Victims of Circumstance

Annafrid 2

"Now, first what is a unicorn?" Lord Steven asks, looking over the table at Jarlath and the still dazed "Hannah" (who's back in "human form").

I'm rather interested in how this conversation will go, not because I'm particularly ignorant of what is a unicorn. Rather, I am rather interested in the object of the discussion. Remember, I have memories of a young girl (false though they are) of a girl named Hannah, myself. This young girl/unicorn looks amazingly similar to the memories I have. That and she looks almost exactly like Hannah D'Honaire back on Terra Prime. Well, while I don't have the same relationship with those two as I would with my analog sister (Annafrid), I feel a kinship.

With a slight pause as Jarlath looks hesitant, but then remembers that despite her being somewhat dazed still, the nature of a female unicorn's psyche, despite it's seemingly delicate and innocent demeanor, was surprisingly robust. Gut feeling (something that my husband has a habit of not ignoring, considering his history) being that it would only make things better in helping her adjust.

While only married for a short time, I know my Jarlath very well!

So, my husband gives Lord Steven of Gilead a basic sketch of what Hannah has become.

Instead of boring you with the dry details, let us look here:

http://terraprimedatabase.com/TerranRaces.htm#Unicorns

Now, as to why she is here, as a unicorn now is a rather interesting....and disturbing tale. The young girls tale, as we cipher it out, is that she is suffering from anmesia (which bothers us more than it does her). All she knows before Belboz turned on her suddenly is basically three things: her name, Belboz was her loving uncle (but something now tells her that this was false), and that she was to be a sacrifice....

.....

She was going to be taken to some meet where some leader of a bunch of giants would take her as a bride. By giving up her virginity, this fellow was going to in exchange going to stop a raid on the Great Kingdom (not Allaria...but the "Great Kingdom") which would involve a lot of pillage and rape.

Yeah, right. Really believe that this Hothgar is going to stop with...er...just one.

From what Hannah tells what happened (has photographic memory....like he mind is s sponge for some reason I have a dread feeling about) when they got to where this meet was to take place, the mages come to a disturbing conclusion. Delgrado's Syndrome, in mages, can be devasting. It can also be deadly dangerous. In the mid-stages (months or years long), the victim suffers increasingly from paranoid delusions....coupled with a messiah complex sometimes. Can be very elaborate and real to the victim, these delusions. That can make them dangerous enough, but the real fun begins when the "architecture" of the delusional state shifts...

....as what appears to have happened with Hannah's Belboz from the way the necromancer began to start babbling about needing a "blood sacrifices of a unicorn" and such so killing the Lizard King would be possible...

Best guess is that this Belboz was quiet accomplished in the Magery Artes AND was also part of a "Two Girls" prophecy as well. There is, according to Solomn (now in his most human form), lingering traces of Prophecy on her like that found members of our clan. That and lingering traces of powerful transformation magicks on Hannah....

Something like what was on "our" Hannah after her mate transformed her from human into unicorn so long ago...

Somehow I have the odd feeling that the elements of my and Joan's life called towards the elements of Hannah's life while Belboz was thrashing about with his spells of teleportation or whatever. Mayhaps the area of the multiverse where the realms of Krynn lay, seen through scryings, the spell was drawn to "our" particular Krynn....

It appears that in Belboz's delusional state he'd been, after teleporting her to Krynn, trying to kill Hannah with lightning bolts and THEN was going to go forth and seek out the "Lizard King". Probably would have mistaken Kang or some other Draconian about as such a person....

Will have to ask my husband later on this, but I believe we'll not ever really know for sure. Nothing remains now of Belboz but ash and I have a feeling Hannah's missing memories are gone forever beyond recall (thus making searching for answers there futile).

Right now Lord Steven (why "Lord" and not "King" appears to lay within some legend of Arthur Eld fated to come back in the future and regain that title) has promised to give shelter and aid to Hannah until time comes for us to return with Roland the Younger on a certain trip down to a region where I know Susan dwells.

The man then asks a small....boon from one of our mages after answering a question as to just why he had asked for that one magic mirror that had been Junior's (the now impossibly cute and innocent blue dragon hatchling).

1. "I would be happy to aid with your...problem with Walter," Edward Solomon says a second before everyone else, "But I respectfully suggest, lord, that you handle that mirror carefully, I beg!"