Read Essence Of The Heart (The Royal Tutor) for Free Online

always carried for her.
     
          Her own horse, Rusty, was a gentle, but strong, roan gelding.
Alexander said he had chosen that horse for her because of his steady gate
and calm spirit.
     
          They plodded silently along. The first few times Alexander had
taken her riding, he had attempted to make conversation, but her constant,
venomous remarks had soon discouraged him. She had informed him that
she wished he was totally out of her life. For a moment the smile was gone
from his face, and his eyes betrayed a hurt that made her wish she had never
said it. But he still just acted the gentleman, and she kept hating him even
more. Strangely, though, the silence nagged at her, and she wished he
would talk to her again.
     
          As the sun mounted in the sky, the secret she carried started burning
in her. She didn't want anything to ruin the surprise. She was so afraid the
chicken would come out of its drunken stupor and squawk, ruining
everything. She wanted it to be the perfect moment, when he reached in his
saddlebag for the food.
     
          Finally, she could stand it no longer. "Alexander, is it lunch time
yet? I'm hungry."
     
          Alexander smiled as usual. "There is a nice glen by a lake about a
half mile further up. We can stop there so our horses can have water."
     
          That was Alexander - always thinking of his horse. They eventually
arrived in a beautiful meadow with a small stream running through it, a
stream that emptied into a crystal clear lake. She was always amazed at
how well Alexander seemed to know every inch of the land they traveled.
     
          He unsaddled the horses, hobbled them, and set them to graze in the
meadow. Finally, the moment came that she had been waiting for. He
reached in his pack and took hold of the drunken chicken. He pulled it out
and, for the briefest moment, Louise thought she saw a look of astonishment
before he regained his composure. It was so slight, that if anything, it just
angered her more.
     
          It didn't take a genius to know what had happened. The bird
smelled like it had drunk an entire wine cellar. Alexander held it up, "So
much for lunch. I will need to talk to the cook. It looks like she marinated
the chicken, but forgot to cook it. It's still raw."
     
          Louise found herself almost laughing, but she didn't want him to
have the pleasure of hearing her laugh at one of his jokes. She then realized
something else that wasn't funny - they didn't have any lunch at all. In
playing a trick on Alexander, she had unwittingly played one on herself.
This made her mad at him again, though she knew it was her own fault.
     
          Alexander didn't say anything about it, but, instead, reached in his
other saddle bag and pulled out his own dry food that was originally meant
for their trip back. He brought it over to her.
     
          "I'm afraid that, due to the cook's oversight, you'll have to eat this
for lunch."
     
          She was about to tell him she could do without his food, but her
stomach was yelling at her. She received it with a scowl and went off to eat
on her own. Alexander wandered down by the horses and petted Lady as
she nuzzled him.
     
          When Louise finished eating, she was still hungry, but she felt much
better. She, too, walked down by the horses. Things hadn't turned out the
way she planned, and her mood was sour. "How much farther do we have
to go?"
     
          Alexander pointed up between two mountain peaks. "It's up there.
Beyond the mountains is Esconodia."
     
          "Esconodians are nothing but trouble," Louise said, repeating
something her father had said many times.
     
          Alexander turned to look at her. "I wouldn't say that."
     
          Louise was disturbed by this. "Everyone knows that the
Esconodians are