Half Heart

Half Heart

  Sequel to Layla

  By Lacie Perry Parker

  Copyright 2014 all rights reserved.

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  “Make way for her majesty, Queen Layla of Tentaleigh and Dreideth!” I took the hand that had been offered to me as I stepped off the ship and onto the dock. Queen. I still wasn’t used to my new title. Although, I had never gotten used to being called princess, either. People were lined up from the docks to the streets, and as far as I could see. They bowed in a wave, and cheered on the top of their voices. I smiled politely as my feet clanked on the wooden planks. I felt my cheeks flush in the breeze. My subjects were throwing flowers into the street, mostly wild flowers. But as I stepped off the docks and onto the dusty road, a purple flower with yellow and pink leaves fell at my feet. I stopped before I stepped on, bent down and picked it up. I had never seen such a flower. The leaves were thin and a glossy green, and the petals were thick, long and. I looked to the crowd of people at my right. A man caught my eye, with shaggy blonde hair and a dark green tunic. He looked at me with big brown eyes as if he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure if he were permitted to talk to the queen.

  “Did you throw this?” I asked him, giving him his chance to speak.

  “Yes, your majesty. If you put it in water, let it set until the liquid has turned orange, and drink it, you will have the healthiest fingernails you have ever seen.”

  I looked at the flower, then back at him. It could be a trick, a plan to poison me. But as I looked at the man, I didn’t think he would do something like that. Why would he need to? He looked so honest. I wrapped my fingers around the flower’s stem.

  “Thank you,” I said to him, and then moved on.

  Dust swirled around my heels as I walked. I had been offered to be carried on a canopied bed through this part, but of course I declined. I would feel too lazy, especially after my two week voyage from Dreideth, getting no more exercise than walking across deck and back. Brye and I had journeyed to his homeland for a visit, and to build up a bigger army. We were going to try to lift the curse off The Forest of Despondency, and there was no telling what we were going to need to accomplish that. Brye was staying to gather and train an army, and I had come back early so I could travel to the Elf King and ask him what we needed to do to lift the curse. He would probably know, seeing that the elves were the ones that had cursed it in the first place. I begged Brye to come back with me so we could go together, but he insisted on staying with the freshly recruited troops. This would be my first real adventure by myself since my quest.

  “Here your majesty.”

  “Hmm?”I looked up to see the footman holding out his hand to help me into the carriage. I hadn’t even realized I had reached the carriage yet. “Oh. Thank you,” I said. I took his hand and stepped up to get in the carriage, but my foot caught part of my dress, and as I tried to put my other foot in I slipped and landed on the ground.

  “Are you all right?” A million voices started up at once.

  I started to laugh. Of course I was all right. As a million hands to match the million voices grabbed my arms and pulled me up, I said, “Let’s try this again, shall we?” I got in the carriage and put my hands on my lap. I looked down at my skirt, which was full of dust. I patted it, trying to wipe it off. The dust flew through the air, causing the footman who was getting ready shut the door start to cough.

  “Oh, I’m sorry!” I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh.

  “No, that’s quite all right,” he said hoarsely. The door shut with a bang, slinging the dust back towards me. I held my arm up to my nose so I didn’t breathe it in.

  The carriage began to roll. I could hear the horses trotting, slowly at first. I wished I could see them. If it were my choice, I would be driving the carriage. But I remained content sitting on the lonely bench. With no one else in here, I could put my feet onto the opposite bench without being reprimanded. I smiled as I leaned my head back. I was exhausted from my trip. I hardly had a wink of sleep with all the sloshing and bouncing over the waves. It would have been worse with Coca there; that was why I had left him home. LaShebah had become his caretaker since I brought him home, although she hardly favored him. It took her a while to get used to him jumping on her head unexpectedly.

  The carriage stopped. Could we be at the drawbridge all ready? Certainly not. We had just left the docks, and it was nearly a half-hour drive back to the castle. Remembering what Sweenlah had taught me, I lifted the curtain on the door and peered out. Nothing seemed to be amiss. I opened the door and got out. My feet hit the ground, and I was relieved when I hit dark soil instead of dust.

  “Stay there, your excellency,” the footman ordered me.

  I kept my hand on the door, craning my neck around to see what was in the carriages way. It was a man. The man that had thrown the mysterious flower! I stretched my neck farther, trying to study his face more clearly. His dark green cloak hung around his shoulders as before, but now he had his hood over his head. His brown hand-woven pants looked worn and thin, and were too long for him. He was of average height, with big brown eyes, which were set close together, and long muscular arms at his sides. His shaggy, dirty-blonde hair reached past his ears, and hung in his eyes. I looked at the footman, to see his reaction, because I was confused. I found the same look on his face, which didn’t help me at all. I looked back at the man in the road, but he was gone. Maybe he had run into the woods. But– I had only looked away for a split second! Had he disappeared? I saw no tracks in the dirt, but it was probably because I was too far away to see them. I shut the carriage door and went to investigate. On bended knees, I touched softly with my fingers two footprints. There was no more. Just two, where he had been standing. I turned around and looked at the footman, but he looked like he had seen a ghost. Baffled, I got back in the carriage.

  “Drive on,” I called. My voice sounded lost.

  I tried to concentrate my mind on how good it would feel to see LaShebah again, and to sleep in my own bed, but I couldn’t tear my mind away from what I had just witnessed. The man had disappeared! I didn’t know what to make of it. I really didn’t want to make anything of it. I stretched my legs out on the bench and laid my head down. I yawned, stretching my mouth so big that it hurt. Maybe I was so tired that I just thought I had seen him disappear. That would be logical, except for the footman had obviously seen it too. I closed my eyes. It was a bumpy ride through the woods. The carriage was nearly vibrating, and I let it bounce me until my body was numb. Maybe the man wanted me to think he had disappeared. Maybe…