"Aye," he whispers. "Last year, in secret, the day we met."

Love at first sight. I hate that in a book, LF. "I can't believe you masterminded this whole thing."

"We put everyone in great danger."

"Everyone was in great danger already. You just raised the stakes a little." Maybe I should be angry, but I'm envious of how they feel for one another. Deep enough to try to stop a war without knowing how much harm they caused. "Can we trust the Red Knight to help?"

Westley's hesitation tells me what I need to know. "We have no choice."

My thoughts return to the Shadow Knight. He must know by now how screwed he is. Is he sad? Desperate? Furious?

My heart aches for him and the people of this world, who can't know how important he and his war are. They don't understand that his heart is bigger than his sword, that everything he's doing is to prevent a much worse fate from befalling his people. He alone is waging a war on a thousand year old curse.

Not alone. At least, not anymore. I will find a way to help him.

"Whatever it takes, Westley. We have to help him," I say urgently. "Please."

"Fetch your cloak. The Red Knight is here," he says somewhat reluctantly.

"That's why you aren't excited about him. He's part of this, isn't he?"

"He did more than tell me about the Shadow Knight's defenses," he admits. "I dare not discuss it with you." He's troubled, his gaze stormy.

I swing on a cloak beside the uncomfortable bed I tried to sleep in last night. The teen looks ready to change his mind about helping me. I can't imagine what's going through his head, the enormity of his guilt.

"You're doing the right thing," I tell him, approaching. "Really, Westley."

Pain flutters through his expression and I imagine him thinking about betraying his father.

I can't even pretend to know how that feels.

He pulls my hood up and leads me out of the tree trunk.

We're at the edge of the foothills on the side of the mountains opposite the emerald hills. The pass through the peaks is heavily guarded by the Desert Knight's men, and the foothills and forest area around me jammed with warriors.

If the Shadow Knight was traveling with only a scouting party, the Desert Knight had taken no chances and brought his entire army. I've never seen so many people in one place and hurry to follow the teen boy.

Ducking my head down, I grip the medallion with one hand and heft up my skirts with the other.

The gray midmorning is cool, the breeze fragrant with the scent of the ocean. As we walk through the sprawling encampment, I start to notice the amount of men in White Tree Sound cloaks increasing.

The Red Knight's whole army is here. My gut grows heavy and I struggle to understand this man's role in all this. At times seemingly allied with the Shadow Knight, at times neutral and now, working with the Desert Knight.

The man is more confused than I am.

"Son."

Westley stumbles and I suck in a breath.

His father approaches, followed by two others. There's a smile on his face. In full daylight, his features appear less severe and yet just as hard.

"Are you prepared to lead our men to victory?" the Desert Knight booms, clapping his son on the shoulder.

"Aye, father," comes the soft response.

"Then you and your princess shall be bonded once and for all." The Desert Knight glances in my direction.

I barely breathe, heart hammering. Hopefully, this is one of those near misses, where he doesn't realize who I really am and walks on by and we continue onward. Westley and I can laugh about how close our plan came to being ruined later, when we're at a feast for the victory of the Shadow Knight, right before I tackle the sexy warrior and drag him into bed.

The idea makes my inner thighs tremble and my blood flare to life. Maybe the vision of Atreyu's naked body on top of mine is what makes me miss the Desert Knight's question because suddenly, everyone is silent and staring at me.

Ripping my thoughts out of the ultimate fantasy, I glance towards Westley in the hopes he can discreetly guide me. He's pale, bordering on alarmed, and I realize something has gone wrong.

The Desert Knight glances between us before stepping forward and snatching my arm. He yanks the hood off and glares down at me.

"Boy, what have you done?" he all but bellows towards his son.

Westley is speechless, fear on his features for the first time since I've met him.

"Nothing," I say quickly, mind racing. If I'm caught, Westley can still get word to the Red Knight and plan with him to help the Shadow Knight. "I . . . uh, I put a spell on him, one that forced him to aid me."

That does it.

"Stand back!" The Desert Knight releases me like I'm a hot potato, face flushing with anger while his eyes drop to the medallion. The men with him scramble away while Westley remains in place. "You said you could not use it!"

"I only can every once in a while. It just so happened to work this morning." I lie once more. "I used it on him to help me escape."

Drawing a knife, the Desert Knight snatches my neck, dragging me onto my knees. "Release him, witch, and I will not gut you right now!" he growls.

Not sure what he expects a magical witch to do, I pick up the medallion, close my eyes, and toss one arm out to my side. After a few seconds, I open my eyes. "He is released," I say as solemnly as I can, loudly enough for the teen to hear.

The Desert Knight twists to see over his shoulder.

I wave Westley away.

He obeys and backpedals until he's standing between two of his father's men.

"You will not go near my son!" The Desert Knight turns his attention back to me. "I know how to kill you. I planned on waiting for my victory to be complete, for your Shadow Knight to watch you die at my feet!"

He's cutting off my ability to breathe and I clutch his wrist.

"Or you can use your magic for me and I spare you."

"N. . .no!" I gasp.

"Then mayhap I should kill you now!"

"You . . . curse . . ." Choking, my vision is turning into tunnel vision, the edges of my mind going black. Pain is trumped only by panic.

I'm suffocating . . . spiraling into darkness . . . the world growing quiet, fuzzy, dull . . .

Silently, I scream for him to stop.

A flare of fire shoots through me from the medallion, zapping him hard enough to shove him back.

I collapse and suck in air, coughing hard. My throat burns and I touch the tender skin around my neck. The world is wobbly, my senses all over the place as they're revived by the sudden flow of oxygen in my brain. Dazed, I realize I'm lying on the ground and push myself up.

It's strangely quiet behind me. I turn, dreading to see what I've done.

Wow. I didn't just fling him away; I threw the Desert Knight a good thirty feet. He's climbing to his feet, surprise and rage on his face. Unfortunately, he's recovering faster than I am, trotting towards us, unfazed by the shock.

My body is sluggish and I climb to my feet, wobble, and manage to recover my balance a second before he grabs my arm again.

I catch the flash of steel barely in time to fling myself away. He grabs me around the waist and the knife drops once more. Bracing for hot pain, I wait, only for him to release and shove me away.

I catch myself against a tree and pat my body down, startled I'm not dead or hurt or missing any limbs.

The medallion is gone. Frantically, I search the layers of clothing without finding it and whip around in time to see him throwing it to the ground. The Desert Knight plucks an axe free from his waist.

He's going to crush the key to the Shadow Knight breaking the curse.

"No!" I shout, lunging forward.

Someone else snatches me, and I react instinctively, slamming a heel into the top of his foot and wrenching forward to knock him off balance.

"Witch, desist this now!" the Red Knight hisses.

I jam an elbow into his solar plexus.

He grunts but doesn't let go.

"I cannot . . . protect you, if you attack him!" he says quietly enough for only me to hear.

"I need the medallion!"

"Stop." Lifting me off my feet, he shakes me.

He's not letting me go. Exhausted, horrified, I give up and hang onto his arm and pray the medallion is indestructible.

The axe rises and falls the way it did when his ancestor claimed the heads of the former Shadow Knight and his queen.

Any hope I have of the medallion withstanding the blow shatters with the Heart of Black Moon Draw. It smashes into a million tiny pieces, like glass.

I can't move, can't breathe.

This world is going to die, and any hope I had of helping save lies in shards.

The Heart and magic of Black Moon Draw are destroyed.

As if the kingdom feels it, the ground beneath our feet rumbles. I cling to the Red Knight. The trembling doesn't last long, and I look from the ground to Westley, who's staring at the sky.

The fog above the mountains is transforming from light to dark gray, the color of thunderclouds. A piercing wind whips by us from the ocean and I twist, observing in dread as the new color of fog races through the skies away from Black Moon Draw and into the rest of the realm.

The battle-witch said the Heart being destroyed could lead to certain doom.

"Something bad is coming," I murmur.

"I know," the Red Knight says grimly. "Now keep quiet, so I can save your life, witch."

Chapter Twenty.

"The source of Black Moon Draw's magic is now gone. As for the battle-witch" - the Desert Knight declares, replacing his axe and grabbing a knife - "I shall ensure she never uses magic again!" He starts towards us, determined.

"M'lord, if I may," the Red Knight pushes me behind him. "Disarming a witch is my area of expertise. You can kill her a million times without my assistance, or once with it."

What have I done? I can't take my eyes off the medallion.

Magic molded this gem, but our love gave it power.

The Heart lasted a thousand years, until it met me. Jason was right I really am a failure.

I don't care what happens to me. All I can think about is how I've let down the Shadow Knight in the worst possible way. Without the magic, what are the chances he can still save this place?

The Desert Knight halts. "Very well. She will be dead before we attack at dark fall," he replies. He sheathes his knife.

I'm vaguely aware of him walking away, trailed by his men and Westley.

Fighting the urge to break down and sob, I register the Red Knight's words a moment after he speaks them.

"We need to get you to safety, witch."

Blinking back tears, I say nothing.

He takes my arm and strides away quickly, his urgency restrained but clear in his tense features. Studying him, I can't help but think this is the worst day of my life. A short distance away, Disney Princess waits, eyes rimmed with red from fresh tears and her features even paler than Westley's. Even Ugly Duckling beside her appears horrified.

The Red Knight keeps up his breakneck pace through the encampment, until most of the brown cloaks have been replaced by white ones. Only when we reach the largest tent at the middle of the camp does he release me.

"What in the name of all the gods in the sky is going on?" he demands, turning on me.

Taken aback by the anger on his features, I retreat.