The Truest Heart

by E. D. Baker

  “I may not know her, but I do know when someone doesn’t like me,” said Cory. “And that woman doesn’t like me one little bit.”

  CHAPTER

  17

  Cory woke early the next day and wanted to hurry downstairs, but she had things to do first. Her grandfather’s house didn’t seem like the kind of place where she could wear her nightgown and robe to breakfast or show up without brushing her hair. She dressed and washed up as quickly as she could before making her way to the terrace.

  Her grandfather was reading The Fey Express while he waited for her. He smiled when he looked up and said, “You can’t imagine how happy I am that you moved in, my dear. This old house has been too quiet for too long. You’ve been here less than a day, but you’ve already breathed new life into the place. And I haven’t seen the putti this happy in decades! Would you believe I heard Orville singing this morning? He has a very nice baritone. Tell me, do you have any plans for today?”

  Cory nodded. “The ogres offered to build the den in the backyard for Shimmer. Would you be able to look at the yard and help us decide where we should place it?”

  “Of course! I have to tell you that I strolled down to the river this morning as I do every day. I saw your two woodchucks. They’ve been digging a den for themselves near the trees. One of them actually spoke to me!”

  “That would be Weegie,” said Cory. “She’s Noodles’s mate.”

  “Ah,” said Lionel. “She told me that they like it here and want to stay. She asked me to tell you that it’s much better than the park.”

  “I thought they’d like it here,” Cory told him.

  “Ah, good, here’s Blue,” Lionel said. “Orville and Margory should be along with breakfast shortly. I believe your ogre friends have already started their breakfast in the kitchen.”

  “I’m afraid I have to eat and run,” Blue said as he sat down at the table. He took a sip of the berry juice that was already beside his plate. “The trial is almost over and I’ll be spending my day in the courtroom.”

  “It must be exciting at this point,” said Cory.

  “Not too exciting, I hope,” Blue replied. “Excitement in a fey courtroom often means that someone is up to something bad. That’s why we always have at least three witches sitting in during a big trial to make sure nothing gets out of hand. Of course, that might work against us if WU joins the guild alliance. I don’t know what we’d do then.”

  “I remember years ago when an ogre dragged his neighbor to court over a pet basilisk,” said Lionel.

  Cory would have liked to have heard the story, but just then Shimmer flew past, heading to the front of the house. “Excuse me,” Cory said, getting to her feet. “I have to go after Shimmer. I’ll be right back.”

  The little dragon was nowhere to be seen when Cory reached the front yard. Cory called, “Shimmer!” but the dragon didn’t come. She walked around the yard calling, yet there was no rustle in the underbrush or little head peeking out from behind the fountain to chirrup hello. Thinking that the dragon might have gone to visit Laudine Kundry again, Cory walked through the trees and up to the front door.

  Although there was no bell like Lionel’s on the door, there was a circular door knocker with a strange shape in the middle. Cory picked it up and let it fall. A whisper of sound came from inside the house. A moment later, Laudine opened the door.

  “You’ve come looking for your dragon,” she said without a greeting. “I’ve given her some fresh fish. Come inside while she finishes eating.”

  Cory thought this was odd for two reasons. First, why would anyone bring someone else’s pet into her house to feed it when it lives next door? And second, why would Cory have to wait for Shimmer to eat? The little dragon could devour a tub of fish in a few quick gulps. Cory didn’t mention either of these points, however. This was her grandfather’s neighbor and the head of a powerful guild that she hoped wouldn’t turn against her. Antagonizing Laudine Kundry at this point would be a very bad idea.

  Instead, Cory followed the woman into her house and took a quick look around as they started down a long hall. The hall led from a small foyer to a closed door at the back of the house. Other doors opened off on either side. Although most of them were closed, a few were open to bright sunny rooms filled with antiques. Pictures of somber-looking people decorated the walls of the hallway, while a soft, colorful carpet stretched down the center of the floor, muffling their footsteps as they walked.

  Laudine finally stopped at the second to last door. “This way,” she said, and gestured Cory inside.

  Cory walked a few feet and stopped to look around. They were in a very odd room, with no little dragon, no windows, and no furniture. Suddenly uneasy, she turned to say something to Laudine, who was already shutting the door.

  “Now we’ll see what you really are!” said Laudine. “I’ve been asking around about you. I know you’ve been hiding something, and I’m going to find out what it is!”

  “What are you talking about?” Cory asked her. The lights went out, leaving Cory and Laudine in the absolute dark. “Are you having problems with your lights? I can call a fairy workman to come out for you. It’s a weekday, so he shouldn’t charge you an emergency fee.”

  Laudine didn’t say anything as the temperature in the room dropped. A cold wind rushed past Cory, lifting her hair and chilling her skin. Fear trickled through her like water dripping from an icicle.

  “Show yourself!” Laudine barked.

  “I’m standing right here!” Cory exclaimed. “If your lights were working, you’d see me plain as day. What in the name of all things growing are you doing?”

  Laudine began to chant something in a language Cory didn’t understand. Cory staggered as the wind buffeted her, pushing at her from all different directions. She gasped when something started spinning her around. Cory’s stomach lurched and her heart began to pound painfully fast. For the first time she felt as if she was in real danger.

  Images of Cory started to flash on the walls as she spun faster and faster. She saw herself as a child, playing in her mother’s garden with Daisy, then later, collecting a tooth from under a little boy’s pillow. Pressure built up around her, squeezing her so that it was hard to breathe. The image of Cory standing inside the glass tube as the Tooth Fairy Guild stripped away her fairy abilities flashed past. For a moment there was nothing, then an image of her shuffling out of the tube, weak and sickly looking. Again there was nothing but the dark space around her, then an image of Cory playing the drums at the Shady Nook appeared. This time when the blackness took over, the pressure around her began to build until it hurt. Laudine’s chanting grew louder and louder, making Cory’s head ache until the pressure inside her was as great as the pressure around her.

  Finally, Cory couldn’t take it anymore. She hadn’t wanted to show her Cupid side, but there was no need to die to keep the secret. “Enough!” she cried, and thought, Wings!

  Cory’s wings were there an instant later, iridescent in the dark. She stopped spinning as her wings opened. The pressure disappeared, yet the fear and unease lingered. Cory closed her eyes and thought about love, just as she had when banishing the effect of the worry monster from the house. She thought about Blue and how she’d felt at the Shady Nook when he kissed her, about her grandfather and the look on his face when she came down for breakfast that very morning, and about the joy on the faces of the putti and the ogres when they played together on the lawn. When she thought about the way Micah and Quince had looked together after she’d shot them with her arrows, she was no longer afraid.

  Cory opened her eyes to find that the room was lit with a rosy glow emanating from her. The witch was standing in front of her, her eyes huge as she gazed at Cory, who was suspended six feet above the floor with nothing holding her up and no effort on her part. Even after Cory settled to the floor, the glow remained.

  “You’re a demigod!” Laudine declared, her voice hoarse from chanting.

  Cory realized that
she was clutching her bow in one hand and her quiver in the other.

  “Are you a Cupid?” asked the witch.

  Cory sighed and nodded. There was no use denying it now. She sent the bow and quiver away with a thought.

  “I’ve heard of Cupids, but I never knew they were real!” said Laudine. “I became suspicious after you made time stand still in the courtroom. I didn’t see what you did; I just thought you must be an undeclared witch who had cast an unauthorized love spell, violating all the witchly codes. I never dreamed that you were a Cupid and the love you brought was the real thing! I am so sorry! If I’d had a clue, I never would have put you through this! Oh, my! What must you think of me? And your grandfather . . . Is he a Cupid as well? I ask only because I met my late husband through him. That man was the love of my life, but I never would have met him if your grandfather hadn’t introduced us. We were married a few weeks later. I’ve always said that the way we met was magical, but I had no idea it really was! Why do you two keep it a secret? The guilds would lose their case immediately if everyone knew who you are.”

  “Because letting everyone know would make our jobs harder. Cupids need to work without anyone being aware of what they’re doing,” said Cory.

  Laudine was shaking when she held up her hand. “I won’t tell a soul about either of you. I promise!”

  Cory nodded and something she’d never felt before came over her. When she spoke, her voice didn’t sound quite like her own. “I accept your solemn promise and will hold you to it for as long as love exists.”

  The glow that still surrounded Cory seemed to engulf Laudine so that it embraced them both. And then it was gone, leaving them in the dark again. When the lights came back on, Cory glanced at her wings and thought them away.

  “Let me take you to your dragon,” Laudine said as she opened the door.

  Cory followed her out of the room and down the hall. She could hear something scratching at one of the doors, so wasn’t surprised when the witch opened it and Shimmer came bounding out, running straight to Cory.

  “I must apologize again,” said Laudine, her cheeks flaming. “I’m so embarrassed that I did this!”

  “I forgive you,” Cory said as she bent to pick up Shimmer. “But let’s not do it again. Ever!”

  CHAPTER

  18

  As Laudine’s door closed behind her, Cory turned her face to the sun and hugged Shimmer. Although the warmth of Cory’s glow had chased the chill from her body, she still shivered when she thought about what had just happened.

  Hearing sounds from the back of her grandfather’s house, Cory made her way through the trees and across the wide lawn. She could hear ogres shouting and laughing before she’d even walked around the house. When she reached the corner, she spotted the ogres down by the river. Her grandfather was with them, talking to Macks.

  Shimmer squirmed in Cory’s arms, wanting to get down. When Cory set her on the ground, the little dragon flapped her wings and flew to Macks. Cory hurried after her. As she drew closer, she spotted dirt flying out of the ground, landing in an ever-growing pile. “They must have started Shimmer’s den already,” Cory murmured.

  Lionel turned at Cory’s approach and smiled. “There you are! I thought you and Shimmer had gotten lost. The putti have been looking for you. I was thinking about calling the FLEA.”

  “About that,” Cory began. She wanted to tell him about what had happened with Laudine, but thought better of it when she saw the interested look on Macks’s face. “I’ll tell you later. So, what did you decide to do about the den for Shimmer?”

  “That’s what we’ve been discussing. The den is going to be mostly underground with an opening facing the river.”

  “And it’s going to be big enough for a full-grown dragon, even though baby girl here is just itsy bitsy now, aren’t you, Shimmer?” said Macks as he petted the baby dragon. “A couple of the guys have gone to get the material we need and the rest are digging the hole.”

  “What are you doing?” Cory asked.

  “I’m supervising!” said Macks. “It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it.”

  An ogre wearing his hair in a stringy ponytail walked up to Macks. “The guys are back from Cave and Den Warehouse. They want to know where they should dump the stone.”

  “Excuse me,” Macks told Cory and Lionel. “A supervisor’s job is never done.”

  As the ogres walked away, Cory turned to her grandfather. “I wanted to tell you that I saw Laudine this morning. She knows about us.”

  “You mean that we’re . . .”

  “Cupids,” Cory said, nodding. “It couldn’t be helped. I didn’t know that witches could do the things she did. She promised not to tell anyone about us, though. I have a feeling that it was a binding vow.”

  “Learned about that, did you?” said Lionel. “It was going to happen sooner or later. Those vows really can’t be broken. As for Laudine, I suppose I should have expected this. She’s a powerful woman who is used to getting what she wants. If she was curious about you, she was going to find out the truth one way or another.”

  The ogres were driving the solar cart loaded with large rocks and bags of cement down the length of the lawn. Cory and her grandfather watched them park the cart and begin to unload beside the hole in the ground. A procession of putti carrying tables and baskets of food came out of the house next. Seeing them, the ogres cheered and began to work faster.

  “That must be lunch,” said Lionel. “The ogres love to eat and the putti love to feed them. Creampuff is delighted to cook for people who truly enjoy the food she prepares. I’ve been a great disappointment to her lately. My appetite just isn’t what it used to be. But now! Let’s just say that your friends are very welcome here.”

  “How long was I gone?” Cory asked. “When I left to look for Shimmer, we were just about to eat breakfast. It felt like I wasn’t gone for long, but you’ve already accomplished so much, and now the putti are serving lunch!”

  “You were gone for hours, my dear! One of these days you’ll have to tell me exactly what transpired in Laudine’s house. Ah, here comes Orville. It looks as if he has a message for you.”

  “This just arrived, miss,” Orville said, presenting a silver tray bearing a folded message.

  “Who is it from, Orville?” Cory asked as she reached for it.

  “I have no idea, miss,” Orville said stiffly. “I never read a Cupid’s personal messages.”

  Watching the putti’s retreating back, Cory said to her grandfather, “I hope I didn’t insult him. I was just curious.”

  “He wasn’t insulted. He’s probably happy that he had a reason to let you know that he’ll never read your messages. He doesn’t read mine either, but I think he reads everyone else’s. What does the message say?”

  Cory had already opened it and was surprised to see that it was from Wanita. She read the message out loud to her grandfather.

  Cory,

  I just got word that WU has declared it is not joining the alliance against you. I thought you would want to know.

  Your friend,

  Wanita

  “That’s fantastic!” Cory said, gazing at the message in disbelief. She read it over again, just to make sure she hadn’t misread something.

  “I guess knowing who you really are made a difference to Laudine,” said Lionel.

  “She said that I should tell everyone. She thinks that the guilds wouldn’t stand a chance in the trial if everyone knew who I was.”

  “In that case, I’m even happier that she made a solemn vow not to tell anyone,” Lionel declared. “However, Laudine’s knowing may just turn the tide. Losing WU as a possible ally will be a major blow against the power the other guilds can wield. Now, look at this. It appears we have some visitors.”

  Cory followed her grandfather’s gaze to two people walking across the lawn. She was delighted when she realized that they were Serelia and Rina. “Hello!” she called as she hurried to greet them. “What are y
ou doing back so soon?”

  “We got word that Rina’s mother had her baby,” said Serelia. “It’s a healthy boy.”

  “My parents haven’t picked a name for him yet,” Rina chimed in. “I think they should call him River, but they like Omar or Fred. I got to hold him today. He’s so cute!”

  “Cute as a button,” Serelia said, looking as excited and happy as Rina. “We came back with Gladys and her children. They didn’t get along with Rupert’s mother. No surprise there. Hardly anyone gets along with Queen Aleris. Anyway, we asked around and heard that you had moved here, so we came to say hello.” “I’m glad you did! Come here, I want you to meet someone special. Grandfather, this is Serelia Quirt. She’s Head Water Nymph at Misty Falls. And this is Rina Diver, Serelia’s new apprentice. Serelia, Rina, this is my grandfather Lionel Feathering.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ladies,” said Lionel. “I’m afraid you caught us on a rather busy day. Cory’s ogre friends are building a den for her baby dragon.”

  “A baby dragon! Can I see it?” Rina asked.

  “Go right ahead,” said Cory. “She’s with Macks, the ogre in the green shirt.”

  Serelia smiled indulgently as Rina took off running. “She’s a delightful child,” said the water nymph. “I’m so glad her parents gave me the opportunity to train her. She’s a quick learner and very bright. Rina has already thought of some new ways of doing things that had never occurred to me.”

  “I’m so glad it’s working out,” Cory told her. “Listen, why don’t you stay for a while? There’s plenty of food and I’m sure Shimmer would love to play with Rina. The putti have set up tables under the trees and it’s such a beautiful day.”

  “I think we will!” said Serelia. “I’ll go tell Rina. She’ll love it!”

  “Serelia Quirt!” said Lionel when he and Cory were alone again. “I’ve heard of her, but I’ve never actually met her before. She’s very influential in the water nymph world.”