“You are his sister? His betrothed?”
“No, sire, just a friend.”
“Certainly you must be more than that to travel such a long distance to bring him funds.”
“No, sire.”
“Then you are a very good friend indeed.” I blushed. No one would consider me a good friend if they knew I was the one who got Tristan sent here in the first place. “I’m trying to be,” I said.
His gaze grew intense, his voice a little stiff. “And you are hoping that your friend will be able to defeat the Black Knight?”
The question stabbed me with remorse. I wasn’t sure anymore, but whether it was Tristan who defeated him or the castle guard who dragged him inside for Edmond to kill, I would be the cause of the Black Knight’s downfall. I swallowed hard, my gaze on the stairs.
“You don’t have an answer?” Prince Hugh asked, and I blushed again. It was his brother who was being 244/431
challenged, his family that was in danger. He wasn’t likely to understand my sympathies or feelings of regret.
My gaze flickered over to his eyes. “I just want Tristan to come home safe and sound.”
Prince Hugh let out a half-laugh and tilted his head.
“Then I suppose you wish for your friend’s defeat.”
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
Prince Hugh shrugged as if it was obvious. “If Tristan is able to do all that my father asks, he’ll win my sister’s hand in marriage and live here in the castle.” My heartbeat stopped altogether. Tristan was trying to wed Princess Margaret?
With a growing sickness in my stomach, I chided myself for not figuring it out beforehand. What had I expected? That after Tristan had destroyed the cyclops, killed the dragon, and beaten the Black Knight, King Roderick would just hand over part of his kingdom for Tristan to rule? Tristan was going to be made a prince by marrying a princess. That’s how all the fairy tales worked.
Prince Hugh’s gaze turned concerned and he took a step toward me. “Are you well?”
“She’s feeling ill,” Theodora said. “That’s why she’s going to Princess Margaret’s room to lie down.”
“See to it before she topples down the stairs.” The prince pressed himself against the wall in order to let us pass, but I didn’t move. I just stared at him. All of 245/431
this was so that Tristan could marry Princess Margaret?
I was helping Tristan to become Prince Edmond’s brother-in-law? Ironic, since if I’d married Prince Edmond, I would have been his sister-in-law.
Prince Hugh took hold of my arm and half-pulled, half-led me the rest of the way up the stairs to the princess’s room. He told me that he wished for my speedy recovery, but I hardly heard anything he said.
• • •
Princess Margaret’s room was on the top floor of the tower. A tapestry depicting unicorns lay against one wall, a fireplace stood at the other. That’s how you know you’re royalty. You have your own fireplace in your room.
Her bed had an ornately carved frame, and linen hangings were tied back to the bedposts. Two less glamorous beds— pallets, they called them, lay in the room; I supposed for her attendants.
I laid down on one of the pallets while Lady Theodora busied herself with starting a fire. I didn’t want to talk to Theodora about Tristan. I already knew her opinion of him, but as the fire began to catch hold of the larger logs in the fireplace, I asked, “Are Tristan and Princess Margaret . . . fond of each other?” 246/431
Lady Theodora turned to me with indifferent eyes.
“It’s not my place to talk about the princess.” She stood up and brushed off her skirt. “I’ll ask one of the kitchen girls to bring up bread and broth for you presently.” She swept out of the room and I was left to sit on the cold pallet and watch the light from the windows grow dimmer and dimmer until all I could see out of them were the pinpricks of stars. Eventually a young servant girl brought me a small loaf of bread and a bowl of broth. Both cold. I thanked her anyway and ate it. I’d had worse in the Middle Ages.
I didn’t expect to fall asleep, but I did. I dreamed that, along with the entire high school, I was at Tristan’s and Princess Margaret’s wedding. They walked down the aisle and everyone clapped and threw rice while I stood there trying to catch his attention. I wanted to talk to him desperately, I wanted to tell him not to do it, but he never looked at me.
Then the Black Knight was behind me. I couldn’t see him but I recognized his voice, smooth and silky, whispering into my ear, “It’s all right.” His hand ran down the length of my arm. “I’m the one you really came to the Middle Ages to find.”
His fingers intertwined with mine and he held my hand tightly. “I’m what you’ve wanted all along.” 247/431
I leaned against him, happy that he was there and that he wanted to hold my hand. I knew I could turn and see his face, learn his identity, but instead I just stared after Tristan and wondered why he wouldn’t look at me.
I was awakened by the sound of the door scraping open. I blinked in the darkness, for a moment not remembering where I was.
Then I sat bolt upright, half expecting to see the Black Knight, but Tristan walked in the room, holding a torch.
The shadows flickered across his face, making him look handsome one moment, sinister the next. “Are you awake?” he asked.
A chill had taken hold of the room. The fire had almost gone completely out. I pulled the blanket around my shoulders. “Yes.”
After he attached the torch to a wall holder—where it did little to dismiss the darkness—he walked to the fireplace, threw a log on the embers, and nudged it with a poker until it crackled to life. Then he sat down on the pallet beside me and pulled something from his pocket.
“Since you chickened out and hid in here instead of telling your side of the Black Knight story, I brought you some dinner.”
He held out something to me, some sort of pastry, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I thanked him and bit into it 248/431
anyway. A meat pie. It tasted savory and rich and I kept it on my tongue just to enjoy the taste of it.
Tristan leaned back on his hands. “In case you’re wondering how the story of Lady Savannah’s rescue went, I found you in the forest by following your cries.
You were horribly frightened— pathetic, really—and getting ready to flee for your life. The Black Knight and I raised swords, circling one another and yelling threats, but we didn’t fight because you begged me not to duel while I didn’t have armor on.” He tilted his chin down and smiled. “That, of course, took all of your maidenly persuasion because I am so immensely brave. But I gave you my word and now I fear I can never sword fight with the Black Knight lest I break my promise to you. When the time comes to challenge him, I will have to find some other method of defeating him. Which works out well for me, since I never wanted to cross swords with him in the first place.” I popped the last of the meat pie into my mouth and didn’t say anything.
“The Black Knight, awed by my bravery, ran off. Then you clung to me all the way home, sobbing with gratit-ude and promising never to speak to knavish rogues again. It was beautiful. The crowd loved it.” 249/431
I still didn’t say anything, just gave him a considering stare. Behind us, the fire grew in strength and spit out sparks onto the mantle.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how awkward it will be to go to prom with you, considering you’ll be married at the time.”
“Ah,” he said. “Lady Theodora told you about the details of the king’s reward for his quest.” I brushed the crumbs off my hands and kept my voice even. “What exactly were you planning on doing with your wife during our date?”
“I was planning that as soon as Princess Margaret and I married, I would be zapped back to the future and she could get an annulment.”
I watched the way the light from the fire made Tristan’s features glow and tried not to imagine Princess Margaret standing beside him in a wedding dress. “I should warn you that my fairy godmother is slow about getting back to people. So you could be married for weeks before she gets around to bringing you home.” Tristan sent me a rakish smile and shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have time to enjoy all of the wedding feasting.” Which irked me in ways I couldn’t explain. “Are you saying you want to marry Princess Margaret?” 250/431