I laid down on one of the pallets while Lady Theodora busied herself with starting a fire. I didn’t want to talk to Theodora about Tristan. I already knew her opinion of him, but as the fire began to catch hold of the larger logs in the fireplace, I asked, “Are Tristan and Princess Margaret . . . fond of each other?” 246/431

Lady Theodora turned to me with indifferent eyes.

“It’s not my place to talk about the princess.” She stood up and brushed off her skirt. “I’ll ask one of the kitchen girls to bring up bread and broth for you presently.” She swept out of the room and I was left to sit on the cold pallet and watch the light from the windows grow dimmer and dimmer until all I could see out of them were the pinpricks of stars. Eventually a young servant girl brought me a small loaf of bread and a bowl of broth. Both cold. I thanked her anyway and ate it. I’d had worse in the Middle Ages.

I didn’t expect to fall asleep, but I did. I dreamed that, along with the entire high school, I was at Tristan’s and Princess Margaret’s wedding. They walked down the aisle and everyone clapped and threw rice while I stood there trying to catch his attention. I wanted to talk to him desperately, I wanted to tell him not to do it, but he never looked at me.

Then the Black Knight was behind me. I couldn’t see him but I recognized his voice, smooth and silky, whispering into my ear, “It’s all right.” His hand ran down the length of my arm. “I’m the one you really came to the Middle Ages to find.”

His fingers intertwined with mine and he held my hand tightly. “I’m what you’ve wanted all along.” 247/431

I leaned against him, happy that he was there and that he wanted to hold my hand. I knew I could turn and see his face, learn his identity, but instead I just stared after Tristan and wondered why he wouldn’t look at me.

I was awakened by the sound of the door scraping open. I blinked in the darkness, for a moment not remembering where I was.

Then I sat bolt upright, half expecting to see the Black Knight, but Tristan walked in the room, holding a torch.

The shadows flickered across his face, making him look handsome one moment, sinister the next. “Are you awake?” he asked.

A chill had taken hold of the room. The fire had almost gone completely out. I pulled the blanket around my shoulders. “Yes.”

After he attached the torch to a wall holder—where it did little to dismiss the darkness—he walked to the fireplace, threw a log on the embers, and nudged it with a poker until it crackled to life. Then he sat down on the pallet beside me and pulled something from his pocket.

“Since you chickened out and hid in here instead of telling your side of the Black Knight story, I brought you some dinner.”

He held out something to me, some sort of pastry, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I thanked him and bit into it 248/431

anyway. A meat pie. It tasted savory and rich and I kept it on my tongue just to enjoy the taste of it.

Tristan leaned back on his hands. “In case you’re wondering how the story of Lady Savannah’s rescue went, I found you in the forest by following your cries.

You were horribly frightened— pathetic, really—and getting ready to flee for your life. The Black Knight and I raised swords, circling one another and yelling threats, but we didn’t fight because you begged me not to duel while I didn’t have armor on.” He tilted his chin down and smiled. “That, of course, took all of your maidenly persuasion because I am so immensely brave. But I gave you my word and now I fear I can never sword fight with the Black Knight lest I break my promise to you. When the time comes to challenge him, I will have to find some other method of defeating him. Which works out well for me, since I never wanted to cross swords with him in the first place.” I popped the last of the meat pie into my mouth and didn’t say anything.

“The Black Knight, awed by my bravery, ran off. Then you clung to me all the way home, sobbing with gratit-ude and promising never to speak to knavish rogues again. It was beautiful. The crowd loved it.” 249/431

I still didn’t say anything, just gave him a considering stare. Behind us, the fire grew in strength and spit out sparks onto the mantle.

“What?” he asked.

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about how awkward it will be to go to prom with you, considering you’ll be married at the time.”

“Ah,” he said. “Lady Theodora told you about the details of the king’s reward for his quest.” I brushed the crumbs off my hands and kept my voice even. “What exactly were you planning on doing with your wife during our date?”

“I was planning that as soon as Princess Margaret and I married, I would be zapped back to the future and she could get an annulment.”

I watched the way the light from the fire made Tristan’s features glow and tried not to imagine Princess Margaret standing beside him in a wedding dress. “I should warn you that my fairy godmother is slow about getting back to people. So you could be married for weeks before she gets around to bringing you home.” Tristan sent me a rakish smile and shrugged. “Then I guess I’ll have time to enjoy all of the wedding feasting.” Which irked me in ways I couldn’t explain. “Are you saying you want to marry Princess Margaret?” 250/431

He looked upward as though contemplating it. “Well, she is royalty . . . and you were just telling me how a crown makes a person totally hot and prom worthy.”

“I never said that.”

He leaned closer to me. “You might as well have. You thought it. That’s why I’m here—because no one but a prince was good enough to take you out.” I stood up and walked away from him, glad that in the low light he couldn’t see my face flush. “Fine, go ahead and marry her then. She’s a conceited shrew but I’m sure you’ll be very happy with her.” He shrugged, still relaxed. “Maybe not, but I’ll be happy to see you bowing every time I go by.”

“You won’t have the chance because I won’t come near you after you’re married.” Tristan stood, walked to the door, and took the torch from the wall. “Oh, I know we’ll see each other again, because we still have a prom date set up.” He left the room, taking a good portion of the light with him.

Princess Margaret and Lady Theodora came into the room about a half hour later. Even though I was still completely dressed, I pretended to be asleep so I wouldn’t have to talk to them. I didn’t sleep though. Not until long after the two of them were softly snoring in their respective corners of the room.

251/431

I lay there with my eyes pressed together tightly. I’d come back to the Middle Ages—back to a place that I hated—to help Tristan, but somehow that didn’t matter to him. He was never going to forgive me for sending him here in the first place.

What’s more, now that I had time to think about it—

replaying it in my mind, perhaps more than was necessary—I was convinced that if I had turned around and looked at the Black Knight in my dream, I would have somehow found out his identity. But I hadn’t turned around because I’d been so busy staring at Tristan, trying to tell him not to marry that horrible, awful woman.

He wouldn’t mind the feasting. I bet. Men.

I tried to erase thoughts of Tristan. I thought of my dream again and wondered if the Black Knight’s words were true. Was he what I’d been looking for all along?

Chapter 17

In the morning, before I’d even gotten off the pallet, Princess Margaret was up, dressed, and shaking her head at me. “I need not ask how you fare this morning.

Your face is sickly and gaunt.”

“I’m sure I’ll be up to traveling.” She sent me a condescending smile. “Nay, you must rest this day. I insist.”

I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it again. I’d already learned from my stint as Cinderella that when someone of greater rank gave you an order, you didn’t have a choice. So I was stuck here for the time being even though I was pretty sure Princess Margaret was only declaring me sick in order to torment me.