True Heart by Kathleen Duey

If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

    For all the daydreamers …
    If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
    This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
True Heart
    Kathleen Duey
    ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
New York London Toronto Sydney Singapore
    First Aladdin Paperbacks edition April 2003
    Text copyright © 2003 by Kathleen Duey
    Illustrations copyright © 2003 by Omar Rayyan
    ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster
Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com
    All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
    Also available in an Aladdin Library edition.
    Designed by Debra Sfetsios
    The text of this book was set in Golden Cockerel ITC.
    Manufactured in the United States of America
    6  8  10  9  7  5
    ISBN-13: 978-0-689-85370-8
    ISBN-10: 0-689-85370-X
    eISBN 978-1-439-10884-0
    The Library of Congress Control Number for the Library Edition is 2002113022

    J
oseph Lequire has finished Moonsilver’s armor. The silvery metal hides his horn. Heart is delighted—but she is worried, too. It has taken Tibbs and the metalsmith three days to make the armor. Where are the Gypsies? Have Lord Irmaedith’s guards taken them to Bidenfast? Why? Are they safe?

CHAPTER ONE
    H eart stood in the stone doorway.
    The early chill was sharp.
    Her breath made clouds of soft mist.
    Kip sat beside her, his furry shoulder warm against her leg.
    Heart stared at the yellow-orange glow in the valley below. The river of fire looked even stranger in the dark.
    Heart knew that the sun would rise soon.
    When it did, she would have to leave.
    â€œI wish you could stay,” Tibbs said from behind her.
    Heart turned.
    Tibbs looked tired.
    He and Joseph had worked hard to finishMoonsilver’s armor quickly.
    â€œI don’t want to leave,” Heart admitted. She felt the silver bracelet tighten on her wrist for an instant.
    As always, it startled her.
    As always, she wasn’t sure what it meant.
    â€œBut you have to go,” Tibbs said.
    Heart nodded. The forge felt safe, but it wasn’t, not for her—and not for the unicorns. Too many nobles came here.
    Heart bit her lip, wishing she could be sure where the unicorns
would
be safe.
    Maybe her family would help one day.
    Or maybe she would never find them.
    For now, all she could do was find the Gypsies.
    She thought about Binney and smiled. It would be so good to know they were all safe, to be back with her friends.
    â€œKeep learning to read, keep practicing,” Tibbs said softly.
    Heart met his eyes. “I will.”
    Tibbs frowned. “My master in Derrytown wasnervous about teaching me. It’s usually just for the nobility, you know.”
    Heart looked at him. “A woman in Yolen’s Crossing offered to teach me.”
    â€œWas she dressed fancy?” Tibbs asked.
    Heart nodded.
    Tibbs was silent for a moment. He shrugged. “The lords all forbid books for common folk. Dunraven is the strictest, my master said.”
    Heart nodded. She had lived her whole life in Ash Grove and had never even known what a book
was
.
    â€œCan Ruth Oakes read?” she asked Tibbs.
    He