With each step, they drew closer to the opposite side. Trynne felt Morwenna’s presence seething through the tumultuous waters.
She saw the royal docks ahead, and Drew was standing there, gaping at them in surprise. There was Genny as well, her face full of wrath and hatred. The weight of Staeli’s body was obviously a burden to Owen, but he lumbered forward.
“It’s him! It’s Lord Owen!”
They were just close enough to hear the words over the noise of the swollen river. The chasm of water defending them swelled like a majestic fountain, bubbling, rising higher and higher into the air.
“Use the poles. Fetch them out!” Drew shouted, motioning for his soldiers to drop their staves down to them.
Owen set Staeli down by the blackened posts of the pier, then hunched forward, breathing hard, hands on his knees.
Trynne drew her sword and sliced through the captain’s bonds, freeing him. “I told you I’d come back,” she said in his ear.
“Aye, lass. And I couldn’t be more grateful.”
The poles were lowered to them and the three of them climbed up to the pier, where they faced a host of the court of Kingfountain.
There was Iago and Evie, the Queen Dowager of Occitania, Elyse, and many others Trynne recognized, but not Elwis. However, Trynne’s attention was drawn to Drew. She saw the conflict raging inside him. His gaze went from her to Owen and back again.
As her father straightened, the towering waters suddenly came crashing down in a heave that made everyone cry out in fear. The canoe, which had been left behind, was splintered and broken in half, and the pieces hurtled violently toward the edge of the falls.
Trynne faced her king, sword in hand. He was gripping the pommel of Firebos, but she saw that it wasn’t his true sword. She could sense the illusion magic around it. The sword was gone, replaced by a deception.
Yet another thing Morwenna had stolen.
“What is the meaning of this?” Drew said, his voice quavering.
“Lord Owen, is it truly you?”
“This is my father,” Trynne said, stepping forward, her eyes locking with Morwenna’s.
“It’s over, Morwenna.”
“That is Genevieve,” Drew said with alarm. But there was hesitation in his voice—a sense of growing uncertainty.
“No, Your Highness,” Trynne said, shaking her head. “It is not.
Apokaluptis,” she breathed out in a low, firm voice, invoking the word of power used to unmask a disguise, to reveal the true nature of something hidden. She felt the pulse of Fountain magic in her mind, as if a large boulder had been catapulted into a lake. The ripples shot out from her in all directions.
Morwenna Argentine was suddenly standing there, to the sight and wonderment of all. Even the sword’s illusion had been stripped away. And so had the disguises of many of the nobles of Kingfountain. The pair who had looked like Iago and Evie were revealed as strangers, imposters. The masks had all crumbled, and as Drew turned around in baffled amazement, he stared at his sister with a look of sudden revulsion and terror. He saw he was surrounded by strangers, and the realization of it crashed upon him like the walls of water had just crashed into the river.
“I arrest you by the name of Morwenna Argentine,” Trynne said, striding forward, putting herself between the poisoner and the king.
“If you think I’ll be dragged to Helvellyn willingly,” Morwenna shot back angrily, “you’re a fool.”
“I’m not a fool,” Trynne answered. It was time for a reckoning between the two of them. Trynne steeled herself for the fight.
But Morwenna reached behind her back, and Trynne caught only a glimpse of the Tay al-Ard before the poisoner vanished.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Ruin
With a Tay al-Ard, Morwenna Argentine could go anywhere in the world. But there was one place where she could do Trynne the most harm. Brythonica. Her every instinct screamed that the poisoner had gone there to flood the entire duchy, drowning it under the Deep Fathoms.
And Trynne carried in her pack the tool that could help her defeat Morwenna.
She dropped to her knee before the king. “My lord, I am still your servant. I knew of Morwenna’s deception before I left to free my father. She imprisoned Genny and poisoned your child. I took Kate to save her, and it was Fallon who knew the cure. He also stole the Wizr board from Morwenna. Please, my lord, if you’ll look at the pieces, you will see that I am telling the truth.”
Drew knelt before her, his eyes crinkled with worry and hope.
He put his hand on her shoulder. “You’ve saved my life again, my Painted Knight. My champion. My mind is in agony over what I almost did. How my sister deceived me. I’m nearly too ashamed to speak. She pretended to be my wife. If we had . . . then history would have repeated . . . I would have been slain by my . . .”