“What prize do youseek?”
Enguerrand chuckled. “A widow with a holding in need of administration would suit me well. By the way, where is your spouse?” Enguerrand looked to each side and his gaze was knowing as it fixed upon her. “And his palace? I thought it should benearby.”
Heknew.
Annelise gestured and told a small lie. “It is easily overlooked in the snow with those white walls. It is a little deeper in theforest.”
“Yet you look to have packed all your belongings.” He rode around her. “Do you abandon your spouse,Annelise?”
“No, we ride out together, of course, to visit his family for theYule.”
“Yet I do not see theman.”
“He had a small errand,” Annelise lied. “I am to meet him on the roadahead.”
Enguerrand inclined his head, making a small bow even though he was in the saddle. Annelise thought there was mockery in his manner. “Then I shall not detain you, lest that man be concerned foryou.”
“I thank you.” Annelise swallowed. “May your hunt be a goodone.”
Enguerrand chuckled. “Oh, I believe it will be a fine day. It is said there is a particularly evil wolf with one eye blue and one silver-gray.”
Annelise fought to hide her revulsion and was not certain she was successful. “Indeed? I have not seen such acreature.”
“Indeed.” Enguerrand’s voice dropped. “You may rest assured that I shall take that one with my own hand. Beauvoir will be most pleased.” The knight arched a brow. “Knowing how your spouse enjoys the hunt, I intended to invite him to join ourparty.”
Annelise forced a smile. “Ah well. Perhaps another time.” She gathered her reins, dismissing him with a glance, and saw his lips thin before he turnedaway.
The dogs were in a frenzy and not far enough away to be reassuring. Mephistopheles stepped nervously at the sound of their barking. Enguerrand spurred his steed and disappeared into theforest.
Too late, Annelise wished she had accepted Enguerrand’s offer, just so she might see what was happening. How could she find Rolfe and ensure hissafety?
“I wish there was something I might do!” she whispered, knowing there wasnot.
“Wish?”
Annelise found the friendly djinn perched on a tree branch to her left. The djinn swung her legs and smiled at Annelise. “If it is a wish you desire, I might be able tohelp.”
“You already said you had helped all youcould.”
“Ah, but that was before you trapped Leila in her bottle again. A very nice accomplishment, I must say and achieved at considerable risk to yourself. Such selfless deed deserves a reward and I, my dear, am precisely the djinn to provide it. You cannot imagine what a relief it is to know that I no longer have to either endure her company or worry about her retaliation. The world is a finer place, thanks to you, so make awish.”
Annelise remembered all she had read in the book. It was gone, along with the rest of thepalace.
“You are her mother. How did you decide to trap her in the firstplace?”
The djinn grimaced. “I was responsible, at least for bringing that one into the world, and I owed a debt to every other being once the truth of her nature was clear. I could not have stepped aside and let the blood of my blood wreak havoc upon the great goodness around us. It would have been wrong.” She nodded. “Ignoring one’s responsibilities has a way of goingawry.”
Annelise respected the djinn’s choice. It could not have been easy to acknowledge the dark truth of her own child, much less to try to protect the world fromher.
The djinn smiled then. “But what will your wish be, child?” She listened, glancing toward the forest. “Think quickly now, for the dogs have cornered something and I have a good idea what—or who— it is. There are limits to what I cando.”
Annelise spoke impulsively and quickly. “I wish for a stag of such beauty, grace, and speed that hunter and hound will forget all else to pursueit.”
The djinn’s gaze was assessing. “I cannot create a living creature fromnothing.”
Annelise swallowed, knowing what she had to say. The life of her beloved was at stake. “Make me the stag, if youplease.”
The two women’s gazes held for a moment and Annelise imagined that the djinn hesitated. The dogs barked morewildly.
