She turned to face Trynne with a serious air. “I have a mission for you.”
“I assumed that is why you summoned me,” Trynne answered, feeling her heart twist with a little tug of envy. Genevieve had found her love. Trynne worried if she ever would. So many of the people she loved had been taken from her.
“I am so sorry about your brother,” Genny said, as if reading her thoughts. “Words fail me. I cannot imagine how Lady Sinia will feel when she returns to Brythonica. How you must feel. I’m sorry that we must ask you to leave your home at such a perilous time. I know you are responsible for maintaining the protections of Brythonica, and that your duchy is still at risk from the fleet in Legault. I wish we could send more soldiers to defend your lands, but all our forces are stretched impossibly.”
“Loyalty binds me,” Trynne whispered thickly, repeating the motto her father had inherited from Duke Severn. Her family and Genny’s had always been close. She couldn’t remember a time when she hadn’t known Lady Evie and Iago. Fallon had been a young boy when Trynne was born, and they’d spent a good part of their childhoods together.
Genny shuddered at the words. “I need to speak with you about something I didn’t dare mention in front of Duke Severn.”
“What do you mean?” Trynne asked, leaning away from the wall and stepping closer to her friend.
“Let me just say that I’ve come to doubt Morwenna Argentine’s loyalty. Fallon has shared some facts with me. Some suspicions.”
Trynne’s eyebrow arched. “Like what?”
“Things he has already confided in you,” she answered. “He’s my brother first and foremost. We have always been close. He was right, you know. He was the one who predicted how Gahalatine would invade.”
Trynne bit her lip, wondering if she would speak the words, but she decided she must. “Did he predict it? Or did he already know?”
Genny looked at her seriously, not startled by the accusation. “Sometimes little doubts whisper to me. Like when I learned that your little brother died in that accident. It kept . . . it kept the Painted Knight from competing in the Gauntlet.” Genny wrung her hands. “But I cannot believe it of him, Trynne. No, I cannot believe he would stoop to murder. He still carries such a burden of grief about your childhood injury. He blames himself for leaving the castle that day, for being greedy about pies. Even now, he still thinks if he’d stayed with you . . . well, it’s so easy to torment ourselves with what might have been. The Fountain could have prevented Dragan’s attack against you. The Fountain could have healed you. Yet it did not. We all must play a purpose in this world, Trynne. I think you are here to protect and defend my husband and his throne. You are truly the king’s champion. But at this moment, you must be your queen’s.”
Genny sighed and gave Trynne a look of pure determination. “I want you to do the king’s bidding and go to the Forbidden Court with Morwenna. I need you to try and rescue my mother. But more importantly, I need to know if Morwenna has been telling us the truth about her visits there. My heart tells me there is a spy among us. I suspect Morwenna, but perhaps I’m wrong. She’s proved her loyalty over and over. However,” she added, tapping her lip, “she is also an Argentine. Her father used to be the king. I cannot help but wonder if her loyalties are conflicted. Still, the spy may be Fallon or someone we haven’t even considered. I only know that someone has revealed our secret councils to Gahalatine. Someone has prepared his army for this invasion. There is a saying that Myrddin often repeated. ‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a thousand battles.’ That was how your father kept winning. He took the time to understand his opponents. I think our enemies have been studying us for many years.”
Trynne felt a shiver go through her. “I think you are right.”
Genny nodded firmly. “Be careful, Trynne. Morwenna doesn’t know you are an Oath Maiden. She has possibly become too powerful.”
Trynne let out her breath. “If I must go, then I think you should summon some of the Oath Maidens to Kingfountain to protect you. None of the others are Fountain-blessed, at least not that I’ve sensed, but they are skilled fighters. I would advise choosing Rani Reya or Mariette.”
“Mariette, merchant Barton’s widow, correct?”
“You have an excellent memory.”
Genny smiled. “Thank you. I will summon Mariette to wait on me. Any others you should send to Brythonica to ease your worries. Trynne, my husband believes his sister is loyal. I’ve shared my suspicions with him, but he cannot bring himself to believe it. He does not know what I’m asking you to do. Once you get there, you may be cut off from the ley lines. Remember how Reya told us that the women are kept in a compound called the zenana? That is where you will likely find my mother. You have a ring that can disguise you, the one that Morwenna originally gave Fallon. But there may not be any ley lines to help you escape. If Morwenna is planning you any harm . . .” Genny bit her lip and shook her head helplessly. “I know it’s a great risk. I hate to ask this of you, but I must. You’re the only one I can trust with such a mission.”