The Forsaken Throne (Kingfountain #6)

You have to tell me everything!”

“What’s so important about all that?” Fallon scoffed.

She wanted to hit him. “When we left you, I thought you’d been captured!”

“Please, Trynne! You give me no credit at all. The sheriff of Mendenhall is a blazing idiot. I slipped behind the oak tree and pretended to be one of the injured ones. Then I stole away in the confusion and hid in that huge mound of stones.” He snapped his fingers. “It was easy. I hid in the cave outside Myrddin’s lair until he returned from helping you. I could spend weeks telling you all this, but it’s not what I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been waiting for you.

Waiting very patiently, I might add.” He looked down at her face and then tipped her chin. “And even your mother has said yes this time.

Please don’t tell me no again.”

“I don’t understand,” Trynne said, shaking her head. It felt like the world was still spinning.

His thumb caressed the side of her mouth. “Her visions don’t always show the full future at once. She did see you marry Gahalatine. But she has also seen this.” He leaned down and kissed her where he’d touched her mouth. The brush of his lips awakened a ravenous hunger inside of her.

He pulled back, his expression softening as he looked at her.

“Staeli, whom I will esteem forever, saw little worth in a dukedom for an old bachelor like himself. When he heard the story of what I’d done, it gnawed at him like a hound on a bone. He felt it wasn’t right that you’d be left without a husband after all you’ve done. And that I was stranded in another world because of what I’d done. So . . . he went to Lord Owen and asked if he could trade places with me.” He reached up and smoothed some hair from her forehead. His touch made her skin tingle.

“Naturally, Lord Owen consulted with Lady Sinia, who can, as you already know, see the future. She had already seen it and had not said anything because it needed to be done willingly. It didn’t happen right away. She wasn’t sure how long it would take. She saw it happen after Gahalatine’s death, and they have been preparing to fetch me ever since.”

Trynne felt unworthy of so much devotion. In her mind, she saw Captain Staeli’s gruff manner. He wouldn’t want recognition or thanks. Seeing her happy would please him very much.

“I could cry,” she said, hiccupping. “What’s to become of him?”

“I already have shed plenty of tears,” he boasted. “But your mother’s vision appeased me.”

Trynne looked at him in confusion.

“Apparently, the posterity of our good captain will continue to be of service in the future. Yes, our dear bachelor will find love.

Surprising, I know! Your mother had a vision that the mastons would return someday. They will lead the fight against the hetaera. She saw in a vision that a hunter and his hound would protect a banished princess. I don’t recall if it was his grandson or great-grandson, but Staeli is supposed to stay in that world. He’s done the Fountain’s will.”

Trynne tucked the seed pod into her girdle and then squeezed Fallon’s hands. Bringing them to her lips, she kissed them. “I’m so thankful. And you . . . you, Fallon, of all people, have become Fountain-blessed at last? Truly?”

He nodded in a very humble way. “It happened at the grounds of that abbey after I let you go. Myrddin has an extensive library and I read a great deal while I was away. I learned about apple orchards and abandoned kitchens. And I learned I can summon fire from stone. That I can sense danger before it comes. But the greatest gift of the Fountain, the gift that I’ve always wanted, was discernment.”

He smiled and placed his hand on her cheek. “I can hear people’s thoughts, Trynne. It’s the same gift Myrddin has. I’m still raw with it.

And I have to be cautious not to misuse it. But I’ve always tried to understand people’s true motives. It’s what always attracted me to the Espion. I know when someone is lying, when they are being sincere. I’ve much still to learn, but Myrddin gave me a book of sorts to bring with me. To help me continue to grow this gift.”

Her heart thundered in her chest as he spoke. The joy of this moment was almost too much to bear. “I love you, Fallon Llewellyn.

I’ve loved you for a very long time.”

“I know,” he said with a sly look. “You don’t know how much I’ve wanted to hear you say it. You’ll bring Averanche as your marriage portion,” he said with a shrug. “And I fancy that little castle and its view of the bay. But I hope you won’t mind staying in Dundrennan more often? I am still a duke, after all. At least, I think I still am.

Genny didn’t say anything about my title being revoked, did she?”

Trynne shook her head and gripped his collar with both fists.

“I’ve told you that I love you. Now you’d better return the confession yourself.”

“As my lady commands,” he answered. And he showed her in a kiss, this one even more passionate, more full of promise, than the one they’d shared in the tower of Dundrennan when the night sky was exploding with stars.





EPILOGUE

Leoneyis

The scene felt hauntingly and poignantly familiar. Years ago, Trynne had stood as an onlooker as Genevieve prepared for her wedding nuptials. Some of the same women were present, and it was the same chamber, but this time they were preparing for Trynne’s wedding. As Trynne looked at her reflection in the mirror, she smiled at her friends. Her family. Genny and Lady Evie stood to either side of her, and her mother stood behind her, her hands on her shoulders.

“You look beautiful, Tryneowy,” her mother said, and leaned down, kissing her cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, not feeling fully deserving of the praise, but she reached for her mother’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

Their relationship had relaxed substantially following her mother’s return from the Deep Fathoms. There was no longer the pressure of Trynne’s concealed destiny, the mismatched hopes.

Genny had helped Trynne select a dress in the style Fallon preferred, but one that suited her own tastes by being less ornate than others might want. The red velvet gown had a gold trim all around the neck and bodice, sewn with Genevese pearls, and a high girdle set with beads of sea glass that normally would have cost a fortune had the bride not been the daughter of the Duchess of Brythonica. The multilayered sleeves were rolled back, exposing matching cuffs that copied the interior pattern of the dress—which was a beautiful series of tangled vines and butterflies. Sinia had brushed Trynne’s hair to a luxurious shine, and there was a slight curl to it as it lay across her chest.

Trynne was trying to breathe and finding it difficult because her heart was beating so fast. In the mirror, she saw Reya speaking to Mariette and wished that she could have a moment alone with her mother before being hurried away to the ceremony. After the wedding, Trynne would take her husband by the ley lines to Dundrennan, where they’d have a feast to celebrate the evening. But that was not all. Trynne also planned to take Fallon to Marq for a gondola ride, and together they’d visit the other places she’d longed to see. She caught her reflection smiling at the thought.

“It’s almost time,” Sinia said, patting her shoulder.

“You are going back to Brythonica tomorrow?” Trynne asked, turning her head and gazing up at her mother.

She nodded. “I’ve had another vision. The ships will be arriving soon. It’s been three months since the flood.”

Trynne nodded. The treasure ships were coming for refuge and safety.

“What was your vision?” Trynne asked her. Sometimes her mother told her about them. Sometimes she did not. One thing she’d learned about life was that there’d always be mysteries. She noticed the strange iron key dangling from her mother’s girdle, still sheathed in magic. No one could see it except for Trynne’s father and herself.