Where would she take him? If he chose her, would he be exchanging one hell for another?
“How can I be sure that I’m not getting myself into a worse situation than what the Queen has offered?”
“You can’t. You can only trust what your heart tells you to do,” she said, raising her hand to caress his cheek. “I promise that you will be in a better place than this. And you won’t be punished or treated cruelly.”
Tristan felt the warmth of her touch spread through his face. He resisted the urge to lean into her hand.
“And my life here? What becomes of that?”
“It will be behind you. You will have no need of it. I will keep you safe.” The woman removed her hand and he instantly felt the coolness of the cell’s air where her warmth had been. He shivered, not liking the feeling.
Knowing that he would have a short, tortuous life if he stayed there, Tristan took a deep breath and let it slowly seep out of his lungs.
“If you get me out of this dungeon and safely away from the Queen and her fury, I give you my oath and surrender myself completely to you as payment.” She nodded. “Why don’t you lie down and rest while I take care of things?” Tristan looked to the spot that held her gaze and saw that there was a pallet of straw in the corner of the cell. He knew it wasn’t there before, but before he could question it, he felt very tired and the makeshift bed beckoned him. The woman stood and helped him up and walked with him over to the pallet. In several blinks of his eyes, he was lulled into a deep, dreamless slumber.
* * * *
Tristan woke snuggled under thick covers. Grudgingly, he opened his eyes and met with bright rays of sunshine seeping in through a small window. Sleep slowly drifted from his body and he remembered the events of the previous day. He turned and found that he was no longer in the cold, dark cell. He sat up and looked around the room he’d never seen before.
Tristan threw the covers back and gave a small groan as his muscles protested the movements. His body was sore and stiff when he stood and stretched. He was barefoot and his dirty, torn clothing was gone. He now wore a clean pair of tan pants held at his waist with a tie.
“Hello?” Tristan called out.
He left the room calling out again. There was no answer. He made his way through the small cottage. It had one bedroom, a bathroom, living area, and a kitchen.
He found no one else there.
Tristan opened the only door leading out of the cottage. He stepped out onto a porch that led into a garden. Walking out he called out again but only the sound of nature answered his call. He walked around the garden in awe. It was a beautiful place filled with all sorts of flowers, all in bloom. The air smelled sweet and vaguely familiar.
A vegetable garden was set along one side of the cottage.
This gave him no clue as to where he was. He’d never seen such a place as this.
How had he gotten from the Palace cell to this place? Had he just dreamed the Queen capturing him? Or maybe this was a dream. Tristan reached over and pinched his arm.
“Ow,” he said aloud, feeling the pain but he was still in the garden.
There was a dirt path winding around the garden and Tristan found himself following it until it came to a little white gate. It was connected to a fence that surrounded the entire garden including the cottage. On the other side of the fence was a thick, dark forest. It was a strange place. Everything the fence surrounded the sun beamed down on it, but on the other side it was dark, and a little daunting.
With just a slight hesitation Tristan opened the gate and tried to walk through, only to be stopped by some unseen barrier.
Tristan cursed and pressed his hands out in front of him, making contact with something that felt as solid as a wall but couldn’t be seen. His fists pounded on it but it didn’t make a noise or budge. He rose on his toes and found that it continued higher than he stood.
Slowly he walked around the fence, his hands touching the same unseen barrier all the way around until he was once more at the gate. There was no way out, no opening for him to leave…or anyone to enter. Tristan’s anger flared. He had given up one cell to be placed in another.
His words came back to haunt him. “If you get me out of this dungeon and safely away from the Queen and her fury, I give you my oath and surrender myself completely to you as payment.” Tristan had given his word to the strange woman. He’d given his oath but he had not expected this. He had been desperate to escape the Queen. He’d let her sweet smile and sensual kiss lead him into thinking he would be safer with her, a stranger.
Tristan had given his oath willingly but that didn’t stop the anger rushing through him. What had he done to deserve this fate? Who had he angered? He stomped around the garden banging on the invisible wall here and there, hoping to break through somehow.
Passing a group of tulips, he ripped a handful of them from the ground and threw them down smashing them under his foot. He turned and grabbed several other blooms, he knew not their names and tore them to pieces before throwing them aside.
Turning back to where the tulips lay, Tristan froze. Where he had torn the tulips up from their roots he found that more stood in their places. Turning slowly in a circle, he saw that the same had occurred to the other flowers he had destroyed. All were replaced and as beautiful as the ones he’d torn up.
“It’s enchanted,” Tristan murmured, and sank to the ground. It all came together.
The beautiful woman with her fairy like eyes, how she got into his cell, how he got here.
It was magic, all of it. How was he to beat magic? How was he to get out of this with his life intact?
Sighing, Tristan got up and went back inside. He had to admit that the cottage was cozy. It had a warm feeling to it, one that caused him to relax no matter the state of his emotions. He sat heavily on the couch and before long laid down, his mind racing, but mostly focused on the woman with the strange violet eyes.
Tristan must have drifted to sleep once more because when his eyes opened again the cottage was dark except for a dim light coming from the fireplace. He turned toward the fire and met with those amazing violet eyes. He pushed off the couch quickly and started pacing the room, keeping his distance from her magical influence.
“Who are you really?” he demanded angrily. “Where am I and why are you holding me here?”
“You are safe, out of the Queen’s harm. Do you not like it here? Does it not please you?” Her voice was soft, the tone alluring.
Tristan rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the tension there. He was very frustrated despite the fact that his eyes kept going to the enticing vixen.
“It’s nice,” he sighed, shaking his head, his aggravation not lessening. “But I’m in a prison just like before.”
The woman went to Tristan. With the lightest touch, she laid her hand against his cheek. “You surrendered yourself to me. This is your home, not a prison. You will be safe from harm here.”
He pulled away from her touch as he felt his agitation calm. He wanted to feel his anger. It was something he could take hold of, something that was his and not enchanted.
“Don’t touch me. Just leave me be. Go away.”
“I can’t.” She shook her head, a little confused at his reaction. Had he not willingly given his oath to her? She had saved him from a cruel fate. Did he think that she would just leave when he said? “You are my responsibility. I must care for you.” Tristan looked at her and saw the irritation that flared in her eyes. The emotion made her eyes shine brightly, the colors nearly twinkling. He saw a glimpse of fire within her and was drawn to it. His eyes lowered to her lips and found that there was a most beguiling curve to their lusciousness. He jerked his eyes away and turned his back to her to stare at the fire.