"And that ends my story, Your Majesty," he said at last.
"It's a lovely story," Selenay replied, lost in thought for a moment. Then something occurred to her, and she sat straight up in her chair. "The girl's name — it was Pilane] and that's your Companion's name!"
The Herald grinned a little shamefacedly. "It means 'butterfly' in a very old mountain dialect," he chuckled. "Which may be the reason why he has made himself into an expert on the little creatures."
But Selenay had another reason for laughter. "You mean that he had you two out in the snows of the mountains chasing a legend!" she laughed. "A butterfly — that is only a legend — out in snow and moonlight — in White Foal Pass?"
When she finished, tears of laughter were bright hi her eyes, and she was holding her side.
"You — the most dangerous man in the Circle — chasing snow-butterflies in the moonlight!"
He hung his head sheepishly. "I am afraid so, Majesty," he replied. "And with your leave, I really must go.”
The Queen waved her answer weakly from her chair, laughing soundlessly.
As he stood and turned to leave, the Herald placed a small package on the table beside her cup. "A gift, Your Majesty," he said. Then he was gone, the door closing behind him.
After several moments, the Queen wiped her eyes, and got herself back under control. She picked up the package, curiosity overcoming her laughter. The Herald's gifts were rare, but fortunately were seldom as sinister as his "stories" could be.
Inside a wrapping of soft gray woolen cloth she found a carved, wooden presentation case for a hand-sized book, a case she opened with the key taken from the ribbon tied around it.
In the right side was a black-velvet-lined recess, containing a thin book. In raised silver letters on the elegant white leather cover were the words, The Blue Heart and beneath them, C. Pilane.
In the left side of the box was a glass-covered velvet-lined display case.
Positioned carefully on the black velvet was a butterfly. Each wing was no larger than her two thumbnails together. The wings were the color of molten silver, with an oblong blue spot on either side of the creature's slender body. Those marks, when seen with the wings fully opened as they were displayed, made the shape of a heart.
A heart as blue as a Companion's eyes, or the color of the clear winter sky.
The End