//------------------------------// // VIII: The Road to Bath // Story: The Lioness and the Unicorn // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// Celebratory relief was in every corner of the country. There was hardly a single subject that hasn’t heard of the defeat of the Spanish Armada. Church bells rang blessings while the drunks have something to drink about. Feasts from the wealthy to dances of the poor brought forth a rhapsody in knowing that their country was saved by a miracle. All the while in nearly the same breath of their thanksgiving to God, they too gave praise to their Queen. It was this sort of atmosphere that Star Swirl the Bearded awoke to. While his eyelids felt heavy, he did feel that he was in a bed with pillows and soft padding with sheets and a blanket. His ears heard the murmuring crackle of a fireplace while a ghost of dancing music sounded off somewhere. By the time he managed to open them, although still feeling tired, he was able to see that he was now in a bedroom. His mind swarmed with questions as he slumped out of bed, “Where am I?” he muttered. The windows provided him a vital clue as they showed the river Thames with the thatched roofs of the city that he realized in a moment that he was in London once more. Judging by the light in the sky, it looked to be almost evening as it was near bright orange. He turned his attention towards the door that leads out to the corridor and was committed to finding out where that music was coming from. It didn’t take long to find that in the great hall of Whitehall, musicians were playing while courtiers danced. To the long end, sides of the hall were tables that still had leftover rich foods that the wizard made a note to snack on a few before returning to bed. But on the far end of the room was Elizabeth with her student. The queen herself was in her finest clothing of white, pearls, bows, red silks and rubies beneath her snow-white collar and a headdress of pearls. She held up a hand and the hall became still, “My Lords and Ladies,” Elizabeth announced. “Our hero of our island has finally awakened from his slumber.” Star Swirl heard applause as he walked between the nobles and servants until he was near enough to the Queen. “I have two concerning questions to ask,” he began. “What happened and how long was I asleep for?” “I’m glad you are awake Master,” Clover got out from her cushioned seat to hug him. “You have been sleeping for nearly two weeks and I was worried that you wouldn’t wake up.” “Truth be told,” he rubbed his eyes, “I’m still tired. Still, neither of you have answered my first question.” “The Spanish Armada is no more,” the Queen informed him. “They have been indeed been blown away, forcing themselves to sail back to Spain. Although, not to say that some of those said ships have been ruined as some of them have crashed upon the shores of my kingdom, Scotland and Ireland, nevertheless, those that did the locals have taken care of them. And the Spanish have signed a treaty with us, so the threat of war has been avoided.” Star Swirl blinked, “That is… good to hear, I suppose.” “More than good sir,” Elizabeth stood up. “You have saved England from destruction, and my subjects are rejoicing because of your courage. The crown, my nobles, and even Parliament have agreed that such efforts you made ought to be rewarded.” “So, are you going to allow us to explore your Kingdom?” “More than that, we do wish for you to be knighted for your valor in the field of battle – to bestow you an official title for this court.” “Oh no ma’am,” Star Swirl shook his head. “I’m not a warrior at all. We have already told you that we’re merely scholars looking for the truth of the world.” “Yet, you have assisted my realm when it needed it the most Merlin. While I do appreciate your modesty, it would be unfair for not giving you some reward to fit the good deed you have done.” The old wizard yawned, “Let me think it over, for now, I must return to bed. The magic that I have used up still needs time to come back before I can properly function once more.” Elizabeth bid him go to sleep, watching the bearded unicorn to return to his room. The music started back up once more as she and Clover returned to their seats, “So little one, where exactly do you wish to go to our kingdom?” “Oh I’m not sure as of yet,” Clover confessed. “There is so much ground to cover with areas to have a closer look at that I’m not entirely sure where to begin. Perhaps a look around London would be a good place to start.” “I wouldn’t be so sure on that,” Elizabeth hummed in thought. “The city is indeed a busy one, yes. With its merchants and craftsmen going about, but at the same time, I fear that you and your Master would be overwhelmed by people who would want to see real unicorns in the streets. That alone where the stench of waste being poured from chamber pots and is crawling with criminals in certain areas. If I were to suggest a good place to start, it would be in the town of Bath.” “Where’s that?” “It is towards the west, where there remains an old Roman bathhouse, whose waters, as I am told, can cure many illnesses and rejuvenate oneself to bathe and drink from its springs. It is also home to the famous golden church as well among its green hills.” Clover thought it over for a moment, “That would be a good idea, especially for the case of my Master. Using up as much magic as he did would take some good amount of recovery. Maybe the waters there may help him in that regard. What about you? What are you going to do when we’re going over there?” “I do wish to stay here at Whitehall. My subjects are celebrating our marvelous victory, and I wish to celebrate with them. Still, I do wish to reward your master.” She thought for a moment as she sipped from her chalice. “Suppose I offer you unicorns dual citizenship?” This got Clover’s attention, “You mean, you want us to become part of the tribe?” “In a sense, as long as the both of you swear allegiance to me, to follow the laws and customs – although, you two wouldn’t be considered complete subjects. As I was told that neither of you has heard of Christianity.” “As I said to your chief adviser, we are students learning as much as we could about the world. Especially with the… (What were the names called…?) Catholics and Protestants, for the sake of the book we are putting together, I would like to know the history of both groups and their customs as well.” “Perhaps it may be sensible of gifting you a bible in English. The holy scriptures outline perfectly of what we believe to be true in the common language. As for history, I would have to fetch someone to find a book on such a subject.” “Thank you so much,” Clover smiled. “I can’t wait to learn more.”             Days later, Star Swirl and Clover the Clever were in carriages traveling over the hills and fields of the British countryside. Surrounded on all sides were their own armed escorts, eight men on horseback carrying knives, swords, pikes and muskets – plus their driver pulling four horses across the golden fields of wheat, sheep, and through pastures of trees here and there. The bearded unicorn was lying down with a thin blanket to cover him, a curtain was drawn to block out the sunlight from one end of the carriage. His student meanwhile had the other open to the blue sky, holding up a bible that the Queen had given her and scribbling notes into her journal at the same time. As much as her teacher tried to sleep, the road dirt road was so bumpy that he found it impossible to sleep as his whole body shook with the wooden carriage that he eventually opened his eyes and craned his neck over to see his student. “What are you doing?” “Do you remember that book Queen Elizabeth had given us? I’m taking down notes of their belief system from their mythology. And while I’ve gone through several chapters already, I’m somewhat concerned as it is.” “How so?” “Well, apparently the God without a name hasn’t learned what forgiveness is at this point, because I’ve read a story where he had a grudge on the world that he decides to flood it all. That means he drowned out everypony including the animals to start again from scratch with a man with his family, a pair of each animal and a boat.” Star Swirl blinked, “What did the animals do?” She shrugged as she flipped the pages back, “It doesn’t say. It just mentions that mankind was wicked, but doesn’t go into detail about why. Now, I know that I’m starting to read this, but already I don’t like this God character. So far he doesn’t forgive for anything, gets angry at things in which, as a creator deity he could have easily prevented in the first place, then again, maybe he might improve later on.” “Why does it concern you about what character their God is Clover?” She looked up from her books. “Because, most cultures we’ve encountered so far, they tend to worship their gods from the same values as they have. At the moment, I’m just hoping that this is a story about how his behavior improves over time.” Star Swirl sat up, rubbing his eyes, “Do you have any idea as to where we are?” His student confessed that she had no idea so the old wizard stuck his head out the rocking carriage window towards the driver. “Excuse me, sir, where are we?” “We passed the town of Amesbury.” The stallion looked around to see the rolling hills that stretched out in all directions for miles. Here and there huts would stand as shepherds watched over herds of sheep grazing. Before he drew his head back in, he spotted in the distance some odd, gray shapes. “What’s that over there?” A nearby guard rode up to him, “What are you looking at sir?” “That over there,” he pointed with a hoof. “By that patch of trees there, I see something gray right over yonder. Do you see it?” The guard looked, “I do. And I do think that it may be the Merlin stones.” “The what?” “Merlin stones. Some say that the great wizard himself had transported these stones from faraway lands as they are said to be used for healing. If you ask me, I don’t think anyone knows where they came from or why they were set up.” Star Swirl stared at the stones in thought, “Can we get nearer to them? I would like to see them up close.”                         It was indeed a puzzling sight. On a hill, far from any farmland where wild grass grows stands a peculiar structure that both unicorns gazed on, puzzled by it. It was crude. That was a fact. It was made out of stone and formed a circular shape as if they were the remaining beams of a building. Of course, some of the gray boulders have fallen over eons ago, but the basic structure still stood. They found that it was made out of rings: an outer ring that was made out of mound earth, a center ring where stones here and there were embedded in a circle, a center ring made out of heavy stones that stood high while near the very center were three rocks. “Do you think it was once a temple?” asked Clover. Star Swirl shook his head, “If that were true, where is the altar? Every temple has an altar of some sort. To me, this looks like a rushed structure that was made in a hurry. Otherwise, where are all the carvings? Or the obvious sign to show what kind of god it’s dedicated to?” “Sir Star Swirl,” the ponies turned to the guards behind them. “I think we ought to set up camp for the night.” “You all do that,” the old pony waved a hoof, “My student and I are going to further investigate this mysterious structure.” As the sun was beginning to set, the guards set up tents and prepared a fire, while the unicorns scanned this henge of stone.