The Forsaken Throne (Kingfountain #6)(22)

Just as Morwenna had been arrested. She had gone willingly, shoulders slumped in defeat. An act. She had never truly been caged at all.

Trynne was running out of time. This was not the moment to confront Morwenna. Not when her own powers were so weak. And if she allowed them to put her in a cell, she’d be helpless to rectify the situation.

Trynne stared the king in the face, beseeching him with her eyes. “Loyalty binds me,” she said deliberately. Then she lifted her hand, twisted the ring on her finger in full view of everyone, and invoked a word of power. The twist of the ring was just a deception.

She did not try to use the ley lines.

She borrowed Dragan’s trick and turned herself invisible.





CHAPTER NINE


Treason


The invisibility spell she had learned studying The Vulgate was especially draining, and she knew she would not be able to sustain it for very long. Her objective was simple—force Morwenna to respond to her as a threat, giving Mariette time to sneak the babe from the castle.

The audience hall erupted with confusion and chaos as the king surged to his feet. There were gasps and murmurs and commotion, which enabled Trynne to walk around the table and head toward the nearest exit—a door on the opposite side of the room from the one Morwenna was likely to use.

“She’s gone!” Drew shouted. “I wanted her captured. Now that she’s back in Brythonica, it will be more difficult to snare her.”

Duke Ramey made it to his feet. “I cannot believe she’s capable of treason, my lord,” he said with grave concern.

“Do you think I’m comforted by the thought?” Drew replied.

“Even the queen was taken in by her deceptions. Summon our forces, my lord duke. We will flush her out like a thrush if we must.”

Trynne saw a look flash between Duke Ramey and Lord Amrein. There was suspicion there. Drew’s normal calm and patience were gone. He was uncharacteristically agitated.

“My lord,” said Kevan Amrein. “There might be another explanation.”

Trynne could sense the approach of Morwenna, and she hurried out the door as a servant opened it carrying a tray of uneaten cheese. Her pulse throbbed in her neck as she hastily walked down the corridor, dodging past the servants who’d clustered in the hall.

A powerful jolt of Fountain magic rumbled through the palace.

Trynne instantly became visible again in the corridor, appearing out of nowhere and startling someone who nearly ran into her.

Morwenna had invoked the spell to rip away Trynne’s invisibility, just as Trynne herself had done to Dragan in Marq. But Trynne had been expecting it.

“Beg your pardon, my lady,” the servant girl said, veering away from Trynne with a look of worry. She was well known at the palace and, until now, had been implicitly trusted. Most of the servants wouldn’t be aware of the change.

Good.

Trynne quickly ducked down another corridor, trying to sense the presence of her pursuer. Yes, Morwenna was moving after her, probably disguised as someone other than the queen. Both she and the poisoner were walking briskly. Trynne knew that the chapel fountain was guarded by the Espion. That was where she would be expected to go, but there were other fountains within the inner grounds, ones that her father and Lady Evie had played in as children.

Morwenna had studied the Wizr magic much more ardently, which only added to Trynne’s disadvantage. She experienced a sudden pang of regret for not having learned more. Had she memorized the precise location of the ley lines, her path would not be limited to the fountains.

Trynne suddenly darted to the left, changing her direction almost at random. Both she and Morwenna knew the layout of the palace. The upper part was really one continuous circle. If the poisoner had a Tay al-Ard, then she would be able to use it to catch Trynne by getting ahead of her. If she suspected her final

destination. Trynne knew from experience that the magic of those devices was not infinite. Morwenna would only be able use it a limited number of times before it needed a recharge. How many?

Three or four?

Trynne suddenly sensed Morwenna’s presence in the hallway she had just left. She’d closed the gap almost immediately. A flush of panic rushed through her and she started to run. There was no cry of warning or shout to stop, but she could feel Morwenna behind her.

Tracking her. Running like she was.

Trynne veered toward the door of an anteroom, jerked at the handle, and stepped inside. It was a decorative space, filled with chairs arranged in conversation areas. The far wall was embedded with tall windows. Trynne summoned her magic as she rushed across the room. She stepped up onto a chair, yanked aside a set of curtains, and then pushed at the latch of one of the windows.

There was a pulse of magic, and the door of the sitting room rocked open so forcefully it smashed into the wainscoting. Not even pausing to look back, Trynne hoisted herself up onto the window ledge and jumped down. She heard the splashing of the fountain at the garden, a sound that filled her with desperation to reach it.

Sprinting across the lawn, her skirts nearly tripping her, she raced to the edge of the fountain. Magic swelled behind her again, a freezing spell that should have stopped her in her tracks. The spell diverted away, and Trynne leaped into the waters, turning briefly.

She saw a woman standing at the window—it wasn’t Morwenna’s face, but Trynne could sense the illusion. There was a scarab-like ring on the middle finger of her raised hand. Even from this distance, she thought she could see the malevolence in the girl’s eyes.