The Silent Shield (Kingfountain #5)

“Thank you for sending your surgeons to the castle,” she said, realizing that she hadn’t thought to say it earlier. “That was kind of you.”

She saw him smile in a self-conscious way. “Of course you would be worried. We will try to save as many as we can. I brought many surgeons with my ships for the purpose of healing your people after we’d defeated them.” He sighed. “I’ll admit that it was more challenging than I expected. A good fight. An honorable one.” He gave her a tender look and set the bowl on the ground.

“First, you must eat and rest,” he said. “In keeping with our traditions, I’d offer to bathe you completely, but I understand that your traditions and sensibilities are much different, and it would more likely embarrass you than do you honor.”

Her cheeks flushed crimson at his suggestion and he laughed softly. “I thought as much. You will rest in here. I will bring you some food later, and then we can discuss terms.”

She shook her head. “I am not going to rest while my people worry in anticipation. We will discuss terms now. We may well be at an impasse.”

His brow wrinkled. “Surely not,” he said. He put his elbows on the chest and looked up at her. “I’ve won the day, Tryneowy. Another quarter hour and every man . . . or woman . . . defending your king would have been struck down, except yourself. You were not counting on Grand Duke Elwis to save you? Or the soldiers in the mountains? They’re both cut off from you, and I have even more reinforcements on the way by sea. Your king has my sister as a hostage. And I have you. I don’t believe you are going to slay my sister any more than your king believes I’d slay you. As if I could! You are the prize I wanted, Tryneowy.” He took her damp hand and brushed his lips against it. It sent shivers of fire up her whole arm.

He rose and pulled her up with him. “Rest. You are weary and tired. I don’t want you to regret your answers. I don’t want you to say later that you didn’t have your full wits when you promised to be mine. That you were forced to be my wife, my queen, my confidante.”

She looked him in the eye, seeing the earnestness in his words. “I will not have you,” she said.

“Do not say that,” Gahalatine said, shaking his head. “What must I do to earn your consent? I know you surely will not accept me without terms. I am prepared to make them.” He stabbed his chest with his finger. “It was you at the Battle of Guilme. The Painted Knight. The king’s best-kept secret. You are not just a wise maiden, but you are a warrior too! Do you not understand how intoxicating I find that? How much you intrigue me? Very little does that anymore. I wish to join with you, for you would shape me into a better man, I know it.

“I have faults and flaws, but a lack of honor is not one of them. I would never take you by force. Tryneowy, I am dazzled by you and all that you have accomplished. You’ve earned my respect and admiration. I had heard about your disfigurement, but in truth, I find you very attractive. Being with you right now is tormenting me in ways I hadn’t anticipated.” He turned away from her, perhaps to conceal or control his emotions. “I’ve been caught in a trap the Wizrs set. Brought perilously close to submitting, for there was no other choice. They sought to force me to marry another, the king’s sister. Someone they could control. They promised me that she would be everything I desire in a wife. You are my chance to be free of them.”

He pivoted on his heel to face her again. “I knew of you previously, of course. The Mandaryn said marrying someone from Kingfountain would help secure the peace quickly. I wished to marry you and invite your father to serve me, but they took him away. They’ve hidden him from me . . . from us.

“It was Rucrius’s doing. He led the Mandaryn. They have more power than you can understand. Every emperor before has been controlled by them, but I will shake off the yoke. With our gifts merged together, we can do it. Now, do not tell me that you will not consent. I cannot accept that answer. What would it take to win you? Name it, Tryneowy. I would give you half of my kingdom. But truly, it is yours anyway! Name your terms and I will accept them. Only be mine.”

His tone was pleading and passionate. There was ambition in his eyes, but it was not the only thing she saw there. There was open fascination in his gaze, as if everything about her intrigued him. She’d always felt so marred, so flawed. Morwenna was infinitely more beautiful. Yet he professed to feel passion for Trynne. But did he truly know her? They had only spoken twice. Was he in love with the idea of her? A conjuring of his own imagination?

He was so handsome, so self-confident. She was neither impressed with his wealth nor impressed by the opulence of his court. She could not imagine herself being the emperor’s wife.

But this was the moment. Her heart told her this was what her mother had seen in a vision.

Gahalatine’s look was so intense and imploring that she gazed down at the rugs beneath their feet.

“I cannot live apart from Brythonica,” she said haltingly. “I have a duty to protect the people in my mother’s absence.”

“Done,” Gahalatine said with a snap of his fingers. “My dear, as you well know, our magic is superior to yours. You can return to Ploemeur instantaneously every day if you wish it. I must rule from the Forbidden Court, but there is nothing to prevent me from joining you or you from joining me. Distance is not an obstacle to us. Please, think no more of it. What else? What are your concerns?”

Her heart nearly revolted at that moment, conjuring Fallon’s face in her mind. She had loved Fallon for so long, even though she’d known they could not be together. Losing him permanently would be painful. She’d been preparing herself for it, but the moment was finally nigh. She pressed her face into her hands and breathed deeply, trying to quell the trembling of her limbs. She looked up at him, his expression so vulnerable. “You do not know me very well. There are many things we do not know about each other.”

A smile quirked on his mouth. “Teach me, Tryneowy, how to please you. I long to tell you stories of my childhood, how I had to flee for my life. How I retook the city of my fathers and outmaneuvered the Wizrs at first. How I earned each of my wounds and battle scars. I long to hear the stories of your youth. Of the mischief you made. Stories of your father and how he outmaneuvered King Severn.” He came closer and lifted her chin, gazing down at her. His thumb brushed against her mouth, at the frown that would not yield. “How this happened to you. And how you faced it with courage. You are so beautiful, Tryneowy, and you are even more desirable in your armor. What else do you fear? The fate of your king? You saw what I did with Sunilik. He is one of my greatest advisors. Surely I will honor such a man.”