“It’s so quiet,” Lady Evie whispered. Her look grew more concerned.
Trynne licked her lips. “The Wizr Rucrius was being held prisoner here,” she said. “Morwenna claimed she’d drugged him to sleep before we left to find you.”
“Morwenna said that?” Lady Evie answered in a distrusting tone.
Trynne nodded. “We must go to the king. Let’s make sure he is safe.”
“And my daughter,” Lady Evie said.
They started walking down the dark corridor together. Trynne immediately felt the presence of multiple Fountain-blessed in the audience hall where the Ring Table stood. She discerned there was other magic at work as well. Fear churned inside her. What was happening? Had Rucrius broken free in the night?
They walked as quietly as they could, but without any other sound, their steps seemed loud. There was another knight crumpled on the ground, fast asleep, ahead, hidden by the shadows. Another was sitting up against a pillar, his head lolling to one side. Trynne’s anxiousness grew with each step.
The main door to the audience hall lay just ahead. There were voices coming from it, but the thick door was too heavy for her to understand what was being said. They were the first sounds of life they’d heard since arriving in the fountain.
“My heart is full of dread,” Lady Evie whispered, but her eyes were more angry than fearful.
They stopped outside the door. There were four knights collapsed in front of it, spears splayed out haphazardly. Trynne gripped the cold handle with her free hand, the other still gripping the Tay al-Ard. She was so tempted to reach out with her magic, but she knew it would immediately reveal her to whoever lurked on the other side of that door. Much better for them to crack the door open and take a look. Carefully, she and Lady Evie pulled on the heavy door, Trynne praying all the while the hinges wouldn’t squeak.
The door resisted at first, but then it relented and opened, bringing a crack of light from the audience hall. There were torches lit inside and people were moving around urgently. Trynne blinked and pressed her eye to the slit.
Rucrius stood in the center of the room, his hand resting on the king’s empty chair. He was still wearing the clothes in which he’d been rescued, but he was no longer a prisoner. He was the one barking orders.
“Change into their tunics quickly!” he said impatiently. Trynne saw that there were several warriors in the hall, quickly donning tunics of the Sun and Rose. She recognized their leaf armor from the Battle of Guilme. Her heart shriveled as she realized the palace was being stolen right under their noses. “Then return to the guard posts and pretend to be asleep like the others. When dawn comes, the people will see the treasure ship moored in the harbor. It will cause panic.”
Another Wizr spoke up. Trynne hadn’t noticed him because he was standing before Rucrius, who was much taller. “You know Gahalatine would not wish to win this way.”
“Gahalatine will conquer Kingfountain as he desires,” Rucrius snapped. “Is that not what matters? Their confusion will give us an easy path to victory. The city will fall. Then the king’s champion will lose to our champion, and Gahalatine will challenge the king in combat. Without the Kiskaddon brat, the king will succumb to our power and relinquish the hollow crown.”
“But this is sooner than we agreed upon, Rucrius!” the other Wizr said. She could not see him well, but she recognized him from the Battle of Guilme. He was one of the three Wizrs who had brought Gahalatine to King Drew on the hilltop.
“Events are already in motion, Astorel,” Rucrius said dismissively. “The game goes on. The poisoner is in the Forbidden Court as we speak. She brought our enemy with her.”
The other Wizr chuffed. “Maybe we should just kill the king now and be done with it.”
Trynne’s heart filled with a burning rage. Were they speaking of Drew or Gahalatine? There was a fallen spear on the ground in front of her, only a couple of steps away, and she felt a powerful urge to seize it and hurl it through Rucrius’s back. The temptation was painful. But it was against one of the oaths she had taken as an Oath Maiden, and she would not give in to it. Still, she promised herself Rucrius’s treachery against his own king and hers would be punished.
The sound of boots came from the corridor behind them and she felt the power and presence of Fountain magic once again. Trynne whirled around just in time to see more soldiers marching down the hall, all of them wearing the leaf armor. Lady Evie did the same. Another Wizr was with the warriors, and when they turned the corner, they saw the two women at the door.