Genny shuddered at the words. “I need to speak with you about something I didn’t dare mention in front of Duke Severn.”

“What do you mean?” Trynne asked, leaning away from the wall and stepping closer to her friend.

“Let me just say that I’ve come to doubt Morwenna Argentine’s loyalty. Fallon has shared some facts with me. Some suspicions.”

Trynne’s eyebrow arched. “Like what?”

“Things he has already confided in you,” she answered. “He’s my brother first and foremost. We have always been close. He was right, you know. He was the one who predicted how Gahalatine would invade.”

Trynne bit her lip, wondering if she would speak the words, but she decided she must. “Did he predict it? Or did he already know?”

Genny looked at her seriously, not startled by the accusation. “Sometimes little doubts whisper to me. Like when I learned that your little brother died in that accident. It kept . . . it kept the Painted Knight from competing in the Gauntlet.” Genny wrung her hands. “But I cannot believe it of him, Trynne. No, I cannot believe he would stoop to murder. He still carries such a burden of grief about your childhood injury. He blames himself for leaving the castle that day, for being greedy about pies. Even now, he still thinks if he’d stayed with you . . . well, it’s so easy to torment ourselves with what might have been. The Fountain could have prevented Dragan’s attack against you. The Fountain could have healed you. Yet it did not. We all must play a purpose in this world, Trynne. I think you are here to protect and defend my husband and his throne. You are truly the king’s champion. But at this moment, you must be your queen’s.”

Genny sighed and gave Trynne a look of pure determination. “I want you to do the king’s bidding and go to the Forbidden Court with Morwenna. I need you to try and rescue my mother. But more importantly, I need to know if Morwenna has been telling us the truth about her visits there. My heart tells me there is a spy among us. I suspect Morwenna, but perhaps I’m wrong. She’s proved her loyalty over and over. However,” she added, tapping her lip, “she is also an Argentine. Her father used to be the king. I cannot help but wonder if her loyalties are conflicted. Still, the spy may be Fallon or someone we haven’t even considered. I only know that someone has revealed our secret councils to Gahalatine. Someone has prepared his army for this invasion. There is a saying that Myrddin often repeated. ‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a thousand battles.’ That was how your father kept winning. He took the time to understand his opponents. I think our enemies have been studying us for many years.”