Half Heart Read online

We traveled for another four hours before we stopped for lunch. Conrad was true to his word. He never let Adda out of his sight. We were sitting on a circle of logs in the forest. Conrad was across from me, and beside Adda. She seemed to be realizing that he was following her everywhere. She gave him weird side glances every now and then. I had to bite down hard on my lunch whenever she did that. I wanted to laugh so badly.

  “I have to go–” Adda started.

  “I’ll come with you!” Conrad stood up, ready to follow her.

  “Somewhere alone!” She finished frantically, then sped over to sit by me. “Conrad is acting very strangely,” she said to me.

  I chuckled. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s my fault.”

  “Oh?” she said, startling me. I almost told her about Soea!

  “He was getting on my nerves. I told him that you needed some watching over, so that he would follow you and not me.”

  Adda stood up.

  “Where are you going?” I asked her.

  “I’m going to tell him his horse wasn’t ready for this trip, and he needs to keep a constant eye on him.”

  I laughed as I watched her trod off in Conrad’s direction.

  “That girl is a basket full of laughs and curiosity.” Sir Iopie had his fingers curled around flask. With his free finger he pointed to Adda.

  I leaned up off my hands, sitting more erect on the soggy log. It smelled musty, like it had been here for many, many years, providing a seat for whoever passed by. “I agree with you,” I replied to Sir Iopie in sigh. I crossed my legs, leaning over and gazing at the sky. It looked so inviting. I closed my eyes, the breeze blowing my hair back from my face. It made me want to fly. Suddenly someone sat down beside me, jolting my eyes open. It was Conrad.

  “Sorry,” he said, smiling. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

  I gave out a long, vocalized sigh. “That’s all right. I was just thinking.”

  “About what?” He leaned down on his own knees, making his head level with mine.

  “About flying.”

  “Flying?” he laughed, sitting up.

  I nodded. “Yes.” He was bound to let me know how impractical that thought was. Anybody would. Especially him. He was so prying, and irritating.

  “I would love to fly. Someday I will. And I’ll take you up with me,” Conrad said, surprising me. “Oh… but I guess… would your husband like that?”

  “He’s not my husband yet. We’re just betrothed.” It was true that we hadn’t had our wedding yet, although we were already considered King and Queen of Tentaleigh, and of Dreideth when we were there.

  “Oh?” Conrad scooted closer to me. “I had no idea you were, you know,” his overconfidence was simply vile. “Still single.”

  I stood up with a start, facing him. “Yes. I mean no! I mean, we’re betrothed. Committed. Pledged to one another. Soon to be wed!” I spun around on my heel to face the other way, walking off to find Adda. What impudence!

  Adda was standing on a stool, brushing Dido and talking to him softly. “Adda!” I said. She stopped her conversation with her horse and turned around. “I think we should move on. Lunch is over.”

  With a slight nod and keeping her eyes on me all the while, she jumped off her stool and headed off to tell everyone to pack up.

  I started untying Clupint. Nobody was supposed to know that Brye and I weren’t actually married yet. We hadn’t time for a wedding, with Father’s death and burial, Wade and Sweenlah’s death, the Heartha’s moving into the castle walls, and our quest to rid the kingdom of the Forest of Despondency. It was supposed to be a royal secret. But not anymore.

  I threw one leg over Clupint and used the reins to pull myself up. I clapped my heels on his sides, urging him forward. The knights were done packing up and already on their horses. I got in front of them, and they started following me.

  Adda pulled up beside me. “How far away is Mount Geot? How long until we get there?”

  I shrugged.

  “Look at the book!”

  She was obviously talking about the bubble-picture book. I leaned over to the sack that was hanging over my horse and pulled it out. “Where should I look?” I asked her.

  “Look on the first page,” she suggested.

  “Good place to start.” I opened it up to the first page. A bubble arose with two elves it looked like the king and queen, mouthing their greeting “May the rain fall for luscious life.”

  “That’s not it.” Adda reached over and turned the page. The next picture made her eyes light up. Stars were slowly floating down from the heavens. The mountain top was aglow. Little elves were dancing all around, and trying to catch them. “I hope that happens every night.”

  I turned the next page. “Oh!” A mountain rose, with tiny horses on it traveling upward. “This must be the directions.”

  Adda nodded and leaned in for a better look. “That looks like us!” She exclaimed putting her finger on the bubble.

  I squinted my eyes and craned my neck. It did look like us. I waved my hand up in the air as high as it would go. “Look!” A very faint arm was waving in the bubble, too! “That is us.”

  “But which way do we go?” Adda asked. Suddenly an orange line started trekking up the mountain in from of us inside the bubble, taking twists and turns until it reached the top.

  “That is the way we go.” I smiled, eyes cast down at the amazing book. I gazed at it for a few seconds before closing it.

  “Let me have it!” Sir Iopie said. “I’ll be leading the way.”

  “Go right ahead,” I said under my breath, handing him the book. Every time I lead the way something went wrong.

  “Only two days, north!” He said, his scraggly beard bouncing on his chin. Sir Iopie was an older knight, having served thirty years in my father’s militia. Now Brye’s militia. He had a yellow beard that was slowly turning white, with streaks of gray peppering here and there. He had a moustache of the same above his nearly white lips, on his floppy-skinned face. He looked older than fifty years, until you looked deep into his misty blue eyes. Then you could see years of youth and adventure gazing out into the world.

  “Forward ho!” The old knight Iopie cried. He swung his arm out in front of him, and kicked his horse into full speed. In matter of seconds Adda and I were in a cloud of dust, left behind by the knights. Coughing and laughing at the same time, we clapped our heels and sped after them.