Still grasping my chin, King Roderick said, “I will drag every nobleman, farm boy, and merchant from the entire kingdom into this room. One by one you will lie to them. And when your tongue burns out of your mouth, we will know who the Black Knight is.” He let go of my chin and turned to his son. “Tell the guards and the scribes what I want them to do. We’ll start with the castle household and move on from there.
How many guests do we have staying the night?”
“Enough to keep us busy till daybreak,” Edmond said.
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“Start with the guardhouse.”
They walked toward the door, making plans. They’d almost gone before I called out, “Edmond!” He paused at the doorway and looked back at me.
“Edmond, don’t do this.” I pulled at the rope around my wrists, even though I knew it was pointless. “Just hours ago you wanted to marry me.” His gaze ran over me with cold calculation. “And you’re just as beautiful now as you were in jewels and a gown. It’s almost enough to make me think that I could overlook your odd behavior at the ball.” He shook his head slowly. “But you kissed the Black Knight—my enemy. And that I could never forgive.” The door shut with a thud. I was left alone in the room, my heart beating as quickly as if I’d just run a mile.
I had to get away, but I’d already tried and I couldn’t.
No, I had to figure out who the Black Knight was so I didn’t have to lie to men until my tongue burned away.
There had to be clues. He said he was young and handsome. What else did I know about him?
He was a knight. Knights needed help getting in and out of their armor so he had to at least have one other person somewhere helping him . . . and he was a good kisser. That probably wasn’t helpful. What else?
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My mind was blank except for the panic that gnawed at the edges of my thoughts. I didn’t know enough.
Back at the inn, Chrissy said I was smart enough to figure it out—okay, actually she’d been talking about the stolen poison, and I hadn’t figured that out either.
The poison . . . For a moment it took center stage in my mind. Who had Simon stolen it for? Perhaps Queen Neferia— she had an apple to poison. But she could have bought it right from the wizard. Why would she have needed Simon to steal it and sell it to her?
No, it had to be for someone else, which led me back to the first suspect, Margaret. She was involved with both Simon and the Black Knight. But how and why?
The three of them circled in my mind. If she was in love with the Black Knight, why not just leave with him?
No one could stop her. Tristan had said he’d heard her tell a lady’s maid that she didn’t care if a man was lowborn as long as he was ambitious.
Certainly he was ambitious enough. He kept challenging Prince Edmond. But if he was trying to take over the kingdom, why didn’t he just challenge the king?
Wouldn’t that have been the thing to do? Even if he killed Prince Edmond, he wouldn’t be king. Roderick still would be.
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Did he have a grudge against Edmond? There had been that whole matter of the peasant rebellion he’d put down.
And how did Simon work into all of this? Did he just have a business arrangement with Margaret—selling her stolen potions—or was there something more to it? My mind jumped at the thought—could he be the Black Knight? He was young and handsome. He had access to magic and was stealing things from the wizard, so he might have been able to come up with the invincibility enchantment. Margaret could be in love with him. He was around the castle enough to form an attachment with her. It all fit . . . except that he was a goat now.
Oh, and I guess he wouldn’t have stood there and let the wizard give me the switching potion if he was the Black Knight.
But . . . he hadn’t had a choice about that. It was the wizard who sold me the switching potion, and Simon hadn’t looked happy about it at the time. If he was the Black Knight—no, he wouldn’t have cared if I’d taken switching potion if he’d been the Black Knight because he would have known not to kiss me—but if Simon was in league with the Black Knight, then he would have been worried about me taking away the knight’s enchantment.
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This seemed to fit, to make sense. After all, the Black Knight had truth potion on him when I’d met him. He had to be working with some wizard. And Simon had sold me a vial of something and told me to drink it when I saw the Black Knight. Poison would have taken care of any threat I’d posed.
The knowledge spun around in my mind, fear mixing with excitement. I’d been right the first time. The poison had been for me.
So they were both in league with the Black Knight—
Margaret and Simon—but who was he?
The door swung open. A guard came inside, followed by King Roderick. My time was up, and I still hadn’t figured out who the Black Knight was.
The king had his sword drawn; the guard didn’t have one. He stood at attention, looking stoic and uncomfortable at the same time. King Roderick motioned to me.
“Well, be quick about it. Tell a lie and let’s see what happens.”
“I’m not going to sit here and lie until my tongue burns away.”
The king stepped toward me, examining my face. “I assume you meant that as a lie, because you are going to sit here and do just that.”
I fingered the fireplace stones beneath my fingers, wishing I could break the rope. “You’re a tyrant.” 400/431
“I’ll take that as a lie and not an insult, but why don’t you try one more time just to make sure that Henry here is not the man I’m looking for.” He lifted his sword, held its tip against my cheek, and moved it down to my neck slowly, precisely. He didn’t mean to draw blood, not yet.
When he spoke, his voice was deceptively soft. “You will do as I say, or you’ll lose much more than your tongue tonight.”
“Ask your daughter who the Black Knight is. She knows.”
The blade pressed harder against my neck. “More treason. You will not speak ill of my daughter. She knows her place. I suggest you learn the same.” It was then that I remembered something about fairy tales. Hansel and Gretel, the smallest billy goat gruff, Puss in Boots— they never conquered through strength.
It was always through outwitting those who were stronger than they were.
I drew in a careful breath. “I have a better way to help you find the Black Knight, but you’ll have to untie me first and give me some clothes.” The king shook his head. “I think that’s too subtle of a lie. Why don’t you say something along the lines of, ‘I am a spotted bird.’ Try that one, and let’s see what happens.”
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I leaned forward, trying to show him I meant it. “I can find him for you.”
“You said you didn’t know who he was.”
“I don’t, but I still can identify him. He kissed me, after all. You don’t think he did that without taking off his helmet, do you?”
The king let his sword fall back at his side and took a step away from me, considering. “How will you find him?”
“Bring all of the nobles, any man who is rich at all, to the ballroom.”
“And how do you know he is a rich man?”
“When he kissed me he didn’t smell bad. He’s wealthy enough to bathe regularly.”
The king nodded, pleased with this information. He walked to the guard, sniffing. “Well, Henry, it looks like you’re innocent by that account. Go tell all the guards to assemble our fine guests in the ballroom.” He turned back to me. “I’ll have clothes sent to you, but I warn you, if you try to escape, if you cross me in any way, I’ll cut off your fingers and use them as chess pieces. Do you understand?”
I nodded and shivered again. “Will you let me go once I’ve found him for you?”
He smiled at me. “Of course.” But even though I didn’t have any truth potion, I knew he was lying.