Black Moon Draw(74)

Black Moon Draw is incredible. From the rolling emerald hills to the jagged mountains and imposing white cliffs beside great oceans, I can’t imagine anywhere so breathtaking.

I’m led back into the forest. The man slows our pace and winds among trees, crosses clearings and takes us once more back to the cliff, only to return to the woods.

When my captor slows us to a halt, he passes me a homemade canteen with mint water. I drink deeply, tired from the combination of fear, cold, and travel.

He pulls my horse abreast of his as we enter another field. The horses are snorting and blowing hard from the pace, radiating heat that buffers me from the cold night.

“You are well?” he asks.

“More or less,” I reply. “Just another night getting kidnapped, I guess.” I listen to the sounds of the night, the movements and cries of animals, waiting to hear the Shadow Knight crash through the forest after me.

“You are safe, Naia.”

How the hell does he know my name? “Who are you?” I ask, handing back the drink.

He lowers his hood, his gold-tan eyes visible in the dim light of the forest.

“Westley!” I exclaim. “You’re the Desert Knight’s son?”

“Aye.” He offers a small smile. He looks much better than when I saw him last. His eye has healed, and he’s no longer gaunt and pale.

“But . . . how . . .” I try to wrap my mind around the coincidence of finding him in the bench seat of the Red Knight.

Disney Princess.

It all clicks. “Omigod! You’re the one who was supposed to marry Dis . . . uh, I mean, the sister of the Red Knight!”

“Aye.” There’s sadness in his features.

“The Red Knight held you prisoner to what? Make sure you didn’t ruin his plan to marry off his sister?”

“In part. It was to keep my father in check as well.”

“What a total *!”

Westley chuckles. “’Tis a form of negotiation. When a man opposes you, you ensure he has a reason to cooperate. I went to reason with the Red Knight when he gave away my love to another man. ‘Twas foolish. He wisely captured me for his purposes.”

Their sense of checks and balances in this world is barbaric. The Red Knight must have something on everyone, if the Shadow Knight didn’t blink about being imprisoned in his own dungeon and a boy held hostage for a year believes his captor to have simply outsmarted him.

“So is it a good thing I freed you or not?” I ask, puzzled by his calm acceptance of the situation.

“Aye. Your act saved your life this night and possibly that of the Shadow Knight,” he replies. “Though I will ask you never to tell my father that.”

“You seem really nice to be the son of a warlord.”

“I am forever in your debt. You saved my life. Were you any other battle-witch, my men would have killed you on the spot.”

I shudder at his words. That even a lovesick teen in this world is dangerous reminds me that I’m a very long way from home. It probably doesn’t help that I know his name and am allegedly a witch with the ability to put a hex on him.

“I will keep you safe as long as I can,” he adds. “War is about to erupt on the soil of Black Moon Draw.”

“Hence the ambush. Did you defeat his armies to get here or just sneak into the kingdom?”

“We were helped by someone close to the Shadow Knight.” The answer is vague, but it makes dread sink into my stomach. “We knew his armies were sent forward, to Brown Sun Lake, and positioned ourselves here.”

I was wrong about the Betrayer. It’s not the Red Knight, who is more of a politician. There’s someone else who turned on the Shadow Knight.

“I have heard rumors you are not the battle-witch as foretold,” he says carefully.

“Yeah,” I reply. “I haven’t figured out how to unlock my magic consistently. It’s probably why the Shadow Knight didn’t perform the ritual between a Knight and his battle-witch.”

“There is no ritual.” Westley laughs softly.

“What? The Red Knight said there was.”

“Sounds like a ploy of his. I learned much from watching him the year I spent his prisoner.”

The Red Knight has had a few surprises up his sleeves for sure. He’s lied to me more than once, and I start to think these Knights are a little smarter than I initially gave them credit for. The largest army may prevail here, but there’s intelligence and cunning behind the actions of these sword-bearing brutes.

“If you obey my father, he will not have reason to hurt you.” Westley’s urgent whisper reaches me. He pulls both of our horses to a halt. “He will be distracted by the war soon. Do as he says for now, witch.”

More forms melt from the forest on the other side of the field, soon filling the clearing with men on horseback.

Visions of what the long dead Desert Knight did to the warrior queen Naia play through my thoughts. The Shadow Knight thinks his mortal enemy also knows how to kill me.

I’m not interested in being used against him and less interested in being dead. I’m assuming I’m alive because the Desert Knight wants to use my magic. I’m in trouble either way, no matter which I use magic for. Whatever I should feel about Westley kidnapping me, I’m grateful he at least takes his life debt seriously.