The Forsaken Throne (Kingfountain #6)(9)

She couldn’t bring herself to say the other woman’s name.

Genny looked at her. “He didn’t ask specifically if he could marry Severn’s daughter. His feelings for her are rather conflicted.

He’s sorry for her. Afraid of what may happen to her. They have been friends for many years.”

Trynne bit her lip. “You didn’t mention that I found his clothes in her tower, did you?”

Genny dimpled and winced. “No. I am still his sister. There are some things I might not wish to know about him.” She breathed out heavily. “As I said, I was hoping to bear this burden for you by not telling you. Will he ask the king’s permission to marry her? I don’t know. He can be rather rash, although you must admit he has gotten better.”

Trynne shook her head, still amazed at what Genny had told her. Part of her wanted Fallon to find happiness with someone else.

Someone who would inspire him to be someone. To make himself the best he could be.

Anyone other than Morwenna Argentine.

“I will say this in my brother’s favor,” Genny said, coming up and hugging her once more. “He does not resent that Gahalatine chose you. He respected him for it. That respect has been tarnished because of the way he treated you earlier today. Fallon told me that if he hadn’t been so weak, and if he hadn’t known you would disapprove, he would have punched Gahalatine just as he did Elwis all those years ago. You remember that affair?

“But even though he was furious, he knows firsthand that someone stops thinking clearly after they’ve lost something dear to them. He said that about himself mostly. About how it felt to lose you.

But he also realizes that he would have died in Dundrennan if you hadn’t intervened in the battle. He would have lost everything, including his own life.”

Genny smiled and pressed a kiss to Trynne’s cheek.

“We must be prepared for what is coming,” the queen said.

“Something is approaching. Right now, we are blind to it, so we must step cautiously. Standing still isn’t a good choice. We must all move forward, even though it hurts.”

Trynne knew Genevieve had spoken the truth. But it still hurt.





Emotions rule people. The stronger the emotion, the more vivid and influential it becomes. The Dochte Mandar discovered a magic in another world that controls emotions. It’s contained in a little medallion, a series of twisting vines, which they wear around their necks. It can produce fear. It can feign love. It can imbue one with courage. It can make one a coward.

The Mandaryn believed they could control me through my emotions. They believed they were chaining me.

That I would submit and yield to their whims if they threatened to kill my father. Well, my father is dead now and I can’t even feel it. Love is a manipulation. An illusion. They believed that Rucrius controlled me. Now they are beginning to know that he was only my tool.

I’ve broken the power of the East Kingdoms. And I will break down Kingfountain as well.

Morwenna Argentine





CHAPTER FOUR


The House of Pil ars


Trynne caught herself nodding off during the loquacious speech given by the ambassador of Genevar. She bit the inside of her lip in the hope that a little pain would revive her, but the endless meetings, petitions, and reports weighed her down and sapped her strength. In the six months since lightning had struck the Forbidden Court, she had grown ever more weary of her new responsibilities.

She had never wanted to bear the burden of the two most powerful duchies of Kingfountain. Her grandfather had been a capable and wise counselor in Ploemeur, and now that he was gone, killed in the same carriage crash that had taken her younger brother and her grandmother, the duties of the bureaucracy rested on her shoulders. The things he had handled were brought to her and she was beset day and night. Emissaries from Tatton Hall were getting more and more demanding for a piece of her time, and Thierry was in a constant state of agitation as he tried to prioritize the endless tasks for her.

Trynne’s only solace was rising before the sun and taking the ley lines to Averanche to train with Captain Staeli and the Oath Maidens. As soon as the sun crested the wall of the training yard, she hurried back and was assaulted immediately and relentlessly with her duties until well after midnight each night. She was young, but the toll felt heavy enough to break her.

So did six months without word from Gahalatine. Six months with the torture of not knowing.

“My lady, I think my words are boring you,” the ambassador said with a tone of reproof. “I will not take any more of your time.”

Trynne realized her eyes had drifted shut and she snapped them open. “I’m sorry, Ambassador,” she said, shaking her head.

“Please go on.”

“How much from my report should I repeat?” he said, his bald head dripping with perspiration. He mopped it with a sweaty kerchief and then put his hand on his hip in a belligerent posture.

“I think we’ve heard enough for the day,” Thierry said. “Return tomorrow morning, please.”

He grunted. “I had hoped to be on my way to Genevar with the tide.”

“By all means, leave if you must,” Thierry said in an offhanded way. “You are dismissed.”

Trynne felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment as the ambassador gathered up his papers.