((Sorry for the extreme amount of time it took me to update. I was working on my other T.P. fic, which seems to be a lot more popular. But here it goes.))

"Bring her here," Simon commanded Malagant. "I want to see if her will has lessened any in the past week."

Malagant nodded and turned to order a guard to have Karissa brought to the king. "Why do you wish to see her again, your Majesty?" Malagant asked. "She will only spit and curse some more."

Simon smiled cruelly. "It shows her that I am in ultimate control, not her. I control what she does and when she does it. Ah, here she is." The door to the throne room had opened and two guards marched in, dragging Karissa between them. "Welcome unicorn," Simon said. "How have you been?"

"Like you don't know," Kari spat in a voice filled with hate and venom. "You keep me locked up in this place with nothing to do but wander! Just kill me and have it done with!"

Simon said, "Tut-tut-tut my dear unicorn. You know that I do not wish to kill you. I want you to bear me the peace-destroyer. Which you will of course, very soon. I am getting tired of waiting for your resolve to slip away. Another week, if even, and you shall be pregnant."

Kari trembled and tears sprang to her teal eyes. The world was spinning and she felt like she would die. "No," she whispered. "I will never do that with you Simon! Never!"

"Oh you don't have to want to," Simon sneered. "I have a very skilled mage with me who will be all too happy to place you under an enchantment. You will do it willingly Karissa Toren. Willingly you will bear my child."

Fear, anger and despair contorted Karissa's beautiful face. "The Great Mother Goddess will not permit this!" she screamed as the guards took her out. "The Goddess will protect me from you!"

"This is getting rather repetitive, my Lord," Malagant said. "Her screeching hurts my ears and I hate seeing her look like that. It makes me worry about her getting free and slitting all of our throats."

"She will not get free," Simon assured him. "That place has been warded against magic of any sort by very skilled mages. Trust me, she cannot get free."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Let go of me you mindless-dogs!" Karissa spat as the guards dragged her down her hallway. "I can walk on my own two-feet to my own room. This place is warded you can let me walk!"

The guards let go of her, then turned and left. Karissa walked down the hallway and threw open the door to her room. She stifled a scream when she saw someone sitting on her bed.

The woman had long black hair and emerald green eyes. Her skin was perfect and she was so beautiful it hurt Kari's eyes to look at her for long. "So we meet at last, Karissa Toren, Shang Unicorn. I have long wished to see you face to face, rather then through various images."

Karissa's eyes widened at that voice. It sounded like hounds baying in the hunt and hurt her ears, soft though it was. "Who are you?" she asked in awe. "And how did you get in here? It is warded and only those with the key can get in." Her mouth twisted. "Or out," she added bitterly.

The woman smiled. "I am one who you know by name only Karissa. But I gave you a great gift when you were born. A gift great enough to save the world. The entire world, not only Tortall. So you know who I am."

Karissa's eyes widened even more and she fell to the ground, her face on the ground. "Forgive me for standing in your presence, Mother, I did not know." Her voice trembled as much as her body did.

The Goddess laughed. "Oh do stand back up, child. You do not need to kneel to me. I gave you a gift greater then any ever given. I respect you for managing to live this far into your life with it. So stand, Karissa, stand and I will tell you why I have at last come to see you."

((Sorry it's so short, but I'm going on vacation and I wanted to have something down here before I left. Please review with honest opinions, even though they might tick me off.))