He shuddered at the thoughts colliding in his mind. Squeezing his fist, he pressed it against his mouth, shaking his head in horror.
“You saved me. You saved me from the worst possible fate.”
Trynne’s relief was superseded by the urgency of her task. “My lord, the Wizr board.”
“Yes, yes—pull it out.”
Trynne undid the straps while Kevan ordered the king’s guard to surround the imposters. “Take them to the dungeon and hold them there for now. Fetch Lord Gahalatine from Holistern Tower and bring him here.”
Trynne’s head turned up sharply at the orders.
“I could not order his death, even for treason,” the king said softly. “Not when so many lives were at stake. I would not have so many deaths on my shoulders. He was true to you, Trynne. He and Captain Staeli did their best to stop me.”
The king turned his gaze to the grizzled captain. “You, sir, have been faithful to the last. I’ll make a duke out of you, ere this is over.
You have my word.”
Trynne hefted the chest by the handle and pulled it out. Putting the key into the lock, she twisted it and then raised the lid.
The colors had changed once again. She saw Drew as the white king, surrounded by two knights—her and her father.
Morwenna, the black Wizr, was across the board at Ploemeur.
Trynne’s heart sank even though the sun had begun to penetrate the cold.
“My lord, I must go!” Trynne implored. “She has already ruined the defenses of Brythonica. If she summons the waters, my people will drown!”
Drew stared at the board in wonderment. She could tell he didn’t understand how it had been preserved from Rucrius’s attack.
But it was not a time for questions. He lifted his hand and set it on the piece on the board that represented her. She felt the grinding sensation, the rumble of trembling stone beneath her.
The king hesitated, his fingers poised to move the piece.
“What if I lose you?” he said, gazing at her with fearful concern.
“The Wizr is the most powerful piece.”
“Send me,” Trynne begged him.
The king glanced up at Owen. Trynne didn’t look to see her father’s reaction. She stared at the king, willing him to move her piece.
And he did.
The skies over Ploemeur roiled with seething black clouds. A violent sea storm was arriving, and the wind howled like unleashed demons.
Trynne appeared on the beach in the midst of the tempest. The gale whipped her loose hair around her face, and she staggered a bit on the sandy ground, shielding her eyes from the gusts.
The beach had transformed.
All her life, she had walked along this beach, at high tide and low tide, and yet she’d never seen it like this. The sea had receded for nearly a mile, exposing rocks and boulders she had never seen before. There were glistening tide pools, radiant with the colors of vibrant life. But some of the boulders that had been revealed were clearly shaped by men—the bony fragments of castles that had once existed in might and triumph before being swallowed by the depths.
Almost as far as she could see, there were mounds and squares and fallen arches covered with seaweed. These were the rotting bones of Leoneyis. She stared at them in awe, trying to discern the edge of the sea.
Trynne heard shouting, and turned toward the source. In the midst of the sloping wet sand, she saw two figures. Fountain magic radiated from both of them. One was Myrddin with his crooked staff.
The other, Morwenna.
“Don’t you see, I don’t care if we all drown!” the poisoner was shouting. “Not even you can withstand the power of the sea, old man!”
Trynne gazed in horror as the biggest wave she’d ever seen came at the bay like a devouring monster, all thrashing foam and froth and weight. When Rucrius had turned the river outside Kingfountain back, it was nothing compared to this. There were cries of fear from throughout Ploemeur as the people began fleeing to higher ground.
“Aspis!” the Wizr Myrddin commanded, slamming his staff into the sand.
Trynne stared at the coming flood with terror. No shield could hold back the entire ocean. It had taken multiple Leerings to fence it in. Dread sickened her.
“You won’t stop it!” Morwenna taunted.
Trynne shuddered as the wave engulfed the stone ribs and skeletons of Leoneyis. As soon as the waters struck the beach, Trynne shut her eyes, unable to watch the devastation. Her heart hurt for the people she had promised to protect. It was better to die with them, even though she had the power to flee. Better to share their fate than live through the guilt of surviving it.