The door to the house was broken. It had been with hope she had approached the small house in the woods, stumbling forward through the trees when she had seen the red tiles through the trees. As she got closer, hope waned and when she stumbled around the side and saw the door barely hanging on a single hinge, all hope died.

She pulled herself inside and pushed the heavy door closed, leaning her head back against it in despair. Tears rolled down her cheeks. Pain and fear overwhelmed her. She stifled her sobs as she listened intently. She couldn’t run anymore. She knew they would find her in this house, but it was the best hiding place she had found in two days. Shaking from lack of food and sleep, she fought to keep from crying. Slowly, her shaking limbs began to relax, and without realizing what was happening she fell asleep.

She woke with a start when she heard a voice. Moonlight streamed in from a hole in the roof. Dust and dirt floated in the air, flickering in the light. She held her breath and almost bolted when she heard the voice again, and this time she could understand words, “She’s gone!”

“What do you mean gone? I thought you had her tracks,” so much panic gripped her when she heard that voice, she froze in place, desperation rising from her empty stomach.

“I is tellin’ you, tracks done disappeared against this tree. Like she been eaten or flew away.”

The foul language that came from his mouth didn’t surprise the young woman, but did shock her none the less. She had learned that he wasn’t the gentleman she had dreamed of, but it was still hard to hear those words in that voice with equanimity. She covered her mouth with her hands, tears sliding down her cheeks but no sound escaping her.

After a minute she heard him speak again, “Fan out. Make sure she didn’t find a way to hide her tracks.”

“Not none sure that be. Ah, take a calm and I be lookin.”

The voices slowly faded away. The young woman sat until dawn, her mind not even working properly as panic came and went in waves. Slowly, as the sounds of the forest outside came alive with morning she began to believe. Escape. Tears of relief rolled down her cheeks. The pain she had been avoiding for days crashed around her and she gave into the sobs she could no longer fight off.

Sleep finally overcame her with the relief of not being found. The sleep was hardly restful, but she was far past caring. Even the nightmares blending with memories didn’t wake her up.

“Cat, wait,” his hand caught hers and she grinned at him. He pulled her back and she laughed as he caught her in his arms. He pulled her close and said, “Kaitlyn Nickel, you did promise me a kiss.”

She stopped and tilted her head up at him with a dreamy smile. She leaned close to his mouth and one of his hands slid up her back. She smiled against his lips and they slowly pulled apart, lips barely touching but no longer kissing. She whispered, “Claus, when are we arriving in Tora?”

“Mmmm?”

Kaitlyn drew back slightly and said it again, “When will we get to Tora?”

“Oh. We only have to get through the forest,” he said and smiled. “Not much longer now my little kitten.”

She pouted a little and tilted her head to the side. He leaned down and pecked a quick kiss on her neck, deriving a giggle from her, “Stop that, your beard tickles.”

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“Oh does it?” he said, but then took a deep breath and stepped back, “I need to get away from you anyway or you won’t be allowed to wear white at our wedding.”

She blushed heavily and put one hand to cup her cheek, taking another deep breath. He then said, “Come, we’ll make our fortune on this trip and then be wed.”

Standing, she brushed her hands on her grey wool skirt and straightened her blue blouse. Claus reached out and tucked one of her honey brown strands of hair behind her ear, she blushed and reached up to tuck it back into her braid. Claus picked up the bundle of sticks he had collected and together the pair walked back to the wagons of their camp. The other men, including Kaitlyn’s distant cousin Malin, glanced up and then looked away from the pair.

The travel had been rough, but she hardly noticed the poor food, rough men, and miles under the wheels of the wagon. Kaitlyn was smitten with her young man. He was best friends with Malin, a cousin of her cousin who was a cousin of her mother’s brother.

Their merchant train had been passing through her home town of Bellmoral, and the family had been flattered when Claus, the fourth son of the baron of Taro had expressed an intention to wed their third child and only daughter. Claus had kept his wagons of goods for an extra two weeks while he courted Kaitlyn and then she left her home to travel with him and her distant cousin to his father’s home where they would wed.

It was an amazing opportunity. Even a low, unlanded Baron’s son was beyond her wildest dreams as the daughter of a tailor. When Claus had taken her for their first walk together and told her of his home town, it had felt like a dream. Even her two older brothers had been happy for her. Only her little sister, Adeliz, had cried when Kaitlyn packed to leave.

Taro was a port city near the mouth of the river, far to the north of Bellmoral. They had already been on the trail for three weeks but still had at least a week more of travel. Kaitlyn sighed, then headed to her bedroll on one of the wagons.

The next morning everything changed. The rolls hills and trees grew thicker and taller. The horses slowed to a crawl as the trail became rough instead of roads. They entered the forest for the first day, and that evening Kaitlyn, Claus, and Malin were sitting on a log when one of the men, a seedy looking man who scouted the trail ahead most evenings. Reger tended to be dirty, smelling like urine and poorly tanned hides. His long nails were nearly black with dirt. Kaitlyn had generally excused herself when Reger returned to report to the men. Tonight, he didn’t give her a chance.

He walked straight up to Clause when he returned from his scouting for the evening and said, “I got the signs of dem beasts.”

Claus looked up at the man and leaned forward, “Are you sure?”

“Sure as can be without seein meself,” the scout shrugged.

“Excellent,” Claus grinned.

Kaitlyn look at her fiance and said, “What beasts?”

“This is how we are going to become rich my love,” he said excitedly, grabbing both her hands. “I want you to know, everything I do, I do because I love you.”

She looked at him and felt a flutter of discomfort. Something in his eyes and tone sent fear down her spine, and she started to open her mouth to speak when her cousin hefted her by the arm roughly. She yelped in surprise and a little pain. Claus grabbed both her hands and Reger began tying them together.

“Claus?” she looked to her fiance in surprise and a little fear. He looked excited and had turned to two of the other men, leaving Kaitlyn to the uncertain mercies of her cousin and Reger.

Reger threw a rope over a tree limb and Kaitlyn looked at Malin, “Malin? What are you doing? Let me go!”

“Nope, you are going to be what really gets us that gold,” he said darkly, “This is going to take this…”

He gestured to the wagons behind him, “from being a waste of our talents to greatness.”

Kaitlyn cried out when the ropes holding her hands suddenly jerked up and she was hauled by her arms upwards towards the tree branch. Just as her toes were leaving the ground they stopped, leaving her suspended from the branch. Kaitlyn called out, “Claus! Claus, help me!”

Claus had climbed up on one of the back wagons and glanced at her once before he reached in and grabbed a club from the wagon. He jumped down and approached. She looked at him with hope and he looked at Malin, “Is she secure?”

“Ask Reg,” Malin replied.

“As tight as a mole’s backside,” Reger said gruffly.

“Kaitlyn, unicorns come to a maiden in pain to rescue her,” Claus explained. “They sense her fear and can’t resist coming. And unicorn horns… are worth a fortune.”

“Pain?” Kaitlyn asked.

“Unfortunately,” Claus said, frowning. He approached her and put a hand around her to heft her weight slightly as he leaned forward and kissed her, “but we will be more than rich enough.”

Kaitlyn couldn’t believe what he was telling her until he lifted the club and swung it at her legs. She screamed.