Page 54 of Feathered Thief

“Thank you. And yes, you are very beautiful,” she admitted. “And you are magical?”

“In a sense I suppose I am magical, but not like Solara.”

“Who—? Oh!” She remembered.

“Yes, none other than the bird you set free— Was it yesterday? Or the day before? Time seems meaningless during this curse. But she dropped in before sunrise to prepare me for your arrival.”

“Are you also a prisoner?”

He simply regarded her from under those lashes, his silence a clear answer.

“Are you really a horse?” Lenka asked, opening the stall door.

Geoffroi clopped into the breezeway, shook himself with a sound like distant music, and said, “I am a magical horse, just asyou are a magical human. Few of my kind remain in this world, which increases our monetary value to humans.”

“I don’t think I have magic.”

The horse snorted. Was he laughing at her? Lenka stood back as he pawed the stone floor with one huge hoof, tossed his gorgeous mane to the other side of his powerful neck, then gave her a penetrating look. “Do you intend to steal me?”

“I was told to steal you, but I won’t if you object.”

He rumbled a horse laugh. “Please do help yourself to my magnificence! I would steal myself if that would help anything. To be fair, the prince of this castle may be dishonest, but his heir is a good man trapped in an impossible situation. So, how do you intend to steal me? These attendants sleeping all around us were enspelled by a hired hedge witch, but servants at the castle windows are watchful.”

Lenka pondered the situation for a moment, then asked, “Are you fast?”

Geoffroi tucked his chin and arched his flowing tail. “No horse is faster.”

“Good! Now, I was warned not to touch that fabulous golden saddle and bridle,”—she pointed at the tack hanging on nearby racks—“but would you object to the simple leather versions? They look dry and cracked . . .” She had no memory of riding a horse, so just in case she was a novice rider, she wanted a saddle for stability.

“That vulgar bridle and the bejeweled atrocity they call a saddle are enspelled to betray any thief that steals me. I am able to tell you this only because you’ve already chosen to follow the fox’s rules.” He chuckled as she laid the old leather saddle on his back and picked up the dry and disintegrating bridle. “The mage who set up these tests intended only an honorable person to succeed. I am grateful to serve you, a maiden of honor and intelligence.”

“Maiden?” Startled, she dropped the bridle. “Oh. I suppose your magic helped you see through my disguise.”

Again, Geoffroi laughed. “I have lived long enough to recognize a female when I meet one, and you are not only female, you are also native to this land,” he said just as she tightened the girth strap.

“How do you know that?” she blurted.

The horse flinched and grunted. “Ooof! I must have been eating too freely of Prince Szymon’s fine grain and hay.”

Realization hit her, and she quickly loosened the strap. “I’m so sorry for pulling too hard! Are you all right?”

“I expect I shall recover . . . eventually.”

Nervous, she smiled at his good-natured reply, but her mind was spinning. As soon as the horse suggested she was traveling in her homeland, she knew it must be true. But where, exactly, did she belong?

“Uh-huh-huh-huh-hurry!” Geoffroi gave her a nudge as one of the grooms stirred and attempted to sit upright.

“Oh!” Without a thought she shoved the old saddle off his back, gripped a hank of mane, then jump-climbed, pulled herself up, and swung her leg over his bare back. Geoffroi was in full gallop before she was settled. Obviously, she was an experienced rider. Hearing a shout behind them, she flattened herself against the great horse, and his mane entirely engulfed her in silken gold. She had no idea where they were going, but Geoffroi obviously knew how to escape the place better than she did.

No ordinary horse could outrun her magical steed. She doubted even the fox was faster. Within minutes, the castle on the hilltop was far behind them.

But what about the fox and Papa Hrabik? They had both promised to wait for her. She called to Geoffroi, and even though the wind seemed to shove her voice back down her throat, the horse’s pace slowed. “Weeheehee-huh-huh-hunh,” he cried ashe slowed, tossing his head with joy and stamping his great hooves. “I haven’t run like that in much too long! Now, where would you like to go next?”

Dappled sunlight revealed the forest around their path as Helena shook her head. “We must go back and find my Papa Hrabik, who accompanied me on this quest. And the fox who brought me to the golden bird and to you has been our guide since we arrived in the country.”

Geoffroi turned his head to show her one skeptical eye. “You know the reputation of foxes, I hope. Do you trust this creature with your life and well-being? Is he helping you or the other way around?”

Lenka had to think about that question. “I’m . . . not sure. But I think we need him. Without him, how will we know where to go next?”

---