Nikyje
Nikyje trotted through his little garden, looking for just the right flowers for his friend. She had recently had another relapse of the illness that had plagued her all her short life, he knew she could use some cheering up. As he searched turned his own problem over in his mind.
He was still a young unicorn, which may be part of the reason, but for all he tried, he couldn't heal his beloved princess. He had grown up in this palace, learning alongside the young girl about all the things unicorns could do, and couldn't figure out why he couldn't fix this problem.
He found the flower he was looking for and carefully took a few in his teeth, then headed back to the palace. Why can't I heal her fully? He wondered for at least the thousandth time. He could make her feel better, alleviate the pain and symptoms of the illness, but it would always come back. He knew he wasn't doing something that he could, but he didn't know what. And every time she relapsed, it got worse; and every time, it got harder to heal.
He took the specially made entrance into the palace, and trotted up to Ariaera's room. ::Ariaera! I have flowers for you. They're your favorites::
"I'm here, Niky. At the desk. Daddy wants me to write to some friends," the child called from her seat. She hadn't been up to sitting at the desk for a while now, so Nikyje took this as a good sign. He walked up and laid the flowers on the desk.
::Are you feeling better today?:: He was careful not to let any of his doubtful thoughts color his words. He folded his legs and sank to the floor by the desk, keeping his eyes focused on her face. She turned and smiled down at him, and ran a hand down his neck, lingering on his jeweled collar for a moment, before going back to her writing. As she wrote, she would send him little mental images, usually things she wished she was strong enough to do, like ride a horse.
After a few minutes of this, he noticed her pictures coming less often, and fuzzier each time, until the last one, when she lightly slumped over the desk. Nikyje jumped to his hooves and reached to touch her face with his golden horn. Unlike the usual groggy awakening, she didn't move; she was still breathing, lightly, but his healing horn did nothing. He discovered an ability he hadn't known he had, as in his fright, he teleported straight to the king.
::Highness! Something is very wrong with Ariaera!:: He knew his mental tone was frantic, but he couldn't help it; he was terrified. He'd never been unable to bring his princess back to consciousness! While the king was surprised by the sudden appearance of the unicorn, it was immediately replaced by fear. He, too, was used to the unicorn being able to wake his daughter. Racing from the room, he almost knocked two servants over in his haste.
"Someone call for a physician! And not one of these locals who haven't been able to do anything before now. Find me someone powerful!" He called as he ran, the young unicorn close behind him.
Pausing in the doorway, he saw her slumped over the desk, and choked back a cry. He had expected her to at least made it to the bed; she had always tried before.
"Niky, did she say anything before she passed out?"
::No, Your Highness. She was doing the usual: sending me pictures of things she wanted to try when she got strong enough. They were getting fuzzier, but that usually happens when she's getting tired. I thought she was getting ready to say it was time to go to sleep, when she fell over. I tried to wake her, but she didn't respond this time:: Nikyje tried to keep his tone calm, but knew he wasn't fully successful.
While they were speaking, the king had picked up the frail child and taken her back to bed. He covered her, and looked at her for any signs she may be waking. Nothing. Pulling a chair over to the side of her bed, he sat and rubbed his temples. "I don't know how she'll survive this. If not even a unicorn can cure her, what could this illness be?"
Sensing that the king needed some time alone, Nikyje slipped from the room and headed for the place he called home. At least, when he was not allowed in the princess's room, when the doctors were examining her. The makeshift barn that had been in place by the rear of the castle since the day he had arrived. The nurse mare, an older mare who had lost her foal only a day before his appearance, she had gladly accepted the unicorn foal, and she still acted like he was a foal in need of protection, even five years later.
He often visited the old mare during the day when he was not needed by the princess, as she had taken very good care of him, even if she was not at the same level of thinking as the elves. He headed there now, knowing she would comfort him, even if she didn't understand the cause of his distress.

He spent all that night, and the next several days in the barn. The king had sent someone down saying that the physician was coming and there wasn't enough space in Ariaera's room for everyone, but he'd send for him if she woke and asked for him. So he spent his days wandering the palace grounds, looking for the girl's favorite flowers, and occasionally trying to talk to her. He'd not really tried from a distance before, but it couldn't hurt. He could sense her, but she wasn't able or wasn't willing to respond.
The next time he saw a messenger from the king, the news was not good; the princess was worsening. Nikyje tried to reach her mind again, but this time, he felt her, and felt her hold on life slip away. He cried out, a horrible, wrenching sound to anyone who heard it, and crumpled to the ground. After a stunned moment, he staggered to his feet and used his recently discovered teleportation to plant himself next to her bed.
The startled gasps of the people gathered there only deepened when he laid his now tear-streaked face next to hers. As he lay there, through his grief, he heard a voice he didn't recognize.
"This is the unicorn you spoke of? It's barely out of childhood! How long has he been here?"
The next voice was the king's. "Yes, that is the one I spoke of. He has been helping her for five years. He was the only unicorn we could find, and an orphan. He offered to help." He sounded defensive, as if he was being accused of some great wrong.
"Five years! He's kept her alive that long! Only a full-grown unicorn, fully schooled in the use of it's healing abilities would have been able to heal this illness. And you gave the responsiblity to an orphaned foal! How old was he when he arrived?"
Knowing the king didn't really know, had never bothered to ask, Nikyje interupted. ::I was only a few days old, sir. And I did offer to help. The girl needed me.:: The grief in his tone made it plain that he had grown very attached to the princess, and was devastated by her death.
"A few days! And you, your Highness, never even attempted to find another unicorn did you? Even when it became clear that something wasn't right. And now, this poor creature could be seriously drained, expending so much effort at such a young age. I think you should release him from you service, preferably with some form of compensation for all his years of effort, at a task that he had no way of accomplishing!" The older man, as Nikyje saw when he finally looked up, was glaring at the king, his face a brilliant red with his anger.
The king sighed, and the unicorn did something he had never allowed himself to do before. He scanned the king's thoughts. He almost flinched at the not-quite anger he found, directed at himself, and the thought that he would gladly let the creature go. His daughter was dead; he had no more need of the unicorn who was supposed to have cured her.
Nikyje shook his head clear of the king's thought and stood once more. ::No compensation will be necessary, other than transportation away from here. I would like to go to one of those other worlds I've read about, one where unicorns are not expected to work miracles from birth.:: He didn't know where that last part came from, especially the spite, but there it was.

Continued...