Eshtine

excerpt from departure song

Here's more of the Eshtine story I excerpted before, Jane.

By the time the tigress Eshtine made it back to her home kingdom, her fur was bedraggled, but she had no energy for washing. She was also limping because of a gash torn in her left foot.
The wound went straight through. It was not the mark of a thorn digging into her skin. It was more like she had been impaled.
The moons shone in the clearing and on Throne Rock. The moons shone brightly on the Queen Unicorn and rendered her white as an apparition. Eshtine waited for a question from her queen but the question never came. ìMy queen knows,î she thought, and her skin crawled. Maybe it was just a tremor from the infection in her foot.
A unicornís horn is healing. The one on the throne would only have to lower her horn to the tigressí skin and the fire inside the wound would cool. The unicorn moved slightly forward. Eshtine stepped back. ìNo.î
ìI cannot heal you without touching you.î
ìI canít let you. I donít want you claiming me.î
ìHow was your foot pierced?î
Eshtine hesitated. She did not often hesitate, so the unicorn took in her silence with surprise. ìThe black crow tore my foot with her beak,î she said finally.
The queen did not ask which black crow. ìYou fought her?î
Another hesitation. A quiet answer. ìI let her.î
ìYou let her touch you.î The unicornís voice was sad. ìDoes she now have more claim on you than I?î
Eshtine did not know whether the black crow had any claim on her. She only knew that cats must never let a unicorn touch them, or they would cease to be themselves. ìShe tricked me into it. She compelled me.î
The queen pushed herself all the way back onto Throne Rock, a complicated task as her back legs were lame and useless. As she did this she spoke without looking at her audience. ìI have never compelled you and never will.î
ìMaybe you should,î Eshtine said with bitterness. ìTrickery seems to be far more effective with me than sincerity.î
The unicorn didnít answer.
The tigress raised her swollen foot. The moonlight glinted in her eyes, making them glow like swamp fire. ìCan youócan you just get her poison out without leaving your mark on me?î
ìHealing doesnít leave marks, tigress Eshtine,î the queen said gently. ìIt takes them away.î