The Silent Shield (Kingfountain #5)(25)

Trynne shook her head no. “He is much changed from what he was. I admire him, but no . . . things are more difficult for me.” She swallowed. “I’m in love with another duke. But I know that I cannot be his. My mother is a Wizr, and she sees things that will happen in the future.” It felt good to speak about it with someone who wasn’t directly involved in the situation. Genny was understanding, but she was also Fallon’s sister.

Sureya’s jaw dropped. “There is no more powerful gift from the Fountain,” she whispered.

“That is true,” Trynne said. “She told me she has seen a vision of the man I will marry. And he is not the man that I wanted him to be.”

Sureya blinked in understanding. “How difficult for you,” she said, taking Trynne’s hands. “I’m sorry.”

Trynne shrugged. “My family is used to swimming in deep waters, you could say.”

“And your mother is leaving the court of Kingfountain?” Sureya said. “Isn’t she the king’s Wizr?”

“Yes. The king’s blood-sister will stand in for her while she’s away. My mother had a vision of the future. She will be departing by boat.”

“She seeks Fusang,” Sureya whispered reverently. “I am sorry. In your religion, it is called the Deep Fathoms.”

Trynne cocked her head. “Yes. How did you know?”

Sureya grew more excited. “There is a legend in our culture. Over a thousand years ago, a traveler came to the emperor’s palace claiming to have crossed the sea. He had discovered Fusang, the place between the worlds. One can only reach it by sea. The dead go there. But so can the living, those whom Fusang summons. There is a tree there full of different fruit. One of them grants immortality. When the emperor learned of it, he sent his chief Wizr, Xu Fu, with a fleet of ships to discover it. He never returned. They say that Xu Fu did find it and that he took the fruit of immortality for himself. That he is still alive. That he serves the people in secret and travels the world in disguise, advising kings and emperors and warning them to hearken to the Fountain. They say the tree with the fruit is the source of the Fountain. That water gushes from its roots.”

Trynne had never heard these tales, but they ignited her imagination.

“Thank you, yet again,” Trynne said, feeling brightened by the news. Maybe the Deep Fathoms was trying to help them? She had feared her mother wouldn’t return from the journey.

Sureya cast her eyes down. “The other girls have said that Grand Duke Elwis is the best warrior in all Ceredigion now. Many have cast their eyes on him, and it is said he is not unhandsome.” She swallowed, growing more subdued. “Is he . . . is he pleased that women are becoming warriors? Many men frown upon us.”

“I will have to ask him when I meet with him,” Trynne said with a sly smile. She suspected that Elwis had left an impression on the princess.



The smells on the beach of glass beads were familiar and soothing. The wind tousled Trynne’s hair, and she brushed aside the strands as she watched her mother and Gannon walk hand in hand. Her mother’s blond hair fanned out, so lovely and full. She was still heartbreakingly beautiful. There was so much Trynne admired her for—her gentleness, how quickly she responded to the needs of other realms, and her conviction in the Fountain’s direction.

Trynne would miss her sorely.

“And what kind of bird is that?” Sinia asked Gannon, nodding toward the white-breasted birds running back and forth along the shore.

“Plovers,” Gannon said excitedly. “Look, Mama! Pelicans! Five of them! That one is going to dive. Look! It did!”

“Yes, it did,” Sinia said, her pleasure at his enthusiasm evident in her tone. “They must catch a lot of fish with those big beaks.”

“And those over there are puffins. The bills are so orange.”

“And what about that one? With the long, pointed beak?”

“A curlew. Their beaks are as long as swords.” His memory had always impressed Trynne. Her heart filled with love for the little boy who was as happy and carefree as their father hadn’t been in his own youth. Owen’s absence made the child melancholy at times, but he knew how deeply he was loved, and Trynne was grateful that he had never grown tired of holding their mother’s hand.

The salty smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore, and the cry of the seagulls overhead—all of it flooded her with memories of other times she’d visited with her mother. It was Sinia’s favorite place, but though it was beautiful, it was also a reminder of the inexorable power of the Deep Fathoms. The tiny beads of polished glass they trampled in the sand were relics of Leoneyis, a kingdom that had been swallowed by the sea. Her mother had often described to her visions she’d seen of Leoneyis at its prime—the enormous palace full of huge glass windows and glass chandeliers, dangling prisms that spun rainbows everywhere when the sunlight struck them. Yet the great wealth of the king had corrupted his heart. In time, he had forsaken the Fountain and destroyed all the Oath Maidens, ultimately depriving his kingdom of everything. Only those who had gathered in the sanctuary of St. Penryn had been spared the tidal flood that had destroyed the realm.

They walked for some distance along the shore, hidden by the huge rocks and land that formed the edge of the coast past the beach. Only at the harbor was the water deep enough to permit boats during high and low tide. Any fleet that tried to bottle in Ploemeur would end up being dashed against the rocks if it anchored too close.