morning, as Finn had gravely reminded everyone in the castle. The castle had been in a frenzy of activity the whole day, preparing for their Lord's return. Adian had taken Saber out for a ride that day, to keep him from getting in the servants' way. As a result, with his break from his newly-intensified training, Saber was awake enough to ask for a bedtime story that night.
"Sure, Saber," Adian agreed, seating himself on his nephew's bed. "Any requests?"
Saber chewed his lip as he thought, a characteristic he had picked up from Adian himself. Absentmindedly, he fingered the ring hanging on a thin silver chain around his neck. The ring had been with him all his life. He never took it off, not even when bathing.
The Riders had four heirlooms from their ancient beginnings on Earth. Two of these were seal-rings; the Lesser Ring, silver with an onyx stone, and the Greater Ring, gold with an opal. The Greater Ring was carried on the person of the Duke Rider, whoever it was, at all times. The Lesser Ring was entrusted to whoever was heir from the moment of their birth.
Saber didn't know all this, but he did know was that the ring he wore was very important, and that he'd better not lose it. He traced his index finger lightly over the unicorn rampant carved into the onyx.
"Tell me about unicorns," he said impulsively, looking up at his uncle. "Tell me a story about them." Adian had seen his nephew looking at the ring, and he knew what brought this request on. He chewed his lip himself as he tried to decide what he should say.
Suddenly, a memory came to him: a cold winter's day, with blizzard-winds howling through the night and the air filled with a flurry of snow. Three children had clumped very close to each other, sitting near the red flames blazing in the fireplace. Old Adian Rider, Stephen's grandfather and Adian's namesake, sat in the biggest, softest armchair, and distracted the children with legends about the children of the wind…
Adian smiled at Saber. He knew just the story to tell him.
"Unicorns are immortal," Adian began.
"What's immortal?" asked Saber, struggling a little with the unfamiliar word.
"It means they can't die of old age. Or sickness. But unicorns can be killed. Not by the swords and guns of Man; oh no, the unicorn is too powerful to have their lives taken by such as that."
"Really?" asked Saber, blue eyes wide. "What are unicorns like?"
"They are fast…"
"Like Evander?" Saber said, naming Adian's big gray stallion.
"Even faster, my little lantriath," Adian said, using his nickname for Saber. He ruffled Saber's hair and chuckled as he saw the enrapt expression on the child's face. "They can run so fast that they'll be standing there one moment and then a hundred miles away the next, because unicorns are children of the wind, and they have their sire's speed."
"Wow…" Saber breathed. Then he frowned in thought. "Wait…how can the wind have children? It's not alive!"
Adian laughed again and drew Saber into his lap, hugging the tiny boy. How like his mother, with a question always on his lips. "How do you know the wind's not alive?" he whispered. "You can't see it, can you? And it moves, doesn't it? Oh, yes, my young nephew, the wind is alive. Maybe not like you and me, but it is alive. The storms are its anger; the cold winter winds are its icy sleep-breath. Then it wakes up in the spring, and it's warm and soft again, bringing rain to quench the land's thirst after its sleep in the winter. When you feel hot in the summer, and a breeze springs up to cool you, that's the wind wanting to give you comfort, in apology for the coldness of winter. And when a stray puff of wind pulls your kite away or blows your father's papers all over the study, that's the wind being mischievous."
Saber listened attentively, almost hypnotized by the lyrical cant of his uncle's tale-telling. "Really?" he said, amazed.
Adian grinned and tweaked his nephew's nose. "What do you think?"
Saber chewed his lip again, taking his uncle's question seriously. Finally, he met his uncle's dancing eyes and announced, "I'll ask daddy."
Adian laughed. "Okay, cautious one, you do that."
"Now, we were talking about unicorns? Ah yes. The unicorns are the children of the wind, and they can run at the wind's pace. They can be any color – white as snow, black as night, storm-cloud gray, red as fire – even blue like the sea! But all unicorns have a golden horn. A baby unicorn's horn," he told Saber, "Is clear, like glass, and very short. But as they grow older, it becomes gold, and longer. A very old unicorn could have a horn this long!" And he stretched his arms apart to indicate the length. "But it's not too big for that old unicorn, because a unicorn grows alongside his horn."
"Their horns are very magical. When they run, it absorbs the magic of the air; when they eat, it absorbs the magic of the ground; when they drink, it absorbs the magic of the water. And all the while, it absorbs the sun-magic, the star-magic, the moon-magic, and the magic of the living things all around it."
"Unicorns can heal anything, Saber. They touch their horn to you, and whoosh! You feel all better." He gently touched the boy's forehead with his finger to illustrate, and Saber erupted into giggles. "And if the unicorn touches a well – any natural source of water – with the horn, the water there turns into Elixir of Life."
"Unicorns are guardians. They protect the territory they have. Even if no one knows they're there, or thanks them for the protection."
Adian continued to talk about unicorns long into the night. By the time Saber's eyes began to droop closed, it was late. Adian bent over to kiss Saber's forehead. The boy's blue eyes flew open, and he asked his uncle one last question. "Uncle Adian…you said that unicorns can't die except be killed. But unicorns are so nice…why would people want to kill them?"
"Shh…" Adian said, smoothing Saber's blond hair back. "It's late, Saber. Questions tomorrow, okay?"
"Okay."
Saber fell asleep, dreaming of riding a black unicorn that ran like the wind.