A Tale That Dawned [Book 4 of Selvina's Tale series]

Chapter 46: The True Answer

Let Svala try something then, she thought with an inner grin.

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A bed was brought into Selvina's room and Amalthea, still in unicorn form, was placed upon it. Tinkerbelle had reduced her weight with a bit of fairy dust so that Accolon's men could gently carry her. A healer was brought up to the room and examined Amalthea, doing what she could to clean the wounds and remove the musket balls. With them pulled out, the unicorn's chances of surviving increased, but only barely.

"I've never operated on a unicorn before," the healer said, brushing a strand of dark hair from her eyes. "They are creatures of magic and any spell I use to heal her could affect her differently. Her wounds are clean and should heal..."

Selvina, standing beside the healer, hung onto her last words, waiting for more. When none came, she barked, "But?!"

The healer woman sighed. "Her body is so cold. If she wasn't yet breathing I would believe her gone already. Something is keeping her here in the world of the living. Whatever it is, I hope it gives her the strength to survive." She smiled briefly. "I've never seen a unicorn before, let alone healed one, and I hope to the gods that my efforts were enough."

"Thank you," Accolon said, giving the healer a nod and a squeeze on the shoulder. "You did all you could, and no one could have asked for any more."

The healer nodded back to him, eyed Amalthea worriedly for a moment, and quickly left the room. Once the door closed, there was only Selvina, Tinkerbelle, Accolon, and Amalthea. There was deafening silence as they stood around the latter, watching her as if she would spring out of bed at any moment.

"I am partly at fault for this," Accolon said after several minutes. "Had I not imprisoned her, she may be strong enough to heal herself."

"Don't blame yourself," Selvina said, her eyes on Amalthea. "Rhiannon ordered you to do it and no one knew anything like this would happen." She fixed her gaze on the elf and grinned lightly. "Amalthea herself had no anger toward Rhiannon for imprisoning her. She didn't blame her for anything. She wouldn't blame you either."

Accolon was silent for a few moments, eyeing the ground as if in deep thought. Finally, he said, "Ever since that day I always wondered why. I trust Rhiannon fully but imprisoning a unicorn, possibly the world's last one, forever seemed strange to me. I questioned her once about it but she could never give me a straight answer."

Selvina glanced across the bed at Tinkerbelle, who hovered in midair. So Accolon had no idea about Iktarosh. It was difficult to think about the chained god at such a moment but if there was a time to bring him up, now would be it. Amalthea would understand and, Selvina thought, would most likely encourage it. It had been their goal, after all, to inform Accolon of the god's impending existence.

"Do you know anything about Iktarosh?" Selvina asked, knowing how incredibly odd the question must seem.

Accolon's face didn't hide his confusion. "He is a fallen god, slain by the Four and the Thirteen for rebelling against them. How is he relevant at the moment?"

Selvina took a deep breath and glanced at Amalthea briefly. "That's why, Accolon." She turned and faced the elf directly. "Rhiannon is trying to bring him back to life. Amalthea found out and wanted to put a stop to it. Rhiannon couldn't let that happen so she imprisoned her. She didn't want to kill Amalthea, just place her out of the way until Iktarosh had returned, when there was nothing she could do about it."

Accolon frowned. "Whatever are you talking about? Iktarosh is a dead god. No mortal can bring life to a slain god. One would need vast amounts of magic to accomplish this. One would need to..." His frown melted away as pieces began to fit into place. "The empress would need dark magic, which is born of death, strife, destruction and..."