I knew there was no point in arguing with him and besides, he didn’t give me the chance. He started up a conversation with his sister about the musicians, pointedly changing the subject.
Hunter and Jane began a hushed conversation with Tristan that I only caught a few words of, just enough to tell they were talking about the sleeping arrangements at the castle tonight and whether Jane and I would be safe staying here with a homicidal queen in the vicinity.
I nearly volunteered that Jane could run off with me at midnight, but then decided that wasn’t the sort of thing I should say in front of Prince Edmond.
After a few minutes of this, Prince Edmond looked toward the ballroom door. “Here’s Prince Hubert coming in now.”
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Princess Margaret smiled over at me. “You say it was dwarfs that told him about Queen Neferia? I suppose that’s a step up from the mice and doves he usually converses with.”
The contempt in her voice prickled me even more than Prince Edmond’s patronizing tone had earlier. I clutched my hands into fists. “No matter what Prince Hubert says, I have told you the truth about Queen Neferia. You can think what you want to about him, but I am not crazy.”
I looked over at the door and saw a handsome, well-built man coming into the room. He carried a cat in his arms, but this wasn’t what I noticed about him. The thing that caught my eye was the goat that trailed behind him.
• • •
Granted, it’s probably not the best way to prove your sanity if you, for no discernable reason to those standing near you, suddenly let out a scream, push your way through the crowd, and crawl onto the refreshment table.
Quite a few people watched me do this with open mouths. During my scramble up on the table one of my slippers fell off my foot and tumbled to the floor. Prince Edmond looked at it, held up his hands, then turned 370/431
away muttering, “I’m not picking that up. Someone else can get it.”
So much for love at first sight.
Tristan looked at me on the table and yelled, “What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer. I heard someone in the crowd say,
“What’s that goat doing in here?” And several people laughed and pointed at it running across the room while others moved out of its way. I looked around for something on the table to defend myself with but only found a ladle.
Then Simon saw me. He stopped so quickly he momentarily slid across the floor, his hooves scraping on the stone as he tried to adjust his direction. And then he charged toward me.
I realized the table wasn’t going to be high enough to keep him away from me. Goats could jump up on things, couldn’t they? That’s why there was a whole breed of them called mountain goats.
“Tristan!” I screamed. “Help me!” He wasn’t far away from me, but he only looked at me in confusion.
Simon ran past Tristan. I watched him coming toward me, his feet clipping faster and faster across the floor and his bulgy eyes training in on me. My hands shook on the ladle. How ironic that although I had the Black 371/431
Knight’s power of invincibility, I was going to be undone by a goat.
Simon rushed toward the table. I could see him getting ready to leap. And the next moment something shot out from under the table and rammed into him. A man.
They both rolled onto the floor.
It took me a second to realize it was Scuppers. He must have crawled under the table to sleep and when he woke up and saw the goat charging toward him, he leaped out at it like any dog would.
Simon broke free from the scuffle, but Scuppers stood in the way of the table. Simon ran to the right and Scuppers bounded after him, hands over feet, making better time than any real man could have done. Simon darted toward the back of the room and Scuppers followed after him, his coat tails flapping as he ran.
Tristan walked up to me and picked up my slipper from the floor. He didn’t hand it to me, which is when I realized I was still clutching the ladle tightly in front of me.
He tucked the slipper into his pocket and pulled out his sword. Raising one finger in question he asked,
“Who exactly am I supposed to protect you from? The man or the goat?”
“The goat. The man is actually the innkeeper’s dog.” 372/431
Tristan turned to face the crowd, his sword raised.
“And why am I protecting you from a goat?”
“He’s actually Simon, the wizard’s apprentice, and he wants to switch places with me so I’ll be a goat.”
“I see.” I knew he didn’t, but he didn’t press the point.
“Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about?” A crack of light went off midway across the ballroom, as though lightning had struck the floor. The crowd cleared from the spot; the bright color of dresses and tunics moving to the edges of the room like a retreating rainbow.
Scuppers had the goat pinned to the ground. His mouth angled to get a hold on the goat’s neck while it kicked and bleated. The wizard strode toward the two, arms raised, as though this would increase the volume of his voice. “Off, you foul beast! Begone! That’s my goat and none shall touch it!”
Scuppers backed away from the goat, still on all fours, and let out a throaty growl of protest. The wizard bent down, picked up Simon, and flung the goat over his shoulder.
Then the wizard turned and headed toward the door, yelling, “This is the treatment I get from King Roderick’s court? You take my animal and make sport of it for your pleasure? I shan’t stay where a wizard isn’t treated with respect. I shan’t!”
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The goat bellowed as he walked by me, his bulgy-eyed gaze never leaving my face. Then the door shut behind them and the two were gone. I dropped the ladle and it clanked onto the table. Deep tremors rumbled around inside of me and I was afraid my legs would give way.
Tristan looked up at me, concerned. He held his free hand out to me, and I stepped down and flung my arms around him. I was just so glad that— instead of disappearing like Prince Edmond had—Tristan was still here.
I pressed my cheek to his chest. “There’s actually a lot I need to tell you about.”
I knew he would probably push me away, what with his future fiancée milling somewhere in the crowd, but he didn’t. He just wound his arms around me and let out a sigh.
From the middle of the room the king called out,
“What is all this? Guests on the table, goats running around—and what is that man doing on the floor? Who invited him to my ball?”
I looked and saw Scuppers squatting on the floor, trying to scratch his ear with his foot. I nearly pretended that I didn’t know who he was, but really, after he’d saved me from Simon he deserved better than that. I stepped away from Tristan. “He’s my coachman, your highness. He’s harmless really.” 374/431
King Roderick’s gaze swung over to me and when he spoke his voice rolled around me the way a river tumbles stones in its current. “I shall decide that for myself. Who are you, Madame?”
But before I spoke a single word, a page burst through the door. “Your highness, the Black Knight is outside the castle. He wishes to fight Sir Tristan.”
Chapter 25
The exodus outside was immediate. The crowd let out a cheer as Tristan turned and headed for the door. He only gave me a backward glance and motioned for Hunter. “This is it.”
I took two steps after Tristan and realized he still had my other slipper. I called after him, but with everyone else cheering and calling his name, he didn’t hear me. I wobbled a few steps, then bent down, took off my remaining slipper, and put it in my pocket. I walked through the castle barefoot, knowing it would ruin my stockings.
Jane came up beside me. She looked over one shoulder and then the other. “So a wicked queen is trying to kill me and an enchanted goat is after you?”
“Yeah.”