The Hollow Crown (Kingfountain #4)

Captain Staeli pulled out all the various tricks from his arsenal. She countered each one, seeing how it would happen just a moment before it did and knowing exactly how to counter it to her best advantage. Her movements were short and swift and devastatingly effective. After several minutes, she had him on the ground again, controlled by a locking bar hold on his arm. His breathing was huffing with the effort and with a little hint of pain. She did not feel winded at all.

He looked about to surrender, but her new senses told her that he was going to try to kick her foot and trip her. She waited until he did, then bent her knee so that his blow missed, following up by dropping her knee down on his calf muscle, making him grunt with pain.

“Do you yield?” she asked him, tightening her grip on his arm.

He nodded, his nose crinkled with suffering, but he bit back the pain.

Trynne released him and then helped him rise. He kneaded his calf, grimacing. The dawn still had not broken yet, and he was clearly winded.

“What happened while you were away?” he said, shaking his head at her. “You’re not the little girl I trained yesterday.” He straightened, rubbing his arm next.

She let out a sigh. “I am not, Captain Staeli. I have been chosen by the Fountain to protect the king. I am different now. I feel different. I guess you could say the Wizr cast a spell on me. The Fountain bids me go to Brugia and compete in the Gauntlet. Captain Staeli, I no longer need your protection.”

His eyes widened as if she’d suddenly slapped him in the face. In that brief unguarded moment, she saw real hurt. She was not an assignment to him, she realized, but almost like a daughter. He had watched over and protected her for much of her life. He had enjoyed training with her in the mornings, and the thought of being dismissed from her service was unbearably painful to him. But he was a soldier and a man, and would brook his disappointment with grim resignation. In that moment of decision, she saw his lip curl into a sad frown.

“If that is my lady’s wish,” he said solemnly.

She shook her head no. “Captain, I no longer require your protection. But I would appreciate your companionship. The Fountain bids me keep this secret from my parents and even from the king. I have been permitted to tell Queen Genevieve. And you.” She gave him one of her rare smiles.

His look softened considerably and a proud grin lifted his normally stoic mouth. “Truly? The Fountain . . . the Fountain knows me?”

“Yes, Captain. It does indeed. And I am grateful that I do not need to bear this secret alone. Have you heard the legends of the Oath Maidens?”





CHAPTER TWELVE


Brugia




Trynne’s relationship with Captain Staeli changed significantly in the days following her humbling of him in the training yard. In fact, their roles reversed, and she became the teacher. Their early morning jaunts in the training yard started with him picking various weapons and asking her to teach him the techniques revealed to her by the Fountain. A rigorous master, he proved to be an equally adept learner. He hadn’t expected his charge to turn the tables on him, but there was no denying the power of her Fountain magic, and he was eager for the opportunity to test and improve his abilities.

As the time approached for the Gauntlet of Brugia, Trynne grew more and more anxious about how she was going to attend. She didn’t want to break her parents’ trust by using the ley lines without their permission. But taking a ship would likely be more dangerous, and it would certainly be more time consuming. Brugia’s capital, the city of Marq, was at a major intersection of ley lines. It was due south of Kingfountain, along a major north–south axis. It was also on the same east-west axis as the ley line that ran through Pisan, the one Trynne speculated ran eastward all the way to Chandigarl. There was a ley line from Ploemeur to Marq, so she could travel to that city instantaneously, which she felt in her heart was the best option. But she worried her mother or father would find out and banish her from the fountain rooms.

While she worried about her upcoming travel, she and Captain Staeli visited some Brugian merchant shops in Ploemeur. She was grateful that Brythonica was a trading nation, giving her access to the fashions from both continents. She bought a lovely dress from the merchant shop on her visit with Captain Staeli. The fashion for girls was a skirt with dark colors, deep maroon or violet or gray, with a front-lacing kirtle worn over a voluminous white chemise with garters at the wrist, elbow, and upper arm. It was also a Brugian tradition for both maids and men to wear stiff velvet hats in black with silver ribbons stitched into the base. These were not the puffy caps worn in Kingfountain; they fit closer to the head and fluted out slightly. Staeli also bought a costume in the Brugian fashion, one that was big enough to cover his hauberk. He grudgingly bought the black hat as well, though he was the sort of man who preferred leather hoods to such ceremonious attire. And he bought an extra costume for his “nephew”—one that Trynne would wear after arriving in Marq.

Trynne waited anxiously for the fortnight to pass, growing increasingly nervous. Her mother’s mood had gone somber after she’d learned of Myrddin’s departure. The king needed Sinia’s counsel more and more, and her responsibilities at Kingfountain had disrupted her duties as Brythonica’s duchess. But while Trynne’s mother was distracted, it remained to be seen whether the voyage to Brugia could be made in secret. With Sinia’s frequent departures, Owen’s parents were staying at the castle to help keep the order and ensure Gannon was diligently practicing his studies.

Trynne’s mother had a busy day of duties scheduled for the day of the Gauntlet, and Trynne hoped to depart Ploemeur after breakfast and return by the evening meal. She wondered if she would get to see Fallon while she was there—and if he would be able to recognize her in her disguise. The idea made her feel smug and excited at once.

The last day of waiting arrived, and that morning she found herself checking her pack once again to make sure it was ready. There was a knock at her door and Trynne was startled to find her mother’s lady-in-waiting behind it. Her name was Blanche.

“Tryneowy, your mother would like to see you ere she departs for the House of Pillars. Can you come?”

“Of course,” Trynne answered, her stomach suddenly aflutter with nerves. She knew it was the Fountain’s will that she go to the Gauntlet in Marq. But it had left the arrangements to her. Walking nervously to her mother’s sitting room, she took a deep breath and then entered, trying to appear calm and free of worries.

“Yes, Mother?” she asked. Her mother was sitting at the table, brushing her golden hair, but she looked ill at ease. When Trynne entered, Sinia set down the brush and quickly rose.

“What’s wrong?” Trynne asked her, giving her a concerned look.

Sinia approached and took her hands, her expression brooding. “I had a strange vision last night,” she said in a low voice, and Trynne’s stomach began to flop like a fish tossed on a plank.

“You did?” she replied, trying to hide the tremble in her voice. “Of what?”