She took a linen napkin from the kitchen girl and dabbed at Tristan’s chest without showing any emotion at all.
Edmond looked between his sister and me. “I’ve forgotten my manners. Have you met my sister, Princess Margaret?”
I curtsied awkwardly.
She turned from Tristan long enough to cast me a disdainful look. “We’ve met. Or at least I’ve met one of you. I hadn’t realized before that you came in a pair.”
“A pair?” Edmond asked.
Tristan said, “I think Princess Margaret is referring to her sister, Jane. They look very much alike.”
Edmond’s brows lifted in surprise and he scanned the room. “Two such beauties? It’s impossible.”
Princess Margaret finished dabbing at Tristan’s shirt. “The other one is in the far corner in that horribly plain red dress.”
We all looked in that direction except for Tristan. He took the cloth from Margaret and tried to absorb some of the liquid still dripping down his shirt.
Edmond narrowed his eyes in on Jane. “That’s odd. I could have sworn Queen Neferia told me that damsel was her stepdaughter.” He considered her for a moment longer, then shrugged. “But I should have known I misunderstood. If the queen had thought she was her kin she most certainly would have gone over to speak to her.” He took a sip of his drink as though he’d already dismissed the matter, but I clutched my glass as one thought and then another crowded in on me. Just as this ball proved that the Cinderella wish was still in effect, Edmond’s comment had shown me the Snow White wish was going on too.
Queen Neferia was here somewhere and she wanted to kill Snow White.
I looked around the room, searching, even though I didn’t know what Neferia looked like.
It had been eight months since I’d been in the dwarfs’ home and longer than that since Snow White had left Neferia’s court. Neferia hadn’t seen Snow White since then, but Jane, wearing her dress, looked enough like me to be mistaken for her.
Which meant Jane was in danger.
“Where is Queen Neferia?” I asked. “What does she look like?”
Princess Margaret twisted her goblet between her fingers. “Why the interest?”
I didn’t have time to come up with a reason. “What color is her gown?”
Edmond nodded to the left corner of the room. “Black.”
I turned and saw her. She stood tall and regal, with stunning, cold features. Her hair lay against her skin, shiny and dark as crows’ wings. It matched her black velvet dress perfectly. She stood not far from Jane and Hunter, watching them.
Thank goodness for Hunter. At least Neferia wouldn’t try to hurt Jane when he stood by with a sword hanging at his hip.
I shoved my goblet back into Edmond’s hand. “Tristan, we’ve got to—” I didn’t finish my sentence. As I spoke I saw Neferia take a spiced apple from her hand and place it onto a serving girl’s tray. She bent over and whispered something into the serving girl’s ear, then pointed toward Jane. “No!” I gasped, and headed toward her.
The music stopped, signaling a break for the musicians. Which meant that all the people left the dance floor and congregated directly in my way. I tried to weave my way around them, pushing past noblemen and ladies. “Pardon me. Pardon me.” I said the words like a panicked mantra. Behind me, I could hear Prince Edmond calling my name, but I didn’t turn around.
Jane and Hunter came into view again. The serving girl was already there, dipping into a curtsy and handing the apple to Jane. “I’ve been asked to tell your ladyship that the kitchen prepared this delicacy just for you, m’lady, in honor of your beauty.”
Jane blushed and took the apple. “That’s so kind. Tell the kitchen thank you for me.”
“No!” I called, but she either didn’t hear me or didn’t realize I was calling to her.
She brought the apple to her lips.
I dashed the last few steps to her and grabbed hold of her hand. “Don’t!”
Jane tried to pull her arm out of my grip. “Savannah, what are you doing?”
I didn’t let go of her arm. “It’s poisonous.”
Jane looked at me and then at the serving girl, who stared back at us with startled disbelief. Jane lowered her voice but didn’t let go of the apple. “Why would someone want to poison me?”
“Because you look like Snow White.”
“No, I don’t.”
Instead of arguing about it, I snatched the apple from her hand, dropped it on the ground, then lifted my skirt and stomped on it with my foot. “Why. Don’t. You. Ever. Listen. To. Me?” Little pieces of apple splattered onto the hem of my gown and my slippers, but at least I knew no one would eat it.
With a nearly emotionless voice, Princess Margaret said, “I take it the refreshments were not to your liking?”
I looked up and saw not only her but Tristan and Prince Edmond staring at me. Tristan’s brows were drawn together in question.
Edmond looked at the smashed apples by my feet, then said, “Of course there may be some things in your personality that are harder to overlook than others.”
I’d still been clutching my skirt, and now I let go and it fell back into place like a curtain coming down at the end of a play. “I’m sorry,” I said, “but that apple was poisonous.”
“Poisonous?” Princess Margaret took a sharp breath inward. “You accuse us of poisoning our guests?”
“Not you; Queen Neferia. She told the serving girl to give my sister that apple.”
The serving girl nodded, her face white as though she knew however this turned out, she was going to get in trouble.
Edmond held out a hand, prompting me. “And?”
They were all staring at me, even Hunter, Jane, and Tristan. But how could I tell Prince Edmond that I knew what was going to happen because of a fairy tale?
“She’s already tried to poison Snow White three times.”
Tristan exchanged a look with Hunter and Jane. They, at least, now understood the situation. Hunter took a step toward Jane and put one hand on the hilt of his sword. Then each of them scanned the crowd.
Edmond and Margaret still gazed at me with skepticism though. I said, “You can ask Prince Hubert. He knows. The dwarfs Snow White lives with told him about it.”
Prince Edmond nodded, as though finally able to make sense of my distress. He snapped his fingers in the serving girl’s direction. “Go fetch Prince Hubert—I believe he’s in the barn.” Then Prince Edmond stepped over to me and took hold of my arm. When he spoke, his voice was firm—the way one talks to a child. “You can’t believe the things Prince Hubert says. His mind, sadly, is filled with nothing but whimsy.” He squeezed my arm. “Queen Neferia, however, is our closest ally. It will not do to have you insult her.”
Edmond tried to propel me away, but I didn’t move. “Queen Neferia is evil. Is that really the type of person you should have as your closest ally?”
Prince Edmond looked at me with surprise, although I had a feeling this was because I refused to move and not because of my accusation. “You needn’t worry about politics,” he said. “The wisest men in the land are my advisors. Your task is to do only what you have so well accomplished already; to stand by my side, a vision of beauty.” He didn’t wait for a response from me. Instead he snapped his fingers at a passing serving girl and pointed at the smashed apple near my feet. “Wench, clean up this mess.”
I knew there was no point in arguing with him and besides, he didn’t give me the chance. He started up a conversation with his sister about the musicians, pointedly changing the subject.
Hunter and Jane began a hushed conversation with Tristan that I only caught a few words of, just enough to tell they were talking about the sleeping arrangements at the castle tonight and whether Jane and I would be safe staying here with a homicidal queen in the vicinity.
I nearly volunteered that Jane could run off with me at midnight, but then decided that wasn’t the sort of thing I should say in front of Prince Edmond.
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After a few minutes of this, Prince Edmond looked toward the ballroom door. “Here’s Prince Hubert coming in now.”
Princess Margaret smiled over at me. “You say it was dwarfs that told him about Queen Neferia? I suppose that’s a step up from the mice and doves he usually converses with.”
The contempt in her voice prickled me even more than Prince Edmond’s patronizing tone had earlier. I clutched my hands into fists. “No matter what Prince Hubert says, I have told you the truth about Queen Neferia. You can think what you want to about him, but I am not crazy.”
I looked over at the door and saw a handsome, well-built man coming into the room. He carried a cat in his arms, but this wasn’t what I noticed about him. The thing that caught my eye was the goat that trailed behind him.
• • •
Granted, it’s probably not the best way to prove your sanity if you, for no discernable reason to those standing near you, suddenly let out a scream, push your way through the crowd, and crawl onto the refreshment table.
Quite a few people watched me do this with open mouths. During my scramble up on the table one of my slippers fell off my foot and tumbled to the floor. Prince Edmond looked at it, held up his hands, then turned away muttering, “I’m not picking that up. Someone else can get it.”
So much for love at first sight.
Tristan looked at me on the table and yelled, “What are you doing?”
I didn’t answer. I heard someone in the crowd say, “What’s that goat doing in here?” And several people laughed and pointed at it running across the room while others moved out of its way. I looked around for something on the table to defend myself with but only found a ladle.
Then Simon saw me. He stopped so quickly he momentarily slid across the floor, his hooves scraping on the stone as he tried to adjust his direction. And then he charged toward me.
I realized the table wasn’t going to be high enough to keep him away from me. Goats could jump up on things, couldn’t they? That’s why there was a whole breed of them called mountain goats.
“Tristan!” I screamed. “Help me!”
He wasn’t far away from me, but he only looked at me in confusion.
Simon ran past Tristan. I watched him coming toward me, his feet clipping faster and faster across the floor and his bulgy eyes training in on me. My hands shook on the ladle. How ironic that although I had the Black Knight’s power of invincibility, I was going to be undone by a goat.
Simon rushed toward the table. I could see him getting ready to leap. And the next moment something shot out from under the table and rammed into him. A man. They both rolled onto the floor.
It took me a second to realize it was Scuppers. He must have crawled under the table to sleep and when he woke up and saw the goat charging toward him, he leaped out at it like any dog would.
Simon broke free from the scuffle, but Scuppers stood in the way of the table. Simon ran to the right and Scuppers bounded after him, hands over feet, making better time than any real man could have done. Simon darted toward the back of the room and Scuppers followed after him, his coat tails flapping as he ran.
Tristan walked up to me and picked up my slipper from the floor. He didn’t hand it to me, which is when I realized I was still clutching the ladle tightly in front of me.
He tucked the slipper into his pocket and pulled out his sword. Raising one finger in question he asked, “Who exactly am I supposed to protect you from? The man or the goat?”
“The goat. The man is actually the innkeeper’s dog.”
Tristan turned to face the crowd, his sword raised. “And why am I protecting you from a goat?”
“He’s actually Simon, the wizard’s apprentice, and he wants to switch places with me so I’ll be a goat.”
“I see.” I knew he didn’t, but he didn’t press the point. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me about?”
A crack of light went off midway across the ballroom, as though lightning had struck the floor. The crowd cleared from the spot; the bright color of dresses and tunics moving to the edges of the room like a retreating rainbow.
Scuppers had the goat pinned to the ground. His mouth angled to get a hold on the goat’s neck while it kicked and bleated. The wizard strode toward the two, arms raised, as though this would increase the volume of his voice. “Off, you foul beast! Begone! That’s my goat and none shall touch it!”
Scuppers backed away from the goat, still on all fours, and let out a throaty growl of protest. The wizard bent down, picked up Simon, and flung the goat over his shoulder.
Then the wizard turned and headed toward the door, yelling, “This is the treatment I get from King Roderick’s court? You take my animal and make sport of it for your pleasure? I shan’t stay where a wizard isn’t treated with respect. I shan’t!”
The goat bellowed as he walked by me, his bulgy-eyed gaze never leaving my face. Then the door shut behind them and the two were gone. I dropped the ladle and it clanked onto the table. Deep tremors rumbled around inside of me and I was afraid my legs would give way. Tristan looked up at me, concerned. He held his free hand out to me, and I stepped down and flung my arms around him. I was just so glad that— instead of disappearing like Prince Edmond had—Tristan was still here. I pressed my cheek to his chest. “There’s actually a lot I need to tell you about.”
I knew he would probably push me away, what with his future fiancée milling somewhere in the crowd, but he didn’t. He just wound his arms around me and let out a sigh.
From the middle of the room the king called out, “What is all this? Guests on the table, goats running around—and what is that man doing on the floor? Who invited him to my ball?”
I looked and saw Scuppers squatting on the floor, trying to scratch his ear with his foot. I nearly pretended that I didn’t know who he was, but really, after he’d saved me from Simon he deserved better than that. I stepped away from Tristan. “He’s my coachman, your highness. He’s harmless really.”
King Roderick’s gaze swung over to me and when he spoke his voice rolled around me the way a river tumbles stones in its current. “I shall decide that for myself. Who are you, Madame?”
But before I spoke a single word, a page burst through the door. “Your highness, the Black Knight is outside the castle. He wishes to fight Sir Tristan.”
Chapter 25
The exodus outside was immediate. The crowd let out a cheer as Tristan turned and headed for the door. He only gave me a backward glance and motioned for Hunter. “This is it.”
I took two steps after Tristan and realized he still had my other slipper. I called after him, but with everyone else cheering and calling his name, he didn’t hear me. I wobbled a few steps, then bent down, took off my remaining slipper, and put it in my pocket. I walked through the castle barefoot, knowing it would ruin my stockings.
Jane came up beside me. She looked over one shoulder and then the other. “So a wicked queen is trying to kill me and an enchanted goat is after you?”
“Yeah.”
“Great party.”
“We’ll leave as soon as Tristan is done.”
Jane slowed her pace and kept searching the crowd. “You should have told me about all of this before tonight.”
“I didn’t know I was still Cinderella or Snow White, let alone both of them, but we have more important things to worry about right now. Tristan has to face the Black Knight.”
We made it through the front door of the castle, then followed what was left of the crowd across the grounds. The bonfire I’d seen earlier still glowed but it had been deserted by the peasants for better entertainment.
We passed through the castle gates. Torches cast their light over the crowd and shone on the form of the Black Knight. He sat atop his horse like a dark statue, with peasants and nobles alike making a large circle around the two combatants.
Tristan stood with his back to me, and after another moment my eyes found Hunter standing just at the edge o
f the crowd as well. King Roderick stood closest to the castle gate, as though he wanted to make sure his path was clear in case he needed to run from the knight. The castle guards surrounded the king, each one with his sword drawn. I didn’t see the royal children at all and wondered if they didn’t dare venture out when the Black Knight was around.
I felt a twinge of worry for the knight. He probably didn’t know he wasn’t invincible anymore, that he was in danger here. I wished I’d told him.
I’d missed the first part of Tristan’s and the Black Knight’s speech because I’d been slow coming out, and I stood on my tiptoes trying to see over the heads in front of me.
“You didn’t accept my challenge of a joust,” the Black Knight said, and his voice was as cold as the night air. “I see no reason why I should accept your challenge of a spear throw.”
“Then we are at a draw,” Tristan said. “I have promised Lady Savannah that I would not fight you with the sword or the lance. Chivalry prevents me from breaking my oath to her.”
The Black Knight lifted his head. I couldn’t tell where he was looking—it could have been at anyone in the crowd, but I felt like he was staring at me.
“Lady Savannah made you promise such?” he asked, and muffled though his voice was, I heard an edge creep into it. “You think highly of the lady?”
“I do,” Tristan said.
I backed several steps away, letting those behind me fill my spot. I wanted to shrink from the Black Knight’s gaze; I wanted to disappear into the veil of the night.
I hadn’t really made Tristan promise not to fight with the sword or lance and if the Black Knight asked me I wouldn’t be able to lie. What would happen then?
The Black Knight’s voice cut through the night toward me. “And she thinks just as highly of you?”
“Yes.”
“A knight is lucky to have the affection of such a noble lady.”
“Yes,” Tristan said. “Do we have a contest or not?”
The Black Knight’s helmet still looked out in my direction. I took two more steps backward, my heart pounding. I shouldn’t have come outside. I shouldn’t have let him see me.