Free Taken by Unicorns by Leandra J. Piper

Vivienne awoke washed in sunshine, her mossy bed cushioning her far better than any featherbed could have. She made a long yawn, delicately pressing a hand to her mouth. The curtains in her window were fluttering in the morning breeze, carrying the scent of flowers inside. She glanced from side to side. She was alone, but that was to be expected. There likely would be few unicorns at all in the settlement right now, let alone in the little house they had given her. They wandered often on days like this, drinking in the idyllic beauty of the summer.
    Despite this, Vivienne could not help but feel a wave of discontent washing through her body as she sat. Her fingers slid down her body to her stomach, gliding over the silky nightdress. For all the efforts of the unicorns, her first lover Merrick foremost among them, she had yet to show any signs of pregnancy. Her cycles came and went as normal, and she could feel no change at all in her body. And since she was here with the unicorns so that she could help them continue their species, Vivienne could not help but feel that she was somehow failing Merrick and his people.
    Unfortunately too, they had little enough idea as to how they could help her. The unicorns were all male-- the very reason they needed her in the first place-- and had little insight or understanding as to this sort of women's matter. For months now she had lived amongst them, and every night she had given her body to Merrick, or to any one of the others, all to no avail. She had enjoyed herself, of course, just as they had her, and they reassured her constantly that they had nothing but time and enjoyment was enough. But she could not help her worries at all. She wanted nothing more than to help keep unicorns thriving in the world.
    The only chance at insight she had been given had come from one of the oldest who still lived at the settlement, who had known the last woman to give herself over as the unicorns' maiden. She had long since passed, but there was still hope. Upon his advice, Vivienne had been carefully finding special herbs and flowers that could be used as an offering to awaken a spirit such as hers. With those, Vivienne could find a place of importance to the former maiden and waken her. If there was any being at all who would know the secret of wakening her womb for the unicorns, surely it would be her.
    Vivienne had found everything she had been told she would need, and now the only thing left to do was go into the forest and find the place where the woman's spirit rested. Despite everything, though, Vivienne could not help but be nervous at the idea of setting out after her. What if the problem was not in what she had been doing or not? What if she simply was not fit to bear the unicorns' children? What if Merrick had made a mistake in taking her back with him? That fear alone had kept her paralyzed and afraid to set out for the past several days.
    But today, as the wind stirred her hair through the window, Vivienne knew that she must set out in search of this ghost-maiden. It was her duty to find out whatever she could if she truly wished to be bred by the unicorns. And if she did not, what would happen then? Vivienne could never live with herself if by giving up she ensured that there would be no more unicorns in the world.
    So she got up out of her bed and changed into as sensible a dress as she owned, then went to go pack herself up a basket. Not just with the supplies she'd need to awaken her, but also a light lunch since this would likely be a day-trip. Still, she couldn't help but feel dreadfully nervous about the whole thing. She'd never done anything like this before, after all. But she had to, so Vivienne did her best to push her fears from her mind and stepped outside the little house.
    Directions firmly in mind, she left the settlement, a light breeze cooling the air around her. She'd been living amongst the unicorns for long enough now that she was comfortable making her way about in