We’ll take it with us to the castle.” I looked at the saddlebag and noticed it had turned dark with moisture. “Great,” I said, and then turned my gaze before I started gagging.

Hunter looked back at Tristan. “Do we have room for Savannah on the horse? We ought to get going again.”

“I can walk back,” I said. “It isn’t that far.” Tristan gave me one of his stern looks. “You shouldn’t walk in the forest by yourself at all. I’ll go with you.” 326/431

But Hunter was already dismounting. “Not with your hurt arm. You need to get back to the inn and ice it. I’ll walk with Savannah.”

This solution didn’t appear to make Tristan happy, but he didn’t argue about it. He just nodded in my direction, took the reins in his right hand, and rode past us down the path.

• • •

There are many awkward places to be alone with your ex-boyfriend. Meandering through the forest in a medieval fairy tale gone wrong is high on the list. We hadn’t walked for two minutes before he was apologizing again about the way things had ended and for hurting me.

I would have loved to tell him that he hadn’t—he’d never meant that much to me to begin with—but it’s hard to pull off that sort of aloofness when a guy knows you wished for a prince to take his place as your prom date.

Finally I just came out and said, “Look, Hunter, I appreciate the apology, but you can stop now. I know it’s only been a few days for you since this happened, but I’ve been in and out of the Middle Ages for the last month. A lot has happened since then and I’m over you.” I didn’t add that I’d just been hoping for his death.

327/431

“Oh,” he said with surprise. “Well, good. That will make things easier between us.” And it did, immediately. He visibly relaxed and the conversation felt almost normal as we walked. “So what did you do here for a month?”

“I learned to appreciate the twenty-first century.”

“Really? I think it’s pretty cool here—well, except for almost getting eaten by a dragon.”

“Two words: indoor plumbing.”

“But they’ve got awesome weapons here—look at this.” He unsheathed a sword that had been by his side and I recognized it as the one I had unsuccessfully tried to fight the cyclops with. “Tristan gave it to me. I hope I get to take this home with me.” I should have known Tristan wouldn’t give it back to me. Apparently he didn’t want me anywhere near a sword.

“And we get to ride horses,” Hunter said.

“And smell like them too.”

The time passed quickly as we walked and before I knew it the village was back in sight. I didn’t know when we’d ever be alone again so I said, “Hey, Hunter, I’m really glad you didn’t die back there.” He laughed like I was joking, but it was the truth.

• • •

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We found Tristan sitting at a table in the inn. He had his arm in a bucket of water. “It’s the closest thing I could find to ice. Feels cold enough anyway.” I sat down beside him, but he didn’t look at me. When I’d first come in, Tristan’s gaze had ricocheted between Hunter and me as though searching for something, but now he was pointedly ignoring me.

“When I go to the castle tomorrow, I’ll see if there’s a wizard around with some healing potion. I can’t face the Black Knight with only one arm working.” With the mention of wizards I remembered that I hadn’t told Tristan about Simon and the poison. I’d been so occupied with the cyclops, Jane and Hunter’s arrival, and then the dragon, it hadn’t crossed my mind at all.

“About wizards,” I said. “You were right when you told me they couldn’t be trusted. Do you remember that red bottle I had when I went to meet with the Black Knight?

The wizard’s apprentice, Simon, told me that if I drank it, the Black Knight would do anything I asked—but it was poison. The next day when I saw the wizard’s cart, he had a new apprentice and Simon had been turned in-to a goat because he’d stolen a bottle of poison.” For the first time since I’d sat down beside him, Tristan looked directly at me. “You’re sure?” 329/431

“Yes. Somewhere out there is a goat who wants me dead. That’s why I’m not going with you to the castle tomorrow—if he licks me, I’ll turn into a goat.”

“If the wizard licks you?”

“No, the goat.”

Tristan looked at me blankly. “Why don’t you just start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened during each of your meetings with the wizard.” I tapped one finger against the table. “I can’t. Not for another four days.”

“Why not?”

“I can’t tell you that either, but the point is, I don’t want to go to the castle because that plotting little goat may still be there.”

Tristan ran his hand through his hair and turned to Hunter. “Did any of that make sense to you?”

“Nope.”

Tristan nodded philosophically. “Just checking.”

“There’s one more thing I meant to tell you,” I said.

“Am I going to understand any of it?” Tristan asked.

I leaned closer to him. “I bartered a gold hibiscus ring to Simon. Then the same day I saw it on Princess Margaret’s hand.”

Both Hunter and Tristan waited for me to continue.

When I didn’t, Hunter shrugged as though trying to 330/431

guess my meaning. “So you think Princess Margaret bought the ring from him?”

“Why should I know about that?” Tristan asked.

I didn’t have a good answer. “It just strikes me as suspicious.”

Tristan took his hand out of the water, stretched his fingers, then balled them into a fist. “Well, you’ve never liked my future fiancée, have you?”

“And you refuse to think she’s dangerous because she’s pretty.”

His gaze returned to mine. “That’s not true. I think pretty women can be very dangerous.” I sat back in my chair with a humph. “She’s sneaky and vindictive. I’d watch her if I were you.” He smiled over at me. “Oh, I will. I’ll watch her very closely as we dance together tomorrow night.” After that, I went upstairs to check on Jane.

• • •

The next day Tristan slept in until midmorning. None of us woke him; we figured he needed the rest. After he got up, he hardly spoke to me and he watched my reactions every time Hunter said anything. I wanted to just tell Tristan, “By the way, I’m over Hunter,” but I didn’t 331/431

know a good way to work that into casual conversation, especially since Hunter and Jane were always around.

He planned to ring the bell for the Black Knight tonight when he went up for the king’s celebration. It bothered me that I wouldn’t be there for it, but then, perhaps that was for the best. I didn’t want to see the Black Knight.

Tristan was going to challenge him to a javelin throw— something he’d done in track with enough success that he had a chance of winning. I wanted him to win desperately. All of this could be over soon. Maybe by this time tomorrow we’d all be back home eating ice cream and potato chips and trying to convince ourselves it had really happened.

Or maybe we’d just be at the wedding feast for Prince Tristan and Princess Margaret. This thought made me grit my teeth. I didn’t want to think about what we’d do if Tristan lost.

I sat in my room and watched out the window as Hunter, Jane, and Tristan left for the castle. It was lucky for them, really, that I didn’t want to go. After the dragon attack we only had three horses left.

By midafternoon most everyone in the village had gone to the castle as well. The only ones left behind were the young mothers with little children and the older people who couldn’t travel the distance. I’d seen them 332/431

waving good-bye to their kinfolk, asking that a piece of pie or a morsel of meat be brought back for them.

I stared out the window for a while after they left. It irked me to no end that Tristan had told me he was going to spend the night dancing with Margaret. She hadn’t run up the trail until her lungs felt like they were going to burst, mourning his death.