The Silent Shield (Kingfountain #5)(9)

“My thanks to you both. Trynne, can we speak on the balcony for a moment? If you’ll excuse us?” Genevieve added, looking at Sureya, who seemed startled that a queen had begged her pardon.

Trynne retreated to the balcony with Genevieve. Outside, the air was fresh and cool, smelling of late summer. From her vantage point, Trynne could barely see the magnolia gardens. Her heart lurched from the memory of the last time she had been there. She’d not stepped foot in the gardens since Fallon had made his proposal to her—a proposal she had rejected despite her heart’s desire for him. Her mother, whose visions of the future always came to pass, had seen her marrying someone else. Fallon was unreliable too, and despite her feelings for him, she couldn’t trust him.

Any relationship between them would only end badly.

Kingfountain had always been a treasure to her, a place of childhood memories, a second home. But since their confrontation in the garden, those old memories were tinged with bitterness. She and Fallon had hardly spoken since then, and whenever they did come face-to-face, her wounds felt raw and painful. Fallon had changed in the months that had followed. He was more serious, more circumspect and distant. She missed his quips and teasing now that they were lost to her.

“You’ve a faraway look in your eye,” Genevieve said.

Trynne gave her one of her crooked smiles. “I left Averanche in the morning, arrived in Chandleer at sunset, and now it’s midmorning again. I’ve been halfway around the world and back, and the day has hardly started. It was enough to make my head spin.”

Genevieve knew she was being deflected—the look in her eyes said as much—but she didn’t press. “I am indeed grateful that you are safe. Gahalatine is full of surprises. One moment he’s in one place. Another he’s gone. He’s completely unpredictable.”

Trynne nodded. “He’s restless, I think. Full of ambition.” Her brow furrowed. “But I’m concerned by something he shouted just as I was leaving.” She looked into Genny’s eyes. “He said, ‘I know of you.’” A cold feeling welled up inside her, making her shiver. “He knew I wasn’t from the oasis.” She quieted, staring out at the river, at the sanctuary of Our Lady and the surging waterfall that could be heard in the distance like a soothing murmur. She imagined Kingfountain being attacked by that fleet of treasure ships. She imagined Wizrs turning the river backward and making it possible for soldiers to cross. The defenses of the city, which had once seemed impregnable, now seemed wholly inadequate.

“Yes, it’s obvious he recognized you, but that doesn’t mean he placed you.”

“It doesn’t help that I’m so small,” Trynne muttered darkly. “I worry about King Sunilik. Gahalatine will likely question him at the Forbidden Court. Without me there to protect him, the king will no longer be immune to his powers. Gahalatine may learn that I was there.”

Genevieve paled. “I hadn’t thought of that. It also seems that his people can travel outside of the ley lines. That cylinder you mentioned . . . what sort of device is it, I wonder? There’s so much we don’t know. I had assumed Gahalatine might be with his fleet.”

“Has it been spotted since it set sail earlier this summer?” Trynne asked.

Genevieve shook her head. “None of the Espion hidden in the ports along the coast have seen it. But Lord Amrein has learned that fleet doesn’t need a port. It can go for months without a harbor. What baffles me is how Gahalatine has accumulated so many vessels and conquered so much in so short a time! He’s barely older than me, and look at what he’s done! Ambition is certainly one of his gifts from the Fountain.”

Trynne nodded, rubbing her palms along the stone lip of the railing. “Do you think he will attack Kingfountain first?”

Genevieve touched her shoulder. “Would that I knew,” she answered with a sigh. “Your mother’s visions are our only hope for a warning. I’m worried about her,” she added, her voice dipping to a lower pitch. “Her grief is so consuming.”

Trynne wanted to refute her, but it was true, and there was no sense in hiding it. “She’s withdrawn deeper into herself. Morwenna has offered her some calming drafts to try and help her, but she refuses to be comforted by an elixir. When she’s not here or training Morwenna, she walks at her favorite beach in Ploemeur. She’ll be there for hours sometimes.” Trynne’s heart pinched with the pain of her own grief. Her father’s loss had struck a terrible blow to the entire Kiskaddon family.

“Drew would like to see her as soon as possible,” Genny said. “But please . . . don’t hurry her if she’s not well. We will abide without her for as long as we can.”

“Very well, my lady,” Trynne said, giving her another hug.

Genny kissed her cheek, then gripped her by the shoulders. “You haven’t asked after Fallon in a while.”

Fallon was Genny’s younger brother. She reminded Trynne of him a little in the way she smiled. Sometimes it was comforting; sometimes it was excruciating.

“No, I have not,” Trynne replied.

“He still cares for you,” Genny said.

“It would probably be for the best if he didn’t,” Trynne said. Her own heart had been dashed to pieces in their last confrontation.

The queen folded her arms and stared out at the garden. “You are my friend, and he is my brother. I hate seeing you both hurting so much. I understand your reasons for saying what you did. He deserved it. But he hasn’t come to terms with it yet. He’s fighting it. I’m . . . worried about him. Worried he may do something . . . I don’t know. He’s another one who’s difficult to predict.”