True Heart (2 page)

Halfway down, the unicorns broke into a gallop.

They leaped the fiery current.

Kip tore off after them, streaking toward the little bridge.

Heart put her carry-sack over her shoulder and began to run.

She ran as fast as she could.

It wasn't nearly fast enough.

At the bottom of the slope Moonsilver and Avamir waited for her.

Avamir tossed her head, jingling the tiny Gypsy bells Talia and Josepha had braided into her mane.

Kip ran in circles, barking.

Avamir stamped a forehoof, looking at him.

Kip quieted.

“I'd better go first,” Heart told Avamir. “In case we meet anyone on the path.”

Avamir shook her mane and lowered her head, waiting for Heart to start off.

The path was narrow and steep. Heart walked carefully until the sun rose.

Then, with the morning light pouring over the Earth, she hurried along, her carry-sack over her shoulder.

Kip raced ahead.

His paws were nearly soundless on the path.

The unicorns were almost as quiet.

Their hooves seemed barely to touch the earth.

As she walked, Heart's spirits rose. The rhythm of her own steps felt wonderful. The scent of the pine trees soothed her worries a little.

At the bottom of the path she stopped.

“Wait here,” she told the unicorns. “It's important that no one sees us coming down from the forge.”

Avamir tossed her head, but she didn't follow as Heart walked out through the trees.

Heart moved slowly and carefully, listening for voices.

She slowed, crossing the grassy place where the Gypsies had camped.

There was a bright-colored scarf in the grass.

Heart picked it up, fingering the silk.

The Gypsies had broken camp fast.

Too fast.

Heart had seen the guards shouting at them.

Feeling her worries rise, Heart tied the scarf around her neck.

She eased forward, then listened again before she stepped out of the trees.

The road was empty as far as she could see in both directions.

She turned and called out to Kip and the unicorns.

Kip barked and dashed forward. The unicorns cantered gracefully through the dappled sunlight, then slowed once they got close.

Heart led off, walking fast.

The morning was cool and bright. The road dust had been settled by a heavy dew.

The birds were wide awake.

Their songs overlapped and blended, a tangled chorus.

Heart lengthened her stride.

She wanted to get as far from the forge path as she could before anyone saw them.

If the guardsmen had been looking for Moonsilver, she didn't want anyone to guess that Joseph had helped her.

She didn't want to bring him trouble.

Kip barked suddenly and raced off through the trees.

Heart watched him go and smiled. He loved chasing squirrels.

She glanced at Moonsilver.

Moonsilver looked like a lord's horse now, not a unicorn.

Avamir's braided halter made her look like a well-bred stable mare. A little thin, maybe, but beautiful.

“But I still look like a Gypsy girl,” Heart said aloud. She flipped her sash and jingled the tiny bells tied into the fringe.

Avamir whuffled a long breath out through her nostrils.

“I do, though,” Heart said, turning. “What will people think when they …”

The mare lifted her head sharply and turned to look back down the road.

Heart stopped midsentence and turned.

She saw the shape of someone walking toward them in the early light.

There were woods on either side of the road.

It didn't matter.

It was too late to hide.

Heart pulled the Gypsy scarf from her neck.

She put it in her carry-sack.

CHAPTER THREE

A
vamir moved closer to Heart. Moonsilver came up on her other side.

Heart reached up carefully and took hold of their halters. Then she turned again.

The woman coming up behind them looked familiar. She was waving, gesturing for Heart to stop.

“Who are you?” the woman called out.

Her voice was sharp.

The forest became silent.

All the songbirds stopped singing.

The woman walked through a patch of sunlight, and Heart saw that she was carrying an armload of books.

Heart felt her stomach tighten. It was the woman
from Thoren who had been so rude to her and Tibbs when they'd asked to look at a book.

Kip growled low in his throat.

He glanced up at Heart.

“Shhh,” Heart warned him.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded again. “I asked you a question! Are you a page?” She scowled. “Whose horses do you lead so boldly down the High Road?”

Heart wasn't sure what to say.

The woman would recognize her any second, she was sure.

“They are trusted to me,” she finally managed.

It was true, in a way, but she knew the woman would never believe it.

Fine horses in armor belonged to lords—no one else could afford them.

The woman tilted her head to one side as she came closer, her eyes fierce. “And what lord are you serving? Is he here for the new Lord Irmaedith's crowning?”

Heart was silent.

She pretended to fuss with Avamir's halter.

“Are you on your way to Bidenfast?” the woman asked a little louder.

Heart nodded slowly.

She was.

That was where the guards had said they were taking the Gypsies.

Was that where the crowning was to be?

“Am I on the right road, ma'am?” Heart tried hard to sound very polite.

The woman clicked her tongue.

She circled the unicorns widely.

They all followed her with their eyes, turning as she came around to face them.

“You are. What lord do you serve?”

Heart took a deep breath. “We come from Dunraven's lands,” she said, telling the truth in fact, if only in part.

“If Lord Dunraven has sent you to Bidenfast, he is going to the crowning,” the woman said. Then she narrowed her eyes.

Heart held her breath.

“Why do you wear Gypsy clothes?” the woman
asked quietly. She leaned closer. “Answer! Have you
stolen
these horses?”

“No!” Heart said quickly. “I am the one who cares for them.”

Moonsilver fidgeted.

Avamir tossed her head, nearly pulling Heart off her feet.

The motion made her sash swing, and the bells tinkled.

The woman's lips curled. “I remember you! You lied about learning to read.”

“I didn't lie,” Heart answered. “I am learning.”

“If you are Lord Dunraven's page, prove it,” the woman said coldly. She opened a book and thrust it at Heart.

Kip growled.

Heart touched his head and tried to calm him.

Avamir exhaled a fluttering breath.

Heart knew Avamir was too clever to make trouble now.

She knew that Moonsilver would stand quietly if his mother did.

She released the halters.

Then she reached out and took the book.

She held it carefully, her pulse thudding.

“Go on,” the woman said. She tapped the page.

Heart stared at it.

The words were not simple.

“Read!” the woman snapped. “Or admit that you are lying.”

Heart held the book with trembling hands.

“I haven't been able to practice enough,” she said, looking up.

The woman laughed. “I was right. You are not nobility, high or low or any other kind. There are guards nearby, and I—”

“‘C … Cas … Cas … Castle,'” Heart began desperately, interrupting. The woman stopped talking and glared at her.

“‘Ava … Ava … mir,'” Heart managed. She frowned. “‘Castle Avamir …,'” she repeated, then stopped, startled at the words.

“Go on!” the woman commanded.

Heart tried to concentrate. It was hard. The woman was leaning close.

Heart took a deep breath.

“‘Cas … Castle Avamir was long s … said to be in L … Lord Kay … Kaybale's f … for … forest,'” she read slowly, “‘but th … this was not … t … t … true.'”

She looked up nervously.

The woman was staring at her, her mouth half open.

Heart looked back at the book. “‘Castle Avamir was long said to be in Lord K … Kaybale's f … forest, but … this was not true,'” she repeated.

She joined the words much more smoothly the second time.

She took a deep breath. “‘The tales of the cas … castle be … began when the uni … corns dis … dis … disappear … disappeared. The l … lords were—”

“That's enough!” the woman interrupted.

Before Heart could react, she had snatched the book.

Heart reached out for it, desperate to read the rest.

“Manners!” the woman scolded. “Lord Dunraven may be teaching you to read, but you've learned little else!”

Heart forced herself to step back.

“Where
is
Castle Avamir?” she asked politely, trembling.

“Why should that concern you?” the woman asked sharply.

Heart pressed her lips together.

What could she possibly answer? That her name was Heart Avamir? That the design of the rearing unicorns had been embroidered in silver on her baby blanket? Heart clenched her fists—she had to say
something
. The woman was waiting, staring at her.

“I think my family might be from the Royal House of Avamir,” Heart finally said in a low voice.

The woman inhaled sharply. “That is a dangerous joke.”

Heart shook her head. “I didn't mean to—”

“Enough!” the woman said, cutting her off. “Go!
Begone! Take your stupid jests with you.” She made a shooing motion with one hand. “The guards can sort you out,” she mumbled. “I have books to be burned.”

Kip growled again.

Avamir tossed her mane.

“Books to be
burned
?” Heart echoed, sure she had misheard. It made no sense. But the woman nodded vaguely. “Would you give me that book, then?” Heart said.

The woman laughed, a cracking, unhappy sound.

She clutched the books close to her body.

“Give you a storybook? And risk someone finding out?” Without another word she walked away fast, veering onto a narrow path that Heart hadn't noticed.

She did not look back.

Heart stared after her.

Burned?
That made no sense. The woman barely let anyone else touch her books. She must have said “returned.”

Heart sighed. That meant some noble family
lived up that path. The woman was taking back books she had borrowed.

Heart shivered. It was still chilly.

Avamir nudged her.

Heart blinked. She was wasting time.

She began walking, but her fists were clenched.

Why should only noble families be allowed to read?

CHAPTER FOUR