Madelen would hate being away from her family and Wilm.
She thought about what Wilm had said by the river. “What about the mayor? He couldn’t persuade them?”
Madelen shook her head. “Wilm said he refused to speak on my behalf. Afraid of angering the mages.” She picked up a strand of grass hay and began to pick the flowers from it, her eyes darted to Jiline’s face and away.
She recognized the look. Madelen was holding something back. “What is it?”
“You have to promise not to tell.”
“Of course,” she whispered.
“Wilm wants me to run away with him when I’m supposed to go to the mages.”
She bit her lip, surprised yet not surprised. It sounded like something Wilm would say and do. Her best friend would still be gone, but maybe she would be happy as long as she was with him.
“I told him he was being silly,” Madelen whispered, shaking her head. “He doesn’t have a trade. I don’t have a trade. How would we live without support?”
Trust Madelen to look at the practicalities of the romantic suggestion, but she had a point.
“What did he say?”
“It isn’t important. If we had more time, he could go and learn a trade as he planned before we married. But no one in town is accepting apprentices. Not even his father could convince anyone.”
“Everyone has their own children to train.” It suddenly occurred to her that she had no idea what the mayor did except be mayor. He was the wealthiest man in town, but she didn’t know how he came to be.
“The plight of everyone.” Madelen leaned against the wall. “So, I go to learn to be a keeper. If I’m lucky perhaps they won’t like me and I’ll be sent home. Wilm says he’ll wait for me.”
She leaned forward a little at the possibility. “Sent home?”
“Not everyone who’s selected actually becomes a unicorn keeper.” Madelen brushed some grass clinging to her skirt. “I’m not sure how. If I did, I could be certain to come home, but some people are sent away in the spring to return home.”
“You’re smart. You can figure it out,” she reassured her, selfishly hoping her friend would find a way.
Tears trickled down Madelen’s cheek and she shook her head. “You’re the smart one, Jilly, always have been. What if they figured out I was trying to go home? They act like I should be honored, but I’m not and I think she, Mage Daniah, knew how I felt. That was when she told us some children fail the final test and return home in shame.”
She grabbed Madelen’s hand and squeezed. “It would only be shame if you wanted to be a keeper. You don’t want it.”
Madelen shivered. “You didn’t hear the way she said it. It was a warning to me. I know it was.” She wiped at the tears with her other hand. “My parents tried to buy me back. They offered the mages everything, but apparently not enough. Burrt isn’t going. I wonder how much his parents gave them to keep him home. Burrt’s father couldn’t manage the wood cutting business without him.”
She hesitated. Burrt had surprised her when the crystal had glowed. “Are you sure they bribed him?” He’d been a mean little boy always picking on the girls and playing pranks. She wouldn’t have considered him pure by any standard. “Maybe they realized the crystal made a mistake.”
“He’s not so bad now.” Madelen laughed softly, obviously thinking the same thing.
She shrugged. She figured it was only because he was so busy working with his father. He didn’t have time to pull tricks on anyone.
“Wilm told me. Remember the mages are staying in their house. He saw Burrt’s father pass a bag to the mages who then said that Burrt wasn’t suitable for the task of keeper.”
“What about Cris?” She knew the younger girl by sight, but had never formed a friendship with her.
“She’s going too, but her parents are excited at the prospect.”
Like her own parents. “My parents were hoping I would be selected.”
Madelen drew back in surprise. “Why?”
She shook her head not wanting to reveal the details of the personal conversation she had listened in on. “My prospects aren’t as good as yours. No beau’s waiting in the wings. They’d have to send me pretty far to learn a trade. And here comes a trade offer right to the village.”
“Oh, I hadn’t realized.” Madelen leaned forward to wrap an arm around her to give them both a hug. They held the embrace for a moment. “Funny how you want to go and don’t get picked, I don’t want to go and do get picked.”
Jiline wasn’t sure she would say she wanted to go, but she didn’t correct her friend’s misunderstanding. Madelen started crying again and she hugged her close. Her own heart hurting for her friend’s sorrow. It really wasn’t fair. How many girls in their village had the prospects Madelen had? None. Here she was no prospects at all stuck in Ainsley a burden to her family.
A completely impractical thought hovered on the edge of her mind. “I wonder how many keepers they select?”
“Hmmm?”
“The Keep. How many days is it away from us?”
Madelen shook her head. “Several days by horseback. Even longer on foot. I can’t ride very well so I’ll have to walk.”
“They don’t take you with them?” she asked, wanting to confirm what Madelen had said earlier about the directions.
“The letter, remember, she said because of the sacrifices the families are making they know we need time to get things in order. I don’t think that’s the reason though.”
“What do you think the reason is?”
Madelen shrugged. “Don’t know.”
She frowned. “Were they returning to the Keep?”
Madelen raised her head. “They didn’t say. What are you thinking?”
“I’m just wondering how many villages and cities they visit when looking for keepers.” Her idea would hinge on them visiting and seeing a lot of children. “How many of us do you think they see and evaluate? They couldn’t remember everyone, right?”
“But they’d know if I didn’t come. They have a list of our names. I saw my name on it. If I ran away with Wilm, what would they do to my family? I think they would do something. Not sending me wasn’t an option to them.”
“Hmmmm.” She couldn’t help thinking that if people failed when they got to the Keep that the mages had to select a lot of children to come. How would they know who would pass the final test? Did a lot of them fail or just a few?
“I can only hope they find me wanting in some way. I don’t even like horses. You’d think they’d pick someone like you who can ride, train, and do everything with them.”
She almost laughed. An ability with animals had not been mentioned as a requirement. “They didn’t ask for the best rider, but the purest souls.”
Madelen snorted. “You’re just as pure as I am. Whatever the heck that means.”
“Obviously not.”
“You’d probably like it.”
“What?” Jiline released the hug and leaned against the wall.
“Being a keeper. Taking care of the...unicorns.” She was quiet a moment. “The idea scares me. How do you take care of one? They could kill you so quickly. My parents have a book of creatures with a picture of one.”
Jiline nodded, she’d looked through the book several times, fascinated by the color drawings of the marvelous creatures. Many of the animals hadn’t been seen in generations.
“Their horn looks very sharp and dangerous.”
“It’s only for protection, Mady,” Jiline reassured her. “You could hardly threaten them.”
“You know how you say I need to watch my feet when around my parent’s horse?”
Jiline nodded.
“That he might step on it by accident or even on purpose if he gets annoyed with me. What if the unicorns are like that? What if they just stab you by accident? What if they get annoyed at something you do? I don’t know a retired keeper. Do you know a keeper? What if they’re all killed? That’s why the mage
s have to go so far from the Keep to find more keepers.”
Her voice rose with every sentence until she was sobbing again. Jiline put her arm back around her and hugged her close, alarmed by her friend’s rising hysterics. She’d never seen her like this. Madelen was the practical, calm one.
The niggling idea at the back of her mind sprang forward. “You don’t have to go.”
“But—”
“No, you’ll go with Wilm.” She spoke fast before she could talk herself out of her sudden scheme. “You’ll leave for the Keep just as expected. Wilm can head off for his apprenticeship. You two will meet up and go together.”
“But they’ll know I didn’t come.”
“No, they won’t.” She took a deep breath. The plan would not only help her friends, but benefit her family as well. “I’ll go in your place.”
“The crystal didn’t glow for you.”
“We’ll just have to hope they don’t have a giant crystal at the entrance or if they do they’ll just assume that I, Madelen, did something between today and then that ruined my soul.”
Madelen turned her head to stare directly at her. “You’ll go as me?”
“Of course, I can’t go as me. My name isn’t written on that parchment.” She brushed Madelen’s hair out of her face with her fingertips. “You know how everyone always jokes we look more alike than different. How we could almost be twins?”
“You’re my best friend, if they discovered our deceit...”
“They won’t. They won’t remember me from today. I’ll be you and you’ll be me.” The plan solidified in her head and became more possible with each passing second. “I’ll tell my parents I learned of an apprenticeship for myself. They’ll be happy to see me go. Wilm will go to the apprenticeship he’s been waiting on. I’ll travel with him for safety. You’ll go to the Keep. We’ll meet on the trail. You become me and go with Wilm.”
“I don’t know how to do anything,” Madelen protested.
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter if there’s really an apprenticeship. It’s in the city, right?” She vaguely remembered Madelen mentioning his apprenticeship back when Wilm’s offer had been finalized.
“Yes.”
“So, you’ll find a job as a housemaid or nanny.”
Madelen raised an eyebrow. As the future wife of the future mayor of their town, housemaid and nanny had not been in her career prospects.
She brought her rushing thoughts to a stop and looked seriously at her friend. “How badly do you want to be with Wilm?”
“You’re right.” Madelen took a deep breath. “You’re thinking too fast for me. Explain your plan one more time.”
****
“It’s hopeless,” Madelen said.
Jiline was supposed to be bedding the horses down for the night before going inside for her farewell dinner. Instead, she was hiding behind the barn trying to salvage their perfect plan. It had all come together better than they had thought it would. Madelen’s parents had even insisted she travel partway with her and Wilm for safety reasons.
Wilm paced the length of the barn. “We should have considered how Cris would travel to the Keep. She is only ten and her parents dote on her. Of course, they wouldn’t let her travel alone.”
Cris’ father was going to escort her to the Keep himself and had stopped at Madelen’s today to offer to escort Madelen as well.
Jiline chewed on her lip. “Do you think your parents suspect our plan? Maybe that’s why they agreed to have you go with Cris and her father instead.”
Madelen shrugged. “I don’t know. They didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go with them.”
“Did he say when he plans to leave?”
“Before the Harvest Moon, almost two weeks from now.”
“Doesn’t give them a lot of time to reach the Keep by the deadline.” Jiline considered some way to salvage their plan. “What if we offered to take Cris with us?”
Wilm stopped pacing and turned to where she leaned against a tree across from the barn. “You want to let her in on our plan. She could ruin everything. Expose you to the mages.”
“I know, but what other choice do we have?” she asked. “I’m open to suggestions.”
Madelen shook her head. “She could never keep a secret that big.”
“Madelen’s right, we can’t ask her to keep such a huge secret,” Wilm said softly.
She sagged against the tree. “Suggestions?”
“We need to convince Madelen’s parents not to send her with Cris.” He walked over to put his arm around her. “What will convince them?”
Madelen took a deep breath and frowned. She was quiet a moment as she thought. “I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter. We’ll leave tomorrow as planned.”
Jiline looked over her friend carefully, surprised by her forceful words. “Are you sure? They could try to stop you.”
Madelen smiled at Wilm. “They won’t get the chance. We’ll leave before they rise in the morning.”
She didn’t think leaving early would really solve the problem of defying Madelen’s parents. They must either know or suspect that the three of them were planning something. “And if they come after us?”
“My mother’s just as angry at the mages as we are. They won’t come after me. I’ll leave a note explaining I want my last day with Wilm and my best friend before entering a life of servitude.”
3. ON THE ROAD
Madelen’s parents didn’t send anyone after them. Or if they did, whoever it was didn’t catch up to them before the trio parted. The road Jiline found herself on was much narrower and not as well traveled as the one which Madelen and Wilm had turned onto. She’d waited at the crossroads until they had ridden out of sight before continuing reluctantly on her journey alone.
She survived her first day and night alone. Well, not totally alone. Ginger, her pony, moved out in an easy stride beneath her. She’d felt guilty when her parents had told her to take the pony to the city and had even given her a little money to help with Ginger’s board. She had never deceived her parents before and they had been so happy and relieved. But in a way she was heading off to her new apprenticeship, if a very short lived one.
She expected the mages would discover her fairly quickly. Not that she wasn’t Madelen, but that she was no longer a pure soul. Once they did, she would head back to the city and meet up with Wilm and Madelen. Madelen would then be safe to return home if she really hated being a housemaid. Wilm could finish his apprenticeship.
What she would do was a little less certain. Returning home without a trade would be humiliating, but perhaps she’d like being a housemaid. She smiled at her own joke.
They should have reached the city by now. Jiline’s journey on the other hand was far from over. Ginger, thankfully, was holding up just fine. She patted the mare’s slightly sweaty neck. The mountains had been looming over them for the entire day. Night would fall much faster closer to the mountains than in the grasslands where Ainsley was located.
She stopped Ginger at a river crossing and getting off, let the mare drink her fill. Judging the sun’s position, she pulled the letter from her saddle bag and scrutinized the directions. Her hair blew across her face and she tucked it behind her ears in irritation. She hated wearing her hair down, but Madelen rarely wore her hair up. So, now she would have to wear her hair down and loose. She didn’t mind wearing Madelen’s clothes since they were the same size, but the hair thing was going to bother her.
They had tried to make the swap complete by also trading horses, but Ginger had made her point clear when she’d tried to buck Madelen off. Madelen had quickly dismounted and refused to ride her. It added a wrinkle to their trading places plan, but she was glad to have her pony with her. She trusted Ginger as she wouldn’t have trusted Madelen’s gelding.
She looked at the river and the mountains behind it. This appeared to be the river on the map. Whoever had drawn the map indicated the river as a good camping spot, but she figured she had a
couple more hours of light left and hated to waste them.
It would be at least one more hard day of riding and that would be riding quickly to reach the Keep. Ginger’s stride was shorter than a typical horse so it could be even longer.
Ginger’s head shot up and she pivoted, her ears pricking forward. Jiline moved quickly and swung onto the back of her pony prepared to meet whatever had caught her attention. Her stomach clenched. What would be worse? Someone sent after Madelen who would know who Jiline was or meeting a complete stranger while alone on the road.
Shoving the letter back into the saddle bag, she fingered the hilt of the blade tucked into her boot. It was more of a multi-purpose blade to cut her food, ropes, or whatever she might need it for. But she’d known when her father had passed it to her as she had prepared to ride off that the main purpose had been for protection.
The bushes quivered and Ginger’s body tensed, preparing to bolt away from whatever would emerge. She tightened her legs around the pony’s sides to keep her under her.
A boy emerged on foot. A stranger. He stopped, his horse behind him. Ginger relaxed and nickered a welcome. They hadn’t seen any other travelers heading for the Keep so far. Jiline didn’t release her grip from her knife.
He spoke first. “Greetings. Didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Herrick.”
She licked her lips and nodded a greeting. “Madelen.” The lie didn’t come as easily as it should have. She couldn’t hesitate in her new identity.
He slowly approached and stopped at the river’s bank. His bay horse lowered its head to drink, unconcerned with Ginger’s continued nickering.
She released her hold on her knife and patted Ginger’s neck. “Hush.”
Herrick was still watching her, despite the canteen in his hand, he hadn’t made a move to refill it. “You’re traveling to the Keep?”
Again she hesitated as she stared at him. Shaggy brown hair, lighter brown eyes, tan, athletic, he looked to be about Wilm’s age, but Wilm had been too old to be evaluated. Perhaps he looked older than he was, probably fifteen.
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