the door again. I could see the wagon plainly enough, but I didn’t see the apprentice or the goat.
“M’lady?”
The stable boy’s voice made me jump. I turned and he peered at me with a questioning expression. “M’lady, why are you holding the riding crop so?”
“Just in case I’m attacked by a goat.” His eyebrows drew together but he didn’t speak.
“I have a fear of goats,” I said.
The stable boy proved not to be the Black Knight, because my tongue did not burn out of my mouth. Still, as I climbed onto my horse—it was finally ready—I chastised myself for slipping up and lying. I had to be more careful about that.
My horse trotted out of the stable and across the ground toward the gate. As I passed by, I looked over my shoulder at the wagon. The apprentice was nowhere in sight, but Simon stood by the side of the wagon, the rope in his mouth and his jaw going in circles. He was trying to chew through it.
I knew he wouldn’t be able to catch the horse, and I was too high up for him to touch anyway, but I wanted to be as far away from him as possible. As I rode out of the castle I became more and more convinced that Simon had given me the poison on purpose.
Chapter 18
I didn’t let my horse stop and meander along the trail this time, and perhaps the horse sensed my urgency, because I only had to spur her on a few times. Before long the path led us into the forest. When I’d ridden through last time, the trees had seemed fresh and welcoming, like a national park or a summer camp. Now the bird-calls set me on edge. I kept thinking of how Tristan had held his sword across his lap as we’d ridden, and the way his eyes scanned the trees.
I scanned them too, unsure of what I was looking for.
The wind through the trees set off hundreds of leaves that whispered in my direction.
Eight miles, I kept telling myself. It was only an eight-mile ride. It had taken us about two hours to travel the road before, and that was partially because my horse kept stopping for snacks. I’d be able to make it back faster.
Halfway through the forest, two men on horses appeared out of the trees in front of me. They stopped on the trail. I waited for them to pass or go ahead of me, but they didn’t. When they turned sneering faces in my 265/431
direction, I realized with a sick thud in my stomach that they were waiting for me.
Each wore ragged gray clothing. One man had a nearly toothless grin, even though he couldn’t have been more than thirty. The other had a scar that ran from one eye to his chin, making his face look like it was creased and about to fold over.
“What ’ave we ’ere?” the scarred one said. “A lady without an escort. Foolish, indeed.” He took a long knife from under the folds of his clothes and held it up for me to see.
I pulled the reins, trying to turn my horse around, but as I looked over my shoulder I saw that another horse had come out of the forest behind me. Its rider, a man equally frightening and even dirtier than the first two, held onto a stick as thick as a baseball bat. I was trapped between them.
“You’ll be getting off your ’orse now,” the dirty one said.
Fear wrapped itself around me like a searing blanket.
I couldn’t breathe. I just stared at the man while my horse whinnied and took nervous steps sideways.
The scarred man spit on the ground. “Off the ’orse. Be a good girl and we won’t hurt you.” 266/431
I didn’t believe them. Once I was off my horse I’d be powerless. I clutched my riding stick harder and tried to think of options. Then I remembered: I was invincible.
I hadn’t ever wanted to test the enchantment. Still, what choice did I have? I looked the scarred man squarely in the face. “Out of my way.” He put the knife to his lips as though about to use it to pick at his teeth, then waved it in my direction again.
“You’ll be giving up your saddlebags too. And your jewelry.”
I nudged my horse forward. “Out of my way!” His expression twisted with anger. He leaned forward in his saddle, and pointed his knife at me as though about to thrust it into my chest. “Do as I say now!” At that moment the world slowed, grew sharp. I could feel the wind blowing strands of my hair around my shoulders and insects buzzing above my head. As the scarred man came toward me, I could sense every breath he took. It didn’t seem difficult at all to knock the knife out of his hands with my riding crop. It was as easy as smacking a fly with a flyswatter.
It didn’t matter that the toothless man was coming at me with another knife. He too moved in slow motion, like a man walking through water.
I hit him on the side of his shoulder and he flew off his horse, screaming. He landed in the bushes by the side of 267/431
the road, causing the branches to wave in leafy surrender.
I heard the man with the stick coming up behind me. I knew exactly where he was without even looking. I turned and saw the stick swinging toward me. I tapped it with the riding crop and it flew from his hands.
The man cursed, but he didn’t waste time trying to fight with me anymore. He turned his horse and galloped back into the forest. The scarred man only waited another moment before following after him. Even the toothless man, who’d just managed to extract himself from the bushes, ran after them. I heard him crunching and crashing through the foliage as the world slipped back into its normal realm.
The now riderless horse stood on the pathway in front of me and I reached over and grabbed the reins as I rode by. Because hey, who doesn’t want a free horse? I only regretted not knocking the other two into the bushes as well.
As I trotted off toward the inn, the forest once again seemed a warm and welcoming place. And better yet, I felt confident and powerful. I was invincible.
• • •
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I arrived at the inn dusty, tired, and hungry. It was frustrating not to have cell phones, not to be able to call Tristan and say, “Where are you?” and “By the way, a goat is out to get me and I was assaulted by thieves in the forest, and now I have an extra horse.” Then again, I couldn’t tell him about most of it. He might be just as eager as Simon to switch enchantments.
I shared some cooked eggs, cheese, and gritty wheat bread with the inn’s dog, then went to my room and looked out the window for Tristan’s horse.
He didn’t come.
Did he not care that I’d left? Did he want to stay at the castle fawning over Princess Margaret and telling stories at the king’s table?
I ordered a bath, gave the innkeeper’s wife my dress to clean, then sat in a big metal tub of steaming water. It felt luxurious against my skin but eventually it grew tep-id and I had to get out. I pulled on my Snow White dress, combed out my hair, then went downstairs to try and dry it out by sitting near the hearth.
A crowd of half a dozen men had gathered around one of the tables. A large man with a pointy red beard sat with a mug of ale in one hand, speaking to them. At first I thought he was a storyteller, but as I drew closer I heard his voice. “If none can defeat the Black Knight—and I’ll not claim as much until I’ve fought him 269/431
myself—then it stands to reason that your king will give Margaret’s hand to the man who has rid the land of his other foes. And that,” he said, raising his mug as though offering a toast, “is what I shall do.” A rumble of approval went through his audience. One of the crowd called out, “How will you kill the ogre?” The man with the pointy beard took a drink, then shook his head slightly. “ ’Tis bad luck to speak of a thing before it happens. But I will tell you this: on the morrow I’ll go to King Roderick and pay my respects to him and his daughter. Then I’ll go up to the caves and destroy the wretched monster. When I come back to this inn we shall all feast, and I will tell you the story of my victory.”
One from the crowd raised his mug and said, “Here’s to Sir William—may he cleanse the land of the murder-ous beast!”