She knew that it was truly the Fountain’s power that had saved them, but his words humbled her. Still, she longed to walk the battlement walls of Averanche, to start training again with the Oath Maidens. With Captain Staeli.
“When I go, I won’t be gone for long, Thierry,” she promised, touching his arm. “I’ll return soon.”
“Of course, my lady,” he said, bowing respectfully.
Trynne was grateful she had taken a cloak with her to the grove, for it was cool in the shade. Dark, violent memories from her last visit to the grove flashed through her mind and made her tremble. The dead had all been cleared away and buried in the woods. New leaves had fallen across the stone plinth, and the silver dish looked ancient as it stood before the broken stones of the cave. She gave the huge oak tree a wary look. It wasn’t as enormous as the one they had discovered beyond the abbey’s ruined walls, but could it really be a coincidence that both were oaks?
Fallon’s suggestion surfaced once again in her mind. Would it restore her father and Gahalatine? She gave it a wary look, careful not to gaze at it for too long. She didn’t want her own memories purged. The tree felt docile, harmless. But so did the silver bowl until the water was poured from it.
She heard voices in the distance and the tramping of boots through brush. She sensed the presence of a Fountain-blessed and suspected it was her father. But after all the difficulties she’d faced in her young life, she was no longer willing to take anything by chance.
She walked away from the grove and soon met the king, her father, and Staeli along the path. The other retainers held back, keeping their distance.
“Lady Trynne,” the king said, staring at her in awe.
“Your Majesty,” she replied with a bow. Then Trynne smiled and gently embraced her father. He hugged her back, but there was still a certain aloofness in his eyes, the look of a stranger. She had gotten part of him back. She wanted the rest.
“Captain,” she said, smiling fondly.
“Hello, lass,” he said with a small bow.
“I was fearful we’d find you laid up on a sickbed,” Drew said.
“But we find you roaming the woods, much recovered. Your family has always healed quickly. It’s good to see you so hale,” he said, reaching out and taking her hand. He kissed it in a token of utmost respect.
“Have you sent for Genny?” she asked.
Drew nodded. “I told her that I would come to Dundrennan myself. To await me there. I understand that she is safe, that she has our child. Kate’s health is still not fully restored from the poison administered to her, but she is recovering. I thought . . . she was already dead.” His countenance fell. “I’m troubled at how the grief affected me. How it blinded me to my sister’s illusions. Your father has explained his journey to me. The realms he visited and the trust he earned serving the King of Dahomey.” A smile quirked on his mouth. “It does not surprise me in the least. But can nothing be done for his memories, Trynne? He has lost all his past. I still sense the same personality in him, but it truly is a grievous curse for him to lose his memories.”
Trynne stared at her father, seeing the anguish in his eyes. He wanted to remember. She wanted it too.
“Fallon was the one who unraveled all of Morwenna’s secrets,”
Trynne said.
“I never thought to admit this, but I do miss him,” Drew said seriously. “I’ve not only lost my brother-in-law. He has changed much over the last years. And he gave up his own future, willingly, to trade places with your father.” He shook his head in wonderment.
“Fallon believed that the oak tree yonder is important. I have hoped that Morwenna would revive soon. I have so many questions for her.”
Those questions had been running through Trynne’s mind again and again over the days of her convalescence. Where had Morwenna hidden the blade Firebos? Where was her father’s scabbard?
Drew pursed his lips. “She may be too vengeful to help us.
She’s guilty of treason, and I intend to see that she suffers a traitor’s fate. I had compassion for her before, but I see that she has repaid it with even more treachery. Lord Amrein has been in disguise all this time. He feigned his death after he was poisoned, not knowing whom he could trust. He was hiding in the sanctuary of Our Lady.”
“Poor man,” Trynne said sadly. “I agree that Morwenna has no incentive to be useful. So I recommend that we cut the tree down, as Fallon suggested.”
“Are you sure, Trynne?” Drew asked. He raised his eyebrow at her. “Might it have unintended consequences?”