“Tristan, you have to understand, I’m doing this for you.”

He let go of my arm as though burned. “You rang it to have me challenge the Black Knight?” I stepped toward him and whispered. “No, I rang it for me. I’m going to . . . talk with him.” Tristan took hold of my arm again. “I want you to go back inside the castle gates—” I didn’t see the Black Knight arrive, I only heard the gasp from the crowd and looked to see what had caught their attention. He hadn’t come out of the forest in front of us like I’d supposed. He galloped around the side of the castle wall riding a massive black warhorse. The sight of his dark, gleaming armor momentarily chased all thought from my mind. I hadn’t expected him to be so big or to bear down on us so quickly.

I tried to pull my arm away from Tristan so I could uncork the bottle, but Tristan not only didn’t let me go, he pulled me a couple of steps toward the castle gate.

I dug my heels into the dirt. “Tristan, stop it. You don’t understand.”

“You’re going inside,” he hissed. “Right now.” 207/431

I attempted to open the bottle with one hand, pushing at the cork with my thumbnail. It was going to be nearly impossible to drink it with Tristan yanking me through the crowd.

“Stop it!” I yelled and I tried again to wrench my arm out of Tristan’s hands. He pulled back with even more strength and the bottle tumbled from my fingers. It fell to the ground with a crack, and I watched as the liquid seeped out of the broken jar onto the ground.

“No,” I said. It was only a gasp though, a cry of defeat.

The Black Knight slowed his horse to a stop. I heard the swoosh as he pulled his sword from its sheath and held it up. It glinted in his hand like a bolt of lightning.

The armor muffled his voice, but he spoke loud enough for the entire crowd to hear. “Who summoned me here to fight?”

Half the crowd pointed to me and the children yelled,

“She did! She did!” with such excitement that I wondered whose side they were on.

The Black Knight turned his head in my direction. I saw his hands tighten on the reins.

The next moment Tristan stood in front of me, shield-ing me. “It was a mistake,” he said.

The knight said nothing, just surveyed us with a face-less stare that made me shiver. Still, I broke Tristan’s grasp on my arm and stepped away from him. I had to 208/431

at least try. “May a lady talk to a knight?” I asked and nearly managed to keep my voice from shaking. “The Black Knight obeys the laws of chivalry, does he not?” The knight didn’t answer. His horse took two steps toward me and looked at me with piercing eyes.

“What does the lady wish from me?” the knight called, and I couldn’t tell if he was mocking me or not.

Tristan stepped in front of me again. “Nothing.” I moved away from Tristan. “I want to speak with you.” And then, because I also had food in my satchel, I added, “I want you to dine with me.” The knight remained silent and I thought he might turn around and leave, but instead he urged the horse forward. I heard the thud of every hoofbeat as the horse picked up speed coming toward me. The crowd spilled away but I stood there transfixed, unsure of what was happening.

Tristan pushed me sideways. I knew he was trying to keep me out of the pathway of the horse, but it didn’t have the desired effect. The Black Knight veered as well.

Tristan and I now stood so far apart that there was no way to stop the Black Knight when he reached down and grabbed me by the waist.

The next moment I found myself sitting sidesaddle in front of the knight. The only thing that kept me from falling off the horse at every bump and jostle was the 209/431

knight’s arm, which held me pinned to his chest. His armor bit into my side, but I clung to it anyway. If I slipped I’d be trampled.

We raced across the grassy plains toward the forest, and I watched the castle grow smaller with every passing minute. “Where are you taking me?” I asked.

“To dine,” he said and didn’t say any more.

Finally we reached the edge of the forest and the horse plunged into the foliage. It wasn’t until I looked down that I saw the horse was following a narrow path.

The horse slowed his pace, but I still had to lean away from tree branches so they didn’t slap across my face.

I told myself that everything would be all right. He had said we were going to dine; that’s what I’d asked him to do.

But another part of me, a part that was squeezing my stomach into pieces, screamed that Tristan had been right, the Black Knight was dangerous and I’d been beyond stupid to summon him. This wasn’t some picture book where knights always acted honorably. I’d been kidnapped and if I had any sense at all I’d take my chances, jump from the horse, and try to escape.

“It’s not much farther,” the knight said, and now his voice was soft and teasing.

Minutes went by with nothing but the sound of the horse’s hooves beating against the path and branches 210/431

reaching out for me. Then abruptly the wall of trees gave way to a clearing with a small river. The horse sauntered up to it and lowered its head to drink, lapping the water in noisy gulps. The knight released his grip on me. “You can dismount now.”

I breathed a sigh of relief at this. He wouldn’t have let me off first if he was kidnapping me, would he?

I slid from the horse and waited for him to dismount, something that was considerably slower and more complicated for him in his heavy armor. I should have felt safer once he’d reached the ground. After all, a knight in armor off his horse was slow-moving and easy to escape from. Instead, I noticed how tall and broad-shouldered he was.

He turned to his saddlebag and took out a long thin strip of material. “Choose a place to dine, m’lady,” he said, sweeping a hand in front of him.

I looked around and saw only decaying leaves, dirt, and vegetation. It all seemed damp and unsuitable but I finally pointed to a flat spot.

“Very well.” He walked toward me, holding the material between his hands as though he were going to use it as a gag.

I stepped away from him. “What are you doing?”

“Blindfolding you, m’lady. You didn’t think I would take off my helmet and eat in your view, did you?” 211/431

“I guess not.” But I still took another step backward.

The ground felt rocky and uncertain beneath my feet. I hoped I wasn’t about to bump into a tree.

He kept holding the material taut between his hands.

“You don’t trust me.” It was a statement, not a question, and I could hear the amusement in his voice.

“Should I?” I asked.

“You’re the one who asked to dine with me. Do we eat or not?”

My legs shook but I walked the distance that separ-ated us and held up my face. “We eat.” He tied the strip of cloth across my eyes. As he pulled it tight and knotted it, he whispered, “Do not attempt to take off your blindfold or you’ll risk losing one of your hands to my sword. My identity will stay unknown.” Then he slowly led me to the spot I’d chosen. I sat down and heard metal clanking. I didn’t know if he’d sat down or whether it was the sound of him taking off his armor.

I couldn’t be sure and wasn’t curious enough to move my blindfold to see for myself.

A few minutes passed, then I felt him untying the satchel from my waist. “As you cannot see, m’lady, it shall be my pleasure to feed you.” His voice was un-muffled now and had a smooth, familiar sound to it.

Silky, seductive.

“If you put the food in my hand, I can feed myself.” 212/431

“I wouldn’t have you dirty your hands. Here is some of the cheese you brought.”

I opened my mouth and he set a slice on my tongue. I couldn’t tell whether he was eating too. As soon as I’d finished it, I opened my mouth to ask him a question, but he put a piece of meat in my mouth. I finished that too, wondering how I was ever going to start up a conversation if every time I opened my mouth he put food into it.