The king pushed away from the table and came to his feet. “That is quite an accusation to make, Morwenna!”
The poisoner nodded. “When I learned about it, I returned hastily and discovered the Wizr Rucrius had invaded the palace of Kingfountain. He was disguised as you, but I saw through his little trick. I found Lord Fallon and brought him here immediately.” She turned to face Trynne. “Do you deny this? Did not Gahalatine offer to make you his empress?”
Trynne felt the ground beneath her had turned unstable. One wrong step and she would fall. Her stomach writhed from the confrontation, from the baseless accusations. “He did,” she answered softly. Then she turned to the king. “That part is true, my lord. He did offer to marry me. And I soundly rejected him. There is a struggle for power between Gahalatine and his Wizrs. He will not be controlled by them as other emperors were. His financial state is nearly ruined—”
“Only the Wizrs and the Mandaryn know that,” Morwenna said. “This proves you are in league with them.”
Trynne turned to her calmly. “I did not learn this from them. But it begs the question of how you know it?”
“She brought Rucrius to Kingfountain,” Morwenna said with a hint of triumph. “Wasn’t he the person who spelled everyone in the castle to fall asleep?”
“The spell came from a staff fixed atop your tower,” Trynne shot back.
“My lord, I caught her in my tower the eve we were departing to Chandigarl.”
“Enough!” the king said forcefully. He looked back and forth between them with growing incredulity. “You cannot both be right.”
“Brother, you must listen to me,” Morwenna pleaded.
“I have listened to you,” he said, holding up his hand to silence her. “The greatest gift from the Fountain is the blessing of discernment. I cannot pretend that I understand the intricacies of this situation, but I trust Trynne with my life. If she were in league with Rucrius, she could have delivered me into his hands. You have always claimed to be loyal to me, Sister. Now is your opportunity to prove where your loyalties lie. Choose well. Lord Fallon, arrest her and confine her in the dungeon.”
Morwenna drew a dagger.
Where she’d concealed it, Trynne didn’t know, but her magic screamed a warning at her. There was a look of utter hatred in the poisoner’s eyes. Trynne was about to step forward and block the king’s body with her own, hoping she was fast enough to deflect the dagger if it was thrown, when the weapon suddenly thumped onto the floor.
Morwenna’s eyes had cooled. “As you command, my lord. I plead my innocence in laying down my knife. I will suffer the indignity of a cell to prove myself to you. I knew you would take her side over mine.” She turned to the duke, whose eyes were wide with shock, and said, “Fallon, you know I’d never hurt you. I will go willingly.”
Fallon’s cheek twitched as he stepped forward. “Morwenna Argentine, I arrest you on command of His Majesty.”
Morwenna held up her hands to him, wrists held together. Fallon gripped her by the arm, not gently, and escorted her from the room.
Drew leaned back against the table after they had left. “By the Fountain,” he said with a gasp, clutching his throat as if he’d just escaped being strangled. “I scarcely know what to say or think.”
“Poisoners are trained to be clever,” Trynne said with a small laugh. She was trembling inside at how close it had come to violence. She’d felt danger moments before Morwenna had dropped that knife. The lack of food had not only made her famished but light-headed as well.
“So it’s true,” Drew said with a mocking smile. “Gahalatine proposed to you?”
She shrugged, tilting her head to one side. “Yes, I could say that he did.”
“You could have told me.”
“I think jumping into the cesspit with you may have distracted me,” Trynne countered. She wrung her hands, beginning to pace. Was Fallon loyal? He had arrested Morwenna, but was he just as compromised as she was? She knew what she wanted to believe, but she couldn’t let her feelings for him blind her.
“While secrets are being laid bare,” she went on, “I have also sensed another Fountain-blessed here in the castle.”
“Duke Severn?” the king prompted.
“No, I already knew about him, and his power is mostly spent for the time being. There is someone else. I feel it nagging at me. I’m conflicted, my lord. Can we trust Fallon? One of the maidens, who is from Dundrennan, told me ere we arrived that the garrison had been marched away to defend Kingfountain. An Espion told us the same. Fallon has flatly denied it.” She turned her head, trying to conceal her confusion. “I did go to Morwenna’s tower before we left. I found . . . I found some of Fallon’s clothes—with his badge—among her belongings.”