Page 45 of An Enchanted Knight

His chest tightened and he fought to keep his composure. After so long, he’d finally felt hope and love. Gwen was everything he could have ever hoped for. And now, she was gone. Tristan pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

He wanted to rage, to scream,, to break things, but didn’t have the luxury. Instead he sat down to pull on his boots.

Gavin walked in. Tristan didn’t have to look to know. The man was like a disoriented bear. The bang of his boot against the door as he walked in left no doubt. The large knight sat down, his golden eyes peering at Tristan’s face. “I figured ye would be awake by now?”

“If it is about Gwyneth, I do not want to talk about it.”

“I understand your decision not to leave. None of us begrudge you that. I’ve been thinking…”

“We’ve all been thinking, Campbell.”

“It is about yer daughter. Did you sense her presence?”

Tristan closed his eyes, his jaw tightening, recalling his time at Meliot’s castle. It did not surprise him that after he’d damned these men to remain in the alter-world, they wanted to come up with a plan to help him.

“I didn’t sense anything. The wizard promised to return her, after Gwyneth departed. He will send a messenger.”

“Ah. But do we trust that?”

“Not one bit.”

A wave of dizziness swept over Tristan, and he closed his eyes. “Is the room spinning?”

The rotating subsided, and he opened his eyes. Gavin stood over him a puzzled look on his face. “You were fading. Do you feel a pull to the other side?”

“No.” He sat up, trying to get his bearings. “This time it was different. It is probably part of Niall’s healing. I expected to feel compelled to follow her, but it has not happened.”

“Or maybe, it is because she is still here, in this realm.”

“What? Where is Gwyneth?” His hands fisted on the man’s shirt. “What did she do?”

“She went to Meliot.”

“No! Why did you not tell me?”

“You told me not to speak of her.” Gavin replied, pulling Tristan’s hands off his shirtfront. “You are fading again.”

The spinning began again. This time, the room spun faster and faster, until Tristan feared he’d lose the entire contents of his stomach. Pitching back and forth, followed by the familiar rush of moving into another realm, he was gone. Darkness filled with stars swirled around him. He tried to grab onto something, but his hands came up empty. When he landed, he began heaving and gulping for air, trying his best not to throw up. There was no pain this time, only nausea.

Looking around, he fell back onto his back in shock. He was back at McRainey estates.

Only this time, he lay outside the keep.

“No!” He yelled into the night. “No, no, no!” He pounded his fists into the ground.

The enchantment had been broken. He was free.

A star shot across the night sky; he followed it until it disappeared. This wasn’t right! He’d chosen to stay.

He wasn’t sure how long he lay on the ground trying to convince himself to get up, but remained frozen, fearful. The stark realization that once he got up and went into the keep, he’d have to begin his new life, kept him from moving.

Almost four hundred years later and he was finally free.

How could he want a life at the cost of losing his daughter again?

Gwyneth, she’d sacrificed herself, and as expected, Meliot reneged. “Let her go,” Tristan yelled into the night. “Take me back.” A tear rolled down the side of his face to the ground, he wiped it away angrily and sat up. Meliot would not release them. Not willingly.

“This is not ending like this, Meliot. You will not win.”