The feeling came back into them with pinpricks but nothing seemed to be cut. I heard the horse trotting away from me and tugged at the blindfold until I was free of it.

I stared at my hands, which were whole, uncut. So if neither of us were enchanted, he was an excellent swordsman. I looked over to the river and saw him atop his horse, walking at a leisurely pace along the bank and away from me.

At my feet, the contents of my satchel had been dumped out. Apparently he’d been looking for something incriminating. The mirror lay next to the cheese. He must not have recognized it as a wizard’s mirror but thought it belonged to me—a vain, enamored 220/431

maiden who’d brought it along because I’d wanted to make sure I looked my best when I met him.

I knelt down, picked up the mirror, and held it over my hand. When I turned it over, the breath went out of my lungs. Scrolled on the face of the mirror were the words: No weapon shall hurt you, nor any man defeat you in battle.

I repeated the words in my mind, staring at the disappearing writing, then I shoved the mirror into my satchel.

I shouldn’t have been afraid that the knight would suddenly turn around and wonder what I was up to. I was invincible now. But perhaps it wasn’t fear at all; perhaps it was shame.

The sound of a horse running made me look back over at the riverbank. It wasn’t the Black Knight’s horse but another rider on a horse running toward him. The Black Knight drew his sword and waited. He looked like a glossy black statue.

A young man with a lean, muscular build rode up to the knight. His shoulder-length blond hair had been mussed by the ride, making his profile even more handsome. He stared at the Black Knight with such fierceness that it took me several seconds before it registered that this was Tristan. He reined in the horse with one hand, and drew his sword with the other.

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“What have you done with her?” Tristan yelled.

“Where is she?”

The Black Knight didn’t answer, just pointed his sword in my direction. Tristan glanced at me, then looked back at the knight. He still didn’t lower his sword. “Did he hurt you?” he called to me.

“What would you do if I had, little page?” The Black Knight said. “Fight me without armor? You’re no knight.”

I gathered my skirts and got to my feet. “He didn’t hurt me.”

I knew Tristan heard me, but he didn’t lower his sword. He prodded his horse toward me, keeping his gaze firmly on the knight as though waiting for an attack.

The Black Knight turned to Tristan. “Don’t raise your sword to me again,” he said, “unless you want it cut out of your hands.” The knight sheathed his sword, probably using more force than he needed, then spurred his horse forward. In another moment he had vanished into the forest.

After he left, Tristan turned his attention to me. His gaze ran over me, examining me. A good deal of the anger dropped from his face as he put his sword away.

“You’re really all right?”

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“Yes. Unless I lie to him, then apparently my tongue will burn out of my mouth. He made me drink truth potion.” I put my hand to my tongue checking to see if I could feel any difference in it. Man, by the time I was through with these wishes I was going to be the most honest person alive.

Tristan gave me an I-told-you-not-to-mess-with-the-Black-Knight look, but he didn’t say it. Instead he dismounted from his horse and helped me pick up the scattered things from my satchel. He brushed off a roll and handed it to me. Back home neither one of us would have kept dirty bread, but I put it back in my satchel.

“Is truth potion a usual commodity around here?” I asked him. “Do people just carry a vial on them in case they meet up with any suspicious women?” Tristan shook his head. “I’ve heard of truth potion, but I’ve never known anyone who had any. It’s rare and expensive— but then I guess we already knew the Black Knight had access to a wizard.” What else did I know about him? “He asked me who you were, but then he called you a page, so he must have known that much about you. How many people knew you were a page?”

Tristan handed me a couple of now cracked hard-boiled eggs. “Anyone who’s been to the castle in the last 223/431

few months. I’m pretty well known because of my stories.”

Well, that probably wasn’t a clue that would be useful.

I picked up the last of the spilled things. The Black Knight hadn’t touched the spices, the money, anything I’d brought from the future. All this wealth must have been tempting, but he hadn’t taken it. Which must mean that he was honest and not greedy.

I stood up and brushed off my dress, unable to clean a couple of spots of mud that had found their way to my skirt. I tried to think of more clues to the Black Knight’s identity, but my mind kept dwelling on our kiss, on the electric intensity I’d felt when his lips had touched mine.

I glanced at Tristan, at his concerned blue eyes. If he kissed me would it be as passionate?

I blushed as though he could read my mind and looked away from him.

Tristan walked back over to the horse. “Was the Black Knight angry when he found out you were trying to help defeat him?”

“I’m not stupid. I didn’t tell him that.”

“How did you get around not telling him?” I didn’t want to talk about it. I tied the satchel around my waist and joined him next to the horse. “Tristan, what do you really know about the Black Knight? I mean, you’re trying to defeat him and I just helped you, 224/431

but what if it isn’t the right thing? What if he’s not supposed to be defeated?”

Tristan’s eyebrows drew together like he had no idea what I was talking about. “You helped me? I told you to stay away from the Black Knight, but no, you wouldn’t listen. So he carried you off, and I’ve spent the last hour out looking for you, worried sick that I’d find you somewhere in tiny pieces. When I did come across you—amazingly intact—the Black Knight threatened to cut off my hands if I ever lifted a sword to him again. So exactly which part of all of that was you helping me?” I scanned the forest to make sure we were alone, then lowered my voice to a whisper. I couldn’t tell him that I’d switched enchantments with the Black Knight, but I could tell Tristan part of the truth. “I took the Black Knight’s enchantment from him. He’s not invincible anymore.”

Tristan gave me a look of frank disbelief, so I added,

“Okay, granted he may still be an excellent swordsman.

In fact, he cut the ties from my hand without giving me so much as a scratch. It was amazing.” Tristan took up the horse reins. “Yes, he’s an amazing swordsman. I think that fact has already been established.”

He turned his back on me and led the horse toward the river. I followed after him, hurrying until I was side 225/431

by side with him. “The point is, he’s not invincible anymore. You could beat him at something.”

“Like a friendly game of poker, perhaps?”

“I’m being serious.”

Tristan finally stopped and gave me his complete attention. “And just how did you take his enchantment away from him?”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

“Not even the royal court, which has access to wizards, could break the Black Knight’s enchantment. How could you do it?”

“The royal court may have access to wizards, but they aren’t using them. I met a wizard coming out of the castle and he helped me do it.” Tristan tugged at the horse’s reins and walked the rest of the distance to the river. The horse took a couple of steps into the water and lowered his head to drink.

Tristan no longer seemed concerned with my story. In fact, he only seemed to be asking me questions to prove what an idiot I was. “And why would a wizard help you?”

“I paid him well enough. I gave him matches, some silverware, and a bottle of Tylenol.” Tristan’s head swung around to face me. “You gave him all of that?”