Black Moon Draw(91)

I don’t make it nearly as far before stopping again to breathe. “Holy . . . Hell!” I gasp and rest my forehead against the cool stone. “How big . . . is this . . . place!” Pushing away, I stumble, catch myself, and go as fast as I can.

Down another stairwell, this one at least three stories tall. I always thought going down stairs was easier than up, but by the time I reach the landing at the bottom, my thighs hurt too badly for me to view any direction of stairs favorably.

It’s then I hear it, a sound that pulls me out of my misery.

Metal-on-metal. Swords clashing.

Who the hell is fighting? I don’t have the lung capacity to say the words aloud and hurry forward at a quick walk. My legs are rubber and heavy, a combination that renders them unsteady at best; I’m afraid to go any faster.

The sound grows louder. Torches light up a narrow stairwell of less than twenty steps, leading to what appears to be a balcony, like in a theatre. Clutching a wooden handrail, I make it up the stairs to see a single row of leather chairs surrounding a central banquet hall. The sword fight comes from below. From this angle, I can’t see who’s fighting. Before I can lean over the railing, someone takes my arm.

I jump and yank away, looking up into the Red Knight’s face. “What’re you doing here?” I whisper.

“My sister told me what happened. I came to reason with Shadow. I wandered the entire night in this forsaken place before stumbling upon this place.” His gaze scours my features. “How did you find us?”

“I don’t really know. The castle likes me,” I reply. “Wait, who is us?” Peering around him, I spot two more forms in the shadows. “Oh. You brought them?”

“I brought your squire to assist me in negotiating with that brute. My sister’s . . . bonded found me here.”

My squire is on his feet, eyes wide and features hopeful. Westley, however, looks rough, like he’s spent the night walking through the hold as well.

“Then who’s down there?” I ask, starting towards the railing.

“Mayhap you should not watch,” the Red Knight takes my arm.

I pull free and go to the railing, leaning over it.

Dancing atop rows of dusty tables are the Shadow Knight and the Desert Knight, both shirtless and sweating hard as they battle one another with swords and axes. The sight of Atreyu’s body ensnares my gaze, and I lean farther, needing to catch a whiff of his intoxicating scent. My thoughts explode with images of our lovemaking from last night. And then it hits me.

I’m witnessing the final battle with Brown Sun Lake.

The one where the Shadow Knight is supposed to die.

“No, no, no!” Whirling, I dart for the stairs, ready to put a stop to this. We’re doomed today anyway; I’m not going to watch him die.

“Wait!” the Red Knight calls.

Evading his attempt to grab me, I fly down the stairs and look around wildly for the torches to show me where to go.

All of them are lit. There’s no way to know which direction is the one that’ll lead me to the Shadow Knight.

“Halt!” the Red Knight snatches my arm hard and yanks me back to the stairwell. “You need listen to this, Naia.”

I look up at my name, urgency, yearning, and fear threatening to tear me apart.

“This battle is necessary. ‘Tis the only way we know to stop the curse.”

Staring at him, I can’t speak, my throat tight.

“The Desert Knight refused all reasoning,” he continues more softly. “But he agreed to a duel. The victor claims triumph over all the realm. The Shadow Knight has never been bested in combat.”

“Nor the Desert Knight,” my squire says from the top of the stairs.

“Did I not warn you about speaking out?” the Red Knight snaps at him.

“Aye, m’lord.” The squire’s gaze is on me.

“When I wish you to impart your news, I will direct you to do so.”

I can’t muster the smile I want to at the abashed squire. Genuinely happy to see him alive and well, not shoved under a bench seat in the Red Knight’s carriage, I’m also a blink away from exploding.

“Let me go,” I say hoarsely.

“Do you not see?” the Red Knight asks, frowning. “When the Shadow Knight wins, he will have conquered all the realms. My brother-by-bonding will not take his father’s place; he understands why we are here and I will swear allegiance to any man if it prevents the death of my realm.”

A trickle of hope creeps through me, followed by doubt as I recall what he asked me for, a way back to my world. “I can’t give you what you want.”

“You will have a lifetime to find a way to do so.”

I shake my head and test his grip. He’s not letting me go. “You don’t understand! The Shadow Knight dies in battle with the Desert Knight!”

“How do you know? Have you magic?”

“No. But . . .” How to explain I read it in a book before coming here? I gasp. “You know the person who sent me, the one you want to find?”

He nods.

“She declared it so before I came. It was in a message of sorts. At the final battle between the Shadow and Desert Knights, the Shadow Knight is mortally wounded.”

The Red Knight’s chiseled features are hard to read. There’s concern in his gaze. “He must live to face the curse after defeating his enemies.”