The rocky terrain chipped at the wheels of Arthur's father, Mr. Mill's wagon. The horses lunged forward, struggling to be in unison.  The poor old wagon rattled like crazy, and I felt lucky that it had a rim to keep us securely inside.  But I wondered if at any minute the cart was going to fall apart.  

"I thought Buck would have gotten the hang of this by now." He said, looking at the brown horse stepping out of sync with the other. 

"He normally can." I commented nervously. My eyes shifting to the horse. "I guess he's just used to working at Moo's pace, I'm sure he'll figure it out." I told him, bouncing up from my spot and landing harshly back down.  I tried to steady my bag onto my lap, trying to make sure to keep its contents safe. 

He narrowed his eyes as the same thing happened to him. "Maybe." He commented wincing, and I couldn't help but let out a little laugh.  "Are you sure you don't want me to put your bag with the rest." He offered again.

I shook my head.  "No, I want to hold onto it."

He nodded, confused on why I wouldn't want to set my bag down and free my hands from it.  But I had to be careful with what was inside, I couldn't let the pixie get hurt. 

Arthur's father called back from the drivers seat, his voice firm and kind despite the rough ride.  "I'm sure it'll be fine, I bet that in a few more minutes he's sure to get back into the rhythm of it.  Besides the cargo is packed very securely, so I'm not too worried."

I smiled and nodded, looking anxiously at the paintings wrapped in cloth and sitting atop a thin bundle of hay.  I hoped for its sake the ride would calm sooner rather than later, my family couldn't pay for either of them if they got ruined.  I was surprised that Arthur and his father didn't live in a castle from what he charged to commission a painting, and was even more surprised at how calm he was with the situation.  In fact why did he still have this old wagon if he could afford a new one? 

"Thank your mum when we get back for letting us borrow the two of you." He said happily, keeping his eyes on the road to make sure we didn't veer off.

I laughed nervously, despite telling her Mr. Mill didn't need Buck's help anymore, I'm sure he was going to mention something to my mum when we came back.  "I'll be sure to remember." And when he did she was sure to get my in trouble.

I could see Arthur look at me in my peripheral and I looked away anxiously, he was trying to puzzle something together.  I could tell her was, and I knew that it was a matter of time before he would try to ask me about it.

I looked at the moving scenery to distract myself.  The rolling hills ran for miles, the magical forest running distantly across the plains with us. Stumps sat upright near the edges where woodsmen had chopped down a few of the trees, convinced that it would offer more than the average oak.

It didn't make me feel any better.

I looked to my feet.  For so many people, that was their livelihood, but was the reason good enough to ruin another's home?  The forest had already shrunken so much from what it used to be.

I scrunched my nose.  I wondered how the unicorn was feeling about this and that was when I felt the steadiness of the wagon.  "Ya see Tessa, he only needed some time." Mr. Mill commented from the front.  I looked at the unicorn in the guise of a brown horse, he had seemed to finally find his stride with his partner. Despite the other horse looking at him every so often.  Perhaps other animals could tell there was something strange about him.

"I've been meaning to ask..." Arthur said quietly, trying not to draw his father's attention. "Why did you lie to your mum."

I reflected on earlier, my stomach twisting.  I had told her that I was fine to go through the marriage arrangement on the condition that I could join them on their capital trip.  She hesitated about letting me go, but I promised that I wouldn't do anything foolish and so she let me go.  "Because if I hadn't she wouldn't have let me come." I told him, meeting his eyes, trying to shake the feeling by justifying it, but it wasn't leaving so eagerly.

He nodded.  "I'm sure she would have let you come even if you weren't going to marry me."

I shook my head.  "Not during this time of the year.  Convincing her was the only way to get me out of there." I whispered.  The harvest was when we all worked liked crazy.  Losing a worker meant one less helping hand and more work for everyone else, and my younger brothers weren't the best workers but maybe it was a good time for them to learn.  

"Why did you want to come anyway?  It's not like these trips are interesting." He said honestly, already anticipating was he was going to face when they arrived to their destination.

I huffed and gave a small smile, but I couldn't that kind of boredom existing.  "Do you know me at all?" I threw at him jokingly.

"I hope so, we've been friends for awhile now.  But that doesn't mean that I'm not curious."

I guess that was fair.  "Well, I've always wanted to see what's out there.  But everyone I've always talked to thought that was a ridiculous dream.  That most people in town were too poor to even own a pair of shoes, and it was wasteful of me to dream of visiting places for no other reason to see them." I told him, remembering my hurt feelings, but soon my heart suddenly started to burst with excitement at the prospect of being able to go on a little adventure.  "To tell you the truth, I was always jealous that you got to see so many places, even if it was a couple of towns over." I looked at him with a smile.  Even though this was a mission, I was so happy to see the capital.  I was so happy to see everything.  

I looked forward, and noticed the brown horse's ears turned toward us.  I guess he couldn't help but listen, I guess that was part of his nature.

"Is that why you went into the woods?" He asked me quietly, and I could feel shock start to fill me.  I looked to him and saw him shift awkwardly.

"I didn't..." I started, trying to cover for the fact that I did do just that.  "Why would you say that?"

He scratched the back of his neck nervously.  "Well, you had unicorn blood on your hands yesterday, and the only way that would happen is if you borrowed it from us or if you went into the woods, and I know that father didn't lend you any." He rambled.

I nodded, chastising myself for forgetting that his father had gotten that expensive paint for a commission that he was working on.  While there was another type of silver paint, I guess having the two had allowed Arthur to notice the differences between them.  Especially if he had seen the expensive paint on his father's own hands.

I sighed, maybe I should just tell him.  Maybe it would be easier if he knew.  I opened my mouth ready to tell him, but nothing came out.

"It's fine." He sighed.  "I shouldn't have said anything."

I looked down at my feet sitting at the floor of the wagon, and wished that he hadn't had said anything.  He was my closest friend and I knew that it would be better if he could help me with this quest.  It would make things easier.  But maybe it was better this way.  Maybe it was better to not drag him into this.