Another archer dismounts from his horse and faces us while a third and fourth pull swords. A fifth man draws near the speaker, remaining far enough behind that their leader can't see him, and does something peculiar.

He waves me over.

I blink, certain I'm seeing things.

When I look again, he does it once more.

Dare I trust some stranger? He's making an effort not to be seen by the others.

The medallion isn't coming to life again despite the Shadow Knight being in danger, and the message on my hand remains the same. The stranger waving at me is a third sign I should probably do what my gut is telling me.

Drawing a breath, I decide I don't have much of a choice. "How about . . . I go with you guys and you let him go."

"Nay," the Shadow Knight snaps.

"I'm not talking to you," I retort.

"You will come willingly?" their leader asks.

"If you let him go." Fully aware they intend to do the opposite, I still think the Shadow Knight has a better chance to fight them off if I'm not dead weight. My alleged magic is a little too unreliable for my comfort.

The stranger is nodding his hooded head at my words.

There's a thick silence. The Shadow Knight is growling, probably at me as much as his enemies. Every instinct in my body says this is a bad idea, but maybe if I can at least give him a fighting chance . . .

"I agree," the leader of the Brown Sun Lake's goons responds.

I toss one leg over the horse's withers, but the Shadow Knight won't let go. "Look," I whisper. "I won't be in the way. You can take out all their men and then come rescue me."

"Your plans leave much to be desired." His eyes are like chips of gray ice flecked with blue glimmers, his stony features unyielding.

"Says the man who made us fall out of the sky?"

"I will not lose you."

"I don't trust my magic to work!"

"'Tis a part of you. I trust it and I trust you."

Ouch. If I weren't already worried about my finicky ability to use magic I don't understand, his statement sinks the delicate self-esteem I've been working on bolstering. "You should know better by now. I'll just disappoint you."

"Nay. You cannot." He lifts my chin to meet his gaze, his thumb resting at the side of my mouth. The air between us shimmers with something forbidden and intense enough to make my blood heat. "Use your magic."

My hand is gripping the medallion. "It's too much of a risk. If it doesn't work for some reason, you'll get hurt."

"So be it. I accept that."

"I don't. I won't. If there's one person who can save this world, it's you." The idea of him dying in front of me makes my chest tight and my stomach churn. It's more than physical attraction, more than the thought of a book character dying. The pain I feel witnessing his death in my mind is worse than what I went through the day Jason broke it off with me. "Let me go, Atreyu."

"This is what you decide, after all we have been through? To trust my enemy?" Inexplicable anger flickers through his eyes and he grows tenser, colder.

"Yes." For now.

"Then heed this warning. If you use the magic of Black Moon Draw in support of my enemies, I will come for your head," he growls angrily and releases me.

I slide to the ground and grimace, testing my legs before I step away from him quickly. For the first time since we met, I'm scared of him. A man like him doesn't make empty threats.

From his mistress to his enemy. Typical, moody, idiotic asshole of a man! I guess if I'm of no use to him, he doesn't need to keep me around. Innately, I understand he can't risk letting the equivalent of a nuclear bomb come into play in the middle of a medieval battle.

I'm too pissed to acknowledge that truth.

The archers lower their bows, and the leader of the Brown Sun Lake goons grabs my arm and shoves me towards the figure standing behind him.

"For your father, with my deepest respect," he says with a bow of his head.

The man who waved at me returns the bow and takes my arm much more gently, leading me away. I peer into the darkness of his hood, trying to see his face, hoping it's my squire or the princess undercover.

A glimpse of his chin reveals a goatee, newly grown.

"Is he safe?" I ask, twisting to see behind me.

The men still surround the Shadow Knight, whose stony gaze is on me rather than those who are nothing more than toilet paper in his way.

"Nay," is the honest, quiet response.

I don't recognize his voice either.

"But we must leave the pass before he loosens his rage and comes for you."

"That doesn't sound like a bad idea," I murmur.

"For now, it must be enough that you are alive, and so will he be. I cannot return you to him." His tone is apologetic yet firm, youthful and confident.

"Who's your father?"

"The Desert Knight."

That's not good. He's armed, and the medallion at my chest isn't working. My chances of escaping aren't promising. My gut is still telling me to go with him, and there's nowhere for me to run in the narrow pass with steep cliffs on either side.

We reach a pair of horses being held by one of our captors. He motions me to one and mounts the other.

I watch him and clumsily mirror his movements, finding it much more challenging to haul my ass on top of a horse than anyone around me makes it appear. Safely on top, I grip the saddle. My reins are handed over to the man who brokered my freedom.

Or maybe, who helped capture me. Uncertain what's going on, I glance back once more at the Shadow Knight.

He hasn't moved. I have a feeling he's waiting until I'm clear of the shallow valley to unleash his fury and then come kill me.

It's business, or should be, but I can't help being a little hurt that he acted like I'm no more than another weapon to use against his enemies.

We start off at a jarring trot that turns into a smooth canter. The man leads us out of the pass into the forests on the other side. His horse takes off when we hit a path through the forest, and I hold on for dear life.

The forest opens to reveal a wide dirt road running atop a cliff overlooking the ocean, and I lift my gaze from the horse's mane to stare at the dark depths of the ocean. A full moon's light manages to filter through the mists overhead and reflects off the waves far below. They appear black, and I'm astonished to see the subtle glimmer of purple, green and blue beneath the surface of the ocean.

A cold wind sweeps up the cliff and over me, piercing the thin clothing and taking my breath away. I shiver and huddle closer to the horse's neck, unable to take my gaze from the ocean stretching to the horizon.

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 asshole!"

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.

The man at the center of the approaching riders flings himself off his horse and strides towards us. I recognize him from the rooftop of the Red Knight's fortress.

Size runs in the family. While he may be in his prime, The Desert Knight isn't much smaller than the Shadow Knight.

"Any trouble, son?" the Desert Knight asks the kid beside me.

"Nay, father."

He yanks me off the horse and grips my chin a little too hard. Sensing danger, I decide to listen to Westley and stay quiet instead of protesting.

"Fully recovered from your fall, I see," the Desert Knight observes. "I have never seen a battle-witch heal so quickly. Is your magic awake, witch?"

"Not consistently," I reply.

"A sennight with the Vulture will fix that."