“Is this a trick to try to sneak your way back into the herd without fulfilling the mission you promised to do?”
Irmgard flashed a look of anger at the unicorn. “I have no intention of sneaking back into the herd. I will not return until I’ve fulfilled my mission! And once it’s done, I’ll return to you with my head held high and not by way of a back alley.”
“A back alley?” Edeltraud snorted.
“Back door,” Hannah quickly threw in, correcting Irmgard’s term. “We need your help,” she added, seizing the moment now that the noble creature’s icy blue eyes were focused on her. “The Evil is gaining strength from day to day and spreading throughout this beautiful forest. We want to free the lost soul that’s giving it its power. The region would become more peaceful again, and you could stay—you wouldn’t have to move away!”
Edeltraud snorted in amusement. “And how do you propose to achieve that? With a forgetful unicorn and a human woman?”
“Please!” Hannah pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her chest. “Let us speak with the herd. We’re in need of your knowledge. We have to find a way to free the soul. So much depends on it.”
“What are you saying? What has happened?”
“Edeltraud, the prince has been cursed,” Irmgard interjected.
“That was to be expected. The curse has been hovering over the royal house of von Lichtenberg for decades. And since Prince Maximilian only wished to marry for love and could not bring himself to marry just any woman despite his father’s advanced age, it was merely a matter of time before the curse would be fulfilled. Has he turned into a bear?”
Hannah nodded. “He’s living here in the forest. But we still have a chance to change him back. There’s a way to break the curse!”
“That is not our concern!” the noble steed snorted.
Irmgard took two steps toward her. “Edeltraud, listen to me, it’s?—”
“No. We’ve known all that for a long time. Unlike you, we have not forgotten the events of that period. It was disgraceful how Prince Gustav treated that poor girl. The curse did not fall on the family for no reason.”
“But Prince Maximilian wasn’t even born at that time. How is it just that he should pay for his father’s mistake?” Hannah burst out.
Edeltraud lifted her hoof as if raising a forefinger in rebuke. “The blame lies solely?—”
“Hold on tight, Hannah!” Irmgard cried as she dashed past Edeltraud and closer to the wide cloud of mist.
“What are you doing?”
“We need to speak with them directly!”
Irmgard came to a sudden stop in front of the dense mist, which dispersed right before their eyes, and a dazzling herd of unicorns appeared. There were more than thirty creatures, all huddled together and anxiously eyeing Hannah and Irmgard. There were even a few small ones, whose mothers were shielding them as a precaution.
Three unicorns came forward from the herd and confronted them resolutely.
“What is the meaning of this, Irmgard? Why have you brought a human to us?” thundered the stallion in the middle, who was the largest of the unicorns. His mane was entirely white, and his coat was a silvery gray. He looked at them sternly with his bright eyes.
“I didn’t let them approach you!” Edeltraud said, panting as she came bounding over. “They just?—”
But Irmgard didn’t wait for Edeltraud to finish. “Siegfried, we urgently need to speak with you. It’s extremely important. The prince has been changed into a bear, the curse has been fulfilled, and the Evil is already creeping around behind him to snatch his soul.”
Edeltraud began to speak, but one look from Siegfried was enough to silence the creature. The mighty unicorn stallion’s bright eyes regarded Hannah with a piercing gaze, as if he were assessing whether she posed a danger to him and his herd.
Hannah smiled. What else could she do at the sight of these wonderful creatures? “Please,” she said, “we need your advice. We want to free the soul of Mirabelle’s mother in order to weaken the Evil. But we don’t know how to do that. Do you know of a way we could free the innocent soul?”
“Normally, there is no way. But in this case, the soul that bears the curse is innocent. Mirabelle’s mother has done nothing wrong, nor has she incurred any guilt unless you include the nagging doubts of a mother who blames herself for abandoning her child. There is a way to free her soul, and as soon she is free, the Evil shall be weakened.”
Irmgard whipped her tail back and forth and whinnied with delight. “We wouldn’t have to leave the forest. We could stay once the good is stronger again. Some friendly creatures may even return!”
“Slowly, slowly, dear Irmgard. Impatience is not one of the virtues a unicorn should possess.”
Irmgard pawed the ground.
“But we need to hurry so the Evil doesn’t seize the prince’s soul!” Hannah cried in her stead.
