Read Ironside for Free Online Page B

had to send someone else on a quest.”
    Corny frowned. “What? A quest?”
    “A quest to prove your love.”
    “So dramatic. And you did this declaration thing? You declared.”
    Kaye turned her face, so that he couldn’t read her expression. “Yeah, but Roiben wasn’t happy about it, as in not at all.” She put her head in her hands. “I think I really fucked up.”
    “What’s your quest?”
    “To find a faery that lies.” Her voice was very low.
    “I thought faeries couldn’t lie.”
    Kaye just looked at him.
    Suddenly, horribly, Corny understood her meaning. “Okay, hold on. You are saying that he sent you on a quest that you couldn’t possibly complete.”
    “And I’m not allowed to see him again until I do complete it. So basically, I’m not going to see him ever again.”
    “No faery can tell an untruth. That is why it is one of the nice quests given to put off a declarer—no endless labor,” said Lutie suddenly. “There are others, like ‘Siphon all the salt from all the seas.’ That’s a nasty one. And then there are the ones that seem impossible, but might not be, like ‘Weave a coat of stars.’”
    Corny moved onto the bed next to Kaye, dislodging Lutie from his knee. “There has to be a way. There has to be something you can do.”
    The little faery fluttered in the air, then settled in the lap of a large porcelain doll. She curled up and yawned.
    Kaye shook her head. “But, Corny, he doesn’t want me to finish the quest.”
    “That’s bullshit.”
    “You heard what Lutie just said.”
    “It’s still bullshit.” Corny kicked at a stray pillow with his toe. “What about seriously stretching the truth?”
    “That’s not lying,” Kaye said, taking a deep swig out of the mug.
    “Say that the tea is cold. Just try. Maybe you can lie if you push yourself.”
    “The tea is…,” Kaye said, and stopped. Her mouth was still open, but it was as though her tongue were frozen.
    “What’s stopping you?” Corny asked.
    “I don’t know. I feel panicked and my mind starts racing, looking for a safe way to say it. I feel like I’m suffocating. My jaw just locks. I can’t make any sound come out.”
    “God, I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t lie.”
    Kaye flopped back down. “It’s not so bad. You mostly can make people believe things without actually lying.”
    “Like how you made your grandmother believe I was with you last night?”
    He noticed that she wore a small smile as she took the next sip from the cup.
    “Well, what if you said you were going to do something and didn’t? Wouldn’t that be lying?”
    “I don’t know,” Kaye said. “Isn’t that like saying something that you think is true, but turns out not to be? Like something you read in a book, but the book turns out to be wrong.”
    “Isn’t that still lying?”
    “If it is, I guess I’m in good shape. I sure have been wrong about things.”
    “Come on, let’s go to the city. You’ll feel better when you get out of town. I know I always do.”
    Kaye smiled, then sat bolt upright. “Where’s Armageddon?”
    Corny glanced at the cage, but Kaye was already shuffling toward it on her knees.
    “He’s there. Oh, jeez. They’re both there.” She sighed deeply, her whole body relaxing. “I thought he might still be under the hill.”
    “You brought your rat?” Corny asked, incredulous.
    “Can we just not talk any more about last night?” Kaye asked, pulling on a pair of faded green camouflage pants.
    “Yeah, sure,” Corny said, and yawned. “Want to stop for breakfast on the way? I’m feeling like pancakes.”
    With a queasy look, Kaye began to gather up her things.

    On the drive up, Kaye put her head down on the ripped plastic seat, gazing out the window at the sky, trying not to think. The strips of sound-insulating forest cushioning the highway gave way to industrial plants spouting fire and billowing white smoke that blew up until it blended into clouds.
    When they got to the