Ophelia's Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

Ophelia woke at first light. She dressed in her dark gown and pulled the laced sleeves down to her wrists. Her braid hung heavy over one shoulder. She lifted her satchel and walked to the window. The tower where her mother had kept her stood quiet. She looked back at its cold stone one last time. Goodbye, she thought. I won't live caged. The shadow beast waited at her side, its red eyes fixed on the door. She stepped outside into the wet grass. Mist hung thick between the trees. No road cut through the forest, and the castle lay far past it. Ophelia knew her legs could not carry her that far. She would need the power her mother called a curse. Her hands shook. She had broken a locked door with it, but she had never called a living thing from the dark. Ophelia raised her palms toward the trees. She closed her eyes and reached for the cold thing coiled inside her chest. "Come to me," she said. "Carry me through." The power rushed out of her like a held breath. The mist churned. Branches cracked. The shadow beast growled low and pressed against her leg. Nothing came. Ophelia's arms dropped. The forest went silent again, and she felt the curse pull back inside her, empty. Her eyes stung. Maybe her mother was right. Maybe the power only broke things and called nothing kind. Then the ground shook. A black shape moved through the mist. Ophelia held still. A unicorn stepped into the clearing, black as the beast at her feet, with a single horn rising sharp above its eyes. A gold saddle sat on its back. Strange marks were carved along the leather and glowed faint in the gray light. The unicorn lowered its head and watched her. The shadow beast stepped between them, teeth bared. "No," Ophelia said. She set her hand on its fur. "It answered me. It's ours." The beast went still but did not stop watching. Ophelia walked to the unicorn slowly. She reached up and touched its warm neck. It did not flinch from her horns. Nothing in the forest ever had. She gripped the gold saddle and climbed on. The leather marks warmed under her. "Take me to the castle," she said. The unicorn turned and walked into the mist. The shadow beast loped beside them. Trees opened a path where none had been, then closed again behind. Ophelia gripped the saddle and did not look back at the tower. She had called the dark, and the dark had carried her out. Her mother's walls were gone now. Ahead lay a castle full of strangers who had never seen a girl with horns. She did not know if they would scream or bow. For the first time, she would find out.