He sighed and looked away from her. “I’d hoped you would tell me yourself, Trynne. But I figured it out eventually. That is something else that I am good at.” He gazed across the heap of scrolls. “That’s all these really are. Clues. Pieces of paper.” He lifted one and flung it aside. Then he gave her a sidelong look and she caught another glimpse of the old Fallon. “I won’t ask you to deny it. Or to affirm it. You’ve probably bound yourself to an oath you cannot break or some such foolishness.”
His astute statement twisted a smile from her. She stood silently, gazing at him, grappling with the news that he had finally discovered her. He had suspected her before, of course, but she’d thrown him off.
“You’ve always been clever, Fallon,” Trynne said, her voice husky.
He shrugged off the compliment. “I’m also incorrigible, incomprehensible, infallible, impassible, and incontrovertible as well.” He gave her a sidelong smile, then he turned away and sighed. “I had hoped you were here to tell me your secret. Of course, I can think of many reasons why you wouldn’t, including the most obvious one. We’ll be competing against each other at the Gauntlet of Kingfountain. I admire your courage and skill. You’ve bested me before. You also bested Elwis. He doesn’t know, does he?”
Trynne shook her head no.
“I didn’t think so,” he added. There it was again, the twinkle in his eye that reminded her of the way they used to be together. “Well, I don’t intend to reveal your secret, Trynne. As I said, I’m quite confident my sister already knows, and if she hasn’t told the king, there must be a good reason for it. I’m still loyal to him. I always have been. Well, I guess we should be on our way?”
He straightened and gestured for her to precede him. As she started to walk, she saw him slip another letter from the desk into his pocket. After opening the door, Fallon turned to Stroud, who was standing outside it like a sentinel.
“Stroud, be a good man and clean up my mess, will you?” Fallon said, gesturing to the disheveled state of the room. “Lady Trynne and I are going to Kingfountain.”
They reached the chapel shortly thereafter, the air still ripe with the fragrance of pine. She stepped into the fountain water and Fallon joined her. They needed to be touching for the magic to work, and she was reaching for his arm when he took her hand instead.
Her confusion must have shown on her face because he immediately said, “I’m sorry, that was presumptuous of me. It’s just that I’ve always held Morwenna’s hand when we traveled together. I thought that’s how it was done.”
They both stood there awkwardly for a moment. Trynne felt a searing flash of jealousy at the realization that Fallon had traveled the ley lines with Morwenna many times before.
“It’s all right,” she said dismissively, trying to keep her voice calm. She kept his warm hand in hers, feeling her heart give a lurching jolt that wasn’t entirely due to the magic she invoked.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The Ring Table
Trynne rubbed her palm across the smooth grooves of the massive table in the great hall of Kingfountain. The round of trunk had been cut from an enormous tree, and she could see the individual rings marking the generations that had passed. Only great power could have summoned something of that enormous size into the hall. But it was more than just a slab of wood. The Ring Table was a conduit for the Fountain’s magic, and it possessed powers none of them truly understood. But Trynne sensed that its chief function was to bring together disparate people from different backgrounds and customs, unifying them in one purpose. It was the symbol of ancient King Andrew’s fallen realm, a kingdom that had been riven by infidelity, and it had disappeared after his fatal injury over a thousand years earlier.
The new ruler of the court of Kingfountain sat at the table beside Genny, their hands interlocked. Drew looked careworn and burdened. He was a young father, a young king, and the trusted advisors who had supported him over the years were falling away. As Trynne cast her gaze around the table, her eyes found the conspicuously empty seat her father had occupied.
The room was silent, save for the hiss of the torches. The king had just revealed that Sinia would be embarking on a journey to a distant shore. The council was still reeling from the news.
Drew rubbed his bottom lip, staring across the table at each of them in turn. “Our enemy is coming,” he said, his voice serious and wary. “I have no doubt that Gahalatine will make good on his promise to invade us. Whether or not we are prepared, he will come. Where will he strike first? Advise me on how best to defend our borders.”