How Not to Poach a Unicorn

Twenty-Nine

What had started as a rescue mission had quickly degenerated into a harassment session for Prinin. 

King Ashunar had left the others behind at his palace as he went to recover Kish from Mercutian's tower. He believed that there was a good chance that the old wizard would try to fight back and that the non-wizards in the crowd would likely get in the way.

That left Prinin feeling very exposed as Prag, Taimon, and Verena grilled him with Warlis, Syd, Georg and the friendly lieutenant watching in amusement.

"So why exactly are you pretending to be your sister?" asked Taimon, while trying to hide his amusement behind a cup of tea.

"I told you when we were at your place. There had been assassination attempts on Prinin. I mean me. Someone was trying to kill me and capture Cariolta. I figured that I'd live longer if they never knew that they'd killed the wrong person. You said it yourself, Taimon, I wasn't a popular choice for king."

"Well, why didn't you tell us when you were safely at our place?" Baroness Verena purred comfortingly as she lounged on a well-stuffed velvet couch stroking a young black panther.

"Because your guards and Prag here saw me in a dress. How long would it have taken for news of that to cross the country? Besides, it didn't turn out to be all that safe anyway. How did you survive?" Prinin desperately tried to change the subject.

Taimon winced a bit as he remembered the events. "Those ravids were supposed to be a scouting party for King Ashunar. They were out looking for some escaped prisoners when somebody apparently ate one of their comrades. So they attacked."

"Ate?" Prinin grimaced as he realized what must have happened and what grizzly ire that would have raised in the little beasts. "What about the troll and the gremlins?"

"We don't know. They weren't working with the ravids." The friendly lieutenant decided to join in. "Gremlins and ravids are like oil and water. As long as the ravids stay in the trees and the gremlins on the ground they get along okay, but they don't mix well, and nothing mixes well with trolls. We suspect that they were hypnotized."

"Hypnotized by whom?" Prinin was happy to have the focus of the conversation drawn away from his choice of attire.

"Probably the same person who was orchestrating your murder and your sister's kidnapping," said Baron Taimon between sips. "They might not have even known that you were there. I was pretty much the only person left alive who might have recognized the new Cariolta as an imposter. Killing me off and blaming Ashunian monsters was a pretty easy setup."

"But how did you survive?" Prinin pressed.

"The same way that you did." Baroness Verena smiled. "King Ashunar popped in, sent the ravids on their way and patched up Taimon and myself." She nuzzled up against Taimon's missing arm and a floating gauntlet rested lovingly on her shoulder, apparently under Taimon's command. "He even found me a new familiar. But enough about me, what were you doing out and about with Cariolta's wardrobe anyway?"

Prinin slumped. He'd hoped that he'd managed to avoid this for a while longer. "Dad wouldn't let me out of the palace after the threats to my life, so Cari and I traded places for a while. She got to play prince while I got some freedom."

"And nobody noticed?" laughed Prag.

"Nobody ever did," Prinin responded dejectedly. "We'd been doing it all our lives. We both took after our mother and we were so similar that we could fake each other's voices. In loose clothing and without make-up, I couldn't tell us apart." He sighed as he remembered his beloved sister.