Free A Charm for a Unicorn by Jennifer Macaire

two elderly chambermaids with stern faces, gray hair, and starched aprons. They looked alike enough to be twins. The bustle in the room made Leonie feel faint, but she managed to get off her knees and stagger to a chair. She didn't want to be seen crouching next to the fire like a cinder-girl.
    "All great houses have proper procedure,” said one of the chambermaids, after the tub had been filled and everyone had left. “My name is Jan and this is Merle.” Merle, the other chambermaid, curtseyed. “We are here to serve you."
    "I'd rather take my bath alone,” said Leonie.
    The two women glanced at each other. “We will wait in the hallway. Call us when you are through and we will help you with your dress and hair."
    "I don't need anyone to help me dress.” Leonie wondered how she could escape if there were so many servants around at all times.
    "Of course you need help dressing. You must learn how to be a real lady.” Merle had a piping voice and black, beady eyes like a black-bird's.
    Both women bowed and left the room, and Leonie took her bath, still feeling stunned. At least the water was steaming hot and soothing.
    While in the tub she took the time to look around her room. Pale blue silk covered the walls, and the bed had a canopy swathed in the same colored silk. The room had a highly polished dark wood floor, but a fine rug of rose and blue tufted wool covered most of it. A large chair sat next to a writing desk, and four lamps of delicately blown glass had been placed on the mantle and on the bedside tables. Candle-sconces on the walls and a gilt-edged mirror completed the decoration. As Sir Wulfe had said, it was fit for a princess.
    Wrapping a linen towel around her, she went to look out the window. She could make out a wide lake and formal gardens. In the moonlight, a family of regal white swans swam on the black water. Her fingers tightened on the sill and she had to bite her lip to stop from crying. She would not cry. She would find a way to escape and get back home, to her family, and to Renaldo.
* * * *
    With the little snake crawling over the books and showing her the spells, Ann managed to charm Cook back to human form. It exhausted her, and she had a blinding headache afterward, but it was a relief to see Cook. She brought Ann hot milk and biscuits in bed and fussed over her like when she was little.
    She couldn't revert her father back to his proper form, but that was because Sir Wulfe had cast the spell upon him, and his magic was terribly strong. And, for some reason, she couldn't revert Bob. So the lop-eared dog stayed in the kitchen, and when Ann went anywhere, he trotted at her heels.
    Prince Sylvain went to the village to find a sturdy pony for his journey. Sir Wulfe lived a good two week's ride away, and the weather grew chill as autumn arrived. Ann didn't mind frost and snow but Leonie was always cold, so Ann asked Sylvain to bring an extra cloak for her, and for a minute she buried her face in the soft flannel lining, hoping her sister was all right and not locked in a cold, dark dungeon.
    "I'm sorry,” she whispered, her face still pressed to the cloak. “It's all my fault. If I hadn't asked Renaldo to meet Leonie that night, this would never have happened.” She raised her head and watched as Sylvain cantered into the courtyard on a pretty brown horse, and she wondered where his brother Renaldo could be, and if Sir Wulfe would really bring him back.
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Chapter Eight
Renaldo's War
    Renaldo heard the wind rushing around him. In an instant it picked him up and carried him away. He could do nothing to escape the grip of the whirlwind. It surrounded him, held him in a grasp both insubstantial and unbreakable. Flinging his arms out did no good, it only turned him upside-down.
    After a while he managed to straighten himself out, and then suffered a moment of paralyzing fear when he looked down. The invisible whirlwind let him see that he flew across plains and rivers,