The Truth-Teller's Tale Read Online Free PDF Page A

you will take home and keep to yourself for the next twenty years?” Lirabel asked.
    Adele smiled and nodded. “I do wish I could know something, though.”
    â€œWhat is it?”
    â€œI wish I could know her secret name.”
    â€œAdele!” I exclaimed, for her request was even more shocking than my comments. The queen looked taken aback, but the woman beside her was smiling.
    â€œI think that’s a secret you can be trusted with,” Fiona said, and she motioned my sister forward. When Adele was close enough, Fiona leaned over and whispered in her ear. Adele nodded solemnly—and then, when Fiona whispered something else, nodded again. Then Fiona sat back in her chair, and Adele stepped away.
    â€œThank you very much for coming,” the queen said, reverting to the formal tone she had used when she spoke to the others. I knew that our audience was over. “I’ve enjoyed your visit very much. The footmen will see you out and bestow a small gift on you.”
    â€œIt was our pleasure,” I said, curtsying in tandem with Adele. Our parents—who, all this time, had remained motionless across the room—now came hurrying up to collect us. They made their own bows and curtsies, and we were almost immediately out in the hall. One of the footmen closed the door behind us. The other handed each of us a small velvet box that we were probably supposed to wait to open until we were out of the palace and back in our rented rooms. But neither Adele nor I had such patience. We pulled off the tight-fitting lids and then oohed at the treasure revealed inside—a small, hand-painted miniature of the sleeping princess Arisande. It was hung on a red cord and intended to be worn as a necklace, although of course such a thing was too fine ever to be paraded in public. It would go in a locked cabinet and be brought out on special days, and worn, perhaps, around the house for five minutes at a time before it was reverently returned to its place of safety.
    I received the pendant five years ago, and I have it to this day, its condition as pristine as the hour I got it. I imagine I will have it till I die.

CHAPTER THREE
    Over the next two years, the folk of Merendon gradually began to turn to my sister and me when they needed a Safe-Keeper or a Truth-Teller. There were others who provided such services, for Merendon was a fairly large city and its many souls had much need of both frankness and discretion. But we were popular both because of our location—in the heart of the business district—and our novelty. Who could resist the allure of seeking help from a set of twins? And we never disappointed. I gained a reputation for being fearsomely honest, while Adele grew more watchful and close-mouthed with every passing year.
    You have to understand, sometimes these traits worked against us.
    Adele became quite recalcitrant in school, for instance, often refusing to answer teachers’ questions about math or literature because she considered her opinion to be “a secret.” I continued to infuriate my fellow students by virtuously reporting cheaters and liars. Nonetheless, we each had our share of friends. The young girls all wanted Adele as their confidante, so they could pour out their silly tales of adolescent love and betrayal. The boys relied on me to impartially referee games and honestly determine who had won a race.
    All our classmates knew us and accepted the skills we had to offer. It was outside of the schoolhouse that we sometimes got into trouble. Or others got into trouble because they could not tell us apart.
    I remember one incident from the summer we were thirteen, when we had gone to the dressmaker’s shop to get fitted for Summermoon dresses. My mother was standing with me in the back room as Lissette, the shop owner, pinned me into the shell of a lavender frock. Adele was wandering through the bolts of saffron and indigo in the front. I heard the door