Unicorn of the Forest

     In the cold frostlands of Russia there lived a maiden who loved to sing.  She sang so sweetly that all the animals in the forest came to witness the beauty of her voice.  Even the fabled unicorn, who was attracted to virgins, came to her voice like a calling from some arcane mythology.  Of all the animals, the unicorn was her favorite, for it was the only one that matched her in beauty, and so she did well to tame it.  When she brought it back to the village, all were amazed that a mere serf had caught the attention of such a legendary creature.

    One day, a nobleman came to the village and heard her singing.  He'd never heard anything as captivating, so he spied her from afar.  What also attracted him was that she was comforting the white beast of the forest, caressing its neck as she murmured a soft lullaby, making him feel envious.  It didn't bother him that she was a serf; he did everything he could to woo the maiden, and inevitably she relented.  After she lost her virginity to him, he asked her to marry him, and so they planned to wed the following spring.  But laying with him came with a price: the unicorn was seen no more in the village.

    The maiden became like any regular serf, still lovely and talented at singing, but without the charm of her unusual pet.  Yet the nobleman still loved her, like she hadn't even lost her unicorn.  When he brought her to the city of his birth, she was shunned by the aristocracy to have bewitched their young count, but he insisted on loving her, that it was he who had courted her, and that all were invited to their wedding.  Only five people came though, as even members of his immediate family were absent, which left him feeling betrayed and disillusioned.  How their love could be rejected and vilified due to a social convention was beyond their understanding.  As time went on they found themselves living in seclusion, isolated from everyone who'd paid tribute to his regality, even his own family.  He was also disheartened to find that he'd lost his inheritance; that even his heirs would not get anything because of the supposed sin of interclass marriage, indoctrinated most strongly by artistocrats in the Church.

    Over time, love proved stronger than convention.  The couple loved each other deeply for years, having a son in the process, and building a life for themselves.  That strength never brought society to their side.  When the wife grew deathly ill, she was only in her 30s.  It was only then that she regretted marrying a nobleman, as she was certain God had punished her for her actions by taking her away early.  Lying on her deathbed, she asked forgiveness from the Lord, which pained her husband to no end.  That her last thought should be regret for marrying him was something he'd never recover from.

    Until one day he was teaching his son to hunt in the forest, when the unicorn came upon them.  It rested its head on the nobelman's legs, as it had done when it first saw the virgin so long ago, his bride to be.  The man stroked its glorious horn, as his wife had done just before he courted her.  Take me back, he said to the unicorn, so that I may undo what is done.  The unicorn did not listen.  Instead it went over to the son, himself a virgin, and led him deep into the forest.  The father followed, confused at this sudden turn of events.  In the forest they found her, bruised and bloodied, raped and presumably dead, not from disease but from a raid on the village that was to occur soon after she left with the count.  It dawned on him that this is what would have happened had he never taken her away, and neither would his son have been born.  The apparition faded once his understanding was complete; he had made the right decision, and his wife would have agreed had she known.  God's judgment is never made in death, only in life.

    There in the forest, he built a new home to live the rest of his days, honoring his deceased wife with a shrine of pagan imagery.  The son returned to the city to successfully reclaim his heritage, convincing the aristocracy that his father's actions should not influence his status in society.  He was so convincing that the cultural dam broke on interclass marriages, and others would soon be doing it- the shame directed at the castigated couple turned back on the aristocrats.  Every time he returned to the forest, the unicorn led him back to his father's house, which could never be found on a map.  The son would wonder if it even existed; if the unicorn had somehow taken them through a portal to another world.  And there he would find him, seeing his father for what he hoped wasn't the last time, the faint remembrance of her songs emanating from their embrace.