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ing. First the linen breechclout, followed by the silk
hose and the shin with the dark red lace spilling from the sleeve ends. Next
the slim-legged trousers with the bottoms anchored by pebble-sized rubies. The
burgundy-colored lace jabot was tied around his neck, and all that was left to
don was the jacket.
He had some trepidations about the jacket. The waistband of the trousers was
uncomfortably tight and he remembered the jacket's fit as being snug sixteen
years ago. He bent his knees tentatively. If the seat was going to split,
better now than later. The trousers held and he straightened thankfully. Why
hadn't he thought to try the clothes on before this? The boy was holding the
jacket out. Jarrod slouched backward and the Duty
Boy went up on tiptoe. Jarrod slid his hands into the sleeve holes and pushed
and wriggled until his shoulders were firmly encased. The boy came round to
the front.
The first button was a minor struggle, but the others proved easier. Finally
he stood before the looking glass, a vision of stiff magnificence, girded in
as if for war.
There was a group of Magicians waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs.
Two carried mandolins and he was serenaded all the way to the stables with
what they considered appropriate songs. Nastrus stood waiting for them, mane
brushed, coat burnished, silver hooves shin-
ing. He whickered a welcome and the singing stopped.
Jarrod walked across to the mounting block and Nas-
trus positioned himself.
'I'm going to do this very slowly,' Jarrod thought.
'These trousers are a mite snug and I'm not about to go through my wedding
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with my backside on view.'
'Humans!' Nastrus returned, his mind filled with slightly malicious humor.
'None of that. We'll ride over at a smooth canter.'
Jarrod tried to sound forceful, but the unicorn's un-
derlying enjoyment of the situation was infectious- He
THE UNICORN PEACE + 231
suddenly felt as if the whole occasion might turn out to be fun after all.
'Mind you,' Nastrus said as Jarrod climbed gingerly into the saddle, 7 do not
understand the reasons behind this ceremony. It is the duly of a strong male
to take as many females as possible.'
'We see things somewhat differently,' Jarrod replied.
'For us it is the affirmation of the love between two people and, later, for
the protection of the children.'
'Raising colts is dams' work,' Nastrus said dismis-
sively, 'and I can see in your mind that you are uncertain about this love.
You have already rutted, why all this extra fuss?'
'This is not the lime,' Jarrod thought back with what severity he could
muster, 'to try to explain the differ-
ences between human and unicorn. Let's just get on with it, shall we?'
They rode out of the stables to the cheers of the as-
sembled Magicians, and Jarrod smiled and waved to his friends and colleagues.
They were all there except Grey-
lock, Tokamo and Agar Thorden, who had spent the previous night at the palace.
He felt their approbation as a palpable force. These men were, in a very real
sense, his family and he was glad that he had thought to pay for a feast for
them that night. If things had worked out as originally planned, they and not
the Court would have been the wedding guests.
As they cleared the Outpost's fortified gate, he de-
cided to ride to Stronta through the Great Maze. They were supposed to make
their entrance into the capital through Westgate, but this seemed more
fitting. Nastrus obediently swung off the road and onto the path that led to
the ancient enigma.
'I've never been through this Maze of yours,' Nastrus remarked. 'Are you sure
that it will let me through?'
232 t JOHN LEE
'Certain. I took Marianna through and her only Talent was being able to talk
to your mother.'
Nastrus moved easily into the required canter- 'If it's all the same to you,'
he remarked, 'I'll walk when we gel to it.'
'Nothing will happen to you; trust me.' Jarrod re-
sponded.
He proved correct. The Great Maze embraced them.
He had half expected the experience to be different when viewed through
Nastrus' eyes, much as it had been when they had ridden through the forest
created by illusion, but the glitteringly insubstantial gold and silver fronds
that parted at their approach looked the same to both of them. There was no
trace of discomfort in the uni-
corn's mind, just a happy sense of wonder and an al-
most smug pleasure that he was recording yet another first for his kind.
Emerging into the ordinary daylight with the ever-open North Door ahead was an
anticli-
max for them both.
Stronta was mercifully quiet and Jarrod rode unher-
alded across the broad quadrangle behind the gate and into Royal Court. A
crowd had gathered in front of the palace to watch the arrival of the notables
in their fin-
ery. Jarrod guessed that the rest of the population was spread between
Westgate and Royal Court. He hadn't thought of that when he had decided to
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cross the Great
Maze and knew a twinge of regret for depriving the
townsfolk of a sight of the unicorn.
He saw Tokamo, Agar Thorden and the Royal
Chamberlain waiting at the top of the stairs leading to the Great Hall, but
neither they nor the crowd were looking in his direction. He smiled and
Nastrus pulled up. Jarrod dismounted with care and then, with the uni-
corn following, made his way through the startled throng, and up the stairs.
There he was greeted by the little delegation and led into the Great Hall with
the
THE UNICORN PEACE + 233
cheers of the crowd ringing in his ears- In later years the legend would say
that both he and the unicorn were invisible until they appeared at the doors
of the Hall.
Nastrus was unsaddled and led away by young Lazia, now a middle-aged man.
Jarrod was escorted to a with-
drawing room where he was given a goblet of fortified wine. The Chamberlain
explained that Her Majesty would enter the chapel in twenty minutes, at which
time he would return for them. He ran over the duties of
Tokamo as ring bearer and where Jarrod would stand, as if they had never
rehearsed the moves. Jarrod lis-
tened politely, knowing from experience that the Cham-
berlain was unstoppable in the performance of his duty.
When the man had finished and gone away, Tokamo grinned at his old friend.
"That's quite an outfit," he said admiringly. "I sup-
pose all those jewels are real?"
"I'm afraid so."
"I remember your talking about this" he waved his hand up and down, indicating
the clothes "when you were recovering from the Great Spell, but I never really
visualized the size of those stones."
"Wait till you see what Marianna's wearing," Jarrod said quickly,
uncomfortable with the conversation.
Tokamo picked up on his tone of voice immediately.
"Well," he said brightly, "are you feeling nervous?"
"I was when I got up," Jarrod admitted, "but Nas-
trus is having such a good time with this whole thing that I stopped worrying.
Everyone else is taking care of all the details, so what do I have to be
nervous about?"
Tokanio cocked an eyebrow, thinking that a marriage was more than just a
ceremony, but he held his tongue.
"And speaking of all the details," Jarrod continued, "you do have the ring,
don't you?"
Tokamo's face froze. "Of course I do," he said, fish-
ing in his left sleeve pocket. The eyebrows came down
234 + JOHN LEE
into a solid line and he switched to the right sleeve. The mouth puckered and
the eyes widened as he went back to the left and then frantically to the right
sleeve again.
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