The Hollow Crown (Kingfountain #4)(67)

“I won’t ask for an apology on my own account,” Fallon continued with contempt. “Despite the way you and your gormless friends beset me during the last Gauntlet. You are knaves, the lot of you, but I don’t fear you, Elwis. If you want my blood, you’ll have to earn it.”

“Fallon!” Trynne snapped. She was furious at him for making things even worse, and at a time when the realm needed to be united. “This is unseemly. We have enemies enough that we cannot afford such childishness. Prince Elwis, let him go. I implore you.”

Elwis’s lip sneered and he released his tight grip. His other hand still held his dagger. “You are lucky to have a woman to intercede for you.”

“I imagine you are finding it difficult to have women in your company at present.”

Trynne shut her eyes, trying to summon the shards of her shattered patience. “You are both behaving like training-yard bullies,” she said crossly. She turned to the prince. “Take off your glove. Let me see the ring.”

His eyes were still smoldering, but he obeyed and tugged loose the glove. The skin of his hand was a vibrant red and looked very painful. It was a debilitating curse, one that would only grow more serious with time. She felt the strains of magic coming from it, brimming with dark purpose. The ring had powers of disguise and concealment, yes, but a curse had been overlaid atop it. She sensed the binding that prevented Elwis from removing it.

She took hold of the prince’s hand, studying the markings on the ring. They were written in the ancient tongue. The word of release would be etched into the inner band, but she already knew the word of power that would dispel the charm.

“Ekluo,” Trynne said. It was a stronger form of the word that would have released the ring from the prince’s finger. It unmade the charm that had cursed it. The taint of the magic vanished, and Trynne slid the ring off Elwis’s hand.

A look of relief flooded the prince’s face. He was about to pull his hand away from her, but she held on and murmured another word. The marks on his face were gone, his nose restored. The curse of the ring was to make the wearer ugly in his own sight. No salve or mixture would have changed the condition because it was only an illusion.

“You are restored,” Trynne said, clenching the ring in her fist. She glared at Fallon, who looked at once angry and disappointed.

Prince Elwis looked at his hand. The only sign the ring had been there was an indentation in his skin where it had clung. He let out a sigh, but he still looked full of wrath. He glowered at Fallon, his eyes and twitching cheek promising the game of revenge would continue.

Then, without a word, he turned and started to walk away.

Fallon chuffed. “He didn’t even thank you?” he said with disbelief.

“That was very misguided, Fallon Llewellyn,” Trynne said, rounding on him.

“Please, you’re not going to lecture me right now, are you?” he said. “You won. You were cleverer than either of us. A born peacemaker. No need to rub it in.”

“Do you realize how angry he was?” Trynne said, her voice rising.

“I don’t care how angry he was,” Fallon countered. “Do you really think he was going to draw his dagger and stab me here in front of all of these witnesses?”

Trynne blinked. “Yes. Yes, I do think he would have. This rivalry with him must end, Fallon. That road has no good destination. Turn around.”

He looked displeased by her rebuke. “I did it for you. For what he said to you.”

She threw up her hands. “Strange how I stopped caring about the whole thing long ago. Why do you keep shoveling fuel into the brazier?”

“How wonderful it is for you to forgive such a slight, but I’ll not have people speaking ill of you.” His face was livid with emotion. He was deeply bothered by something. She could see him wrestling inside with some dark emotion.

She wanted to be away from the sanctuary, away from Pree. She was going to best them both during the competition. With the ring in her possession, she would be able to deceive them all even better.

Suddenly Fallon’s expression changed, his eyes bulging. When Trynne turned around, she saw Morwenna striding toward them, a flushed look on her face.

“What is it?” Trynne gasped, running forward and taking the other girl’s arms. “What has happened?”

Morwenna blinked when she saw Fallon. Her eyes went from one of them to the other. Then she shook her head. “There’s little time. We must get to Kingfountain, straightaway. The king sent me to find you.”

The sound of boots came again, and then Elwis was there, his eyes narrowing with concern. “Lady Morwenna, what brings you here?”

“We must all go to Kingfountain,” the poisoner said. “The whole council of the Ring Table has been summoned by the king. The invasion has begun. Gahalatine has attacked Brugia.”

“Where!” Elwis nearly shouted with shock. His eyes were wide with desperation.

“The eastern fortress of Guilme. They attacked by sea.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR


Troubled Waters




The feeling inside the main hall of Kingfountain was as turbulent as the fountain waters in the chapel. Within the span of a few brief hours, the king’s council had assembled in chairs around the ancient Ring Table. Guards had barred the doors, and no servants were admitted. Trynne had helped bring Fallon’s parents from Edonburick, while her mother and Morwenna had assembled the other nobles of the combined realms.