Trynne’s heart filled with a burning rage. Were they speaking of Drew or Gahalatine? There was a fallen spear on the ground in front of her, only a couple of steps away, and she felt a powerful urge to seize it and hurl it through Rucrius’s back. The temptation was painful. But it was against one of the oaths she had taken as an Oath Maiden, and she would not give in to it. Still, she promised herself Rucrius’s treachery against his own king and hers would be punished.

The sound of boots came from the corridor behind them and she felt the power and presence of Fountain magic once again. Trynne whirled around just in time to see more soldiers marching down the hall, all of them wearing the leaf armor. Lady Evie did the same. Another Wizr was with the warriors, and when they turned the corner, they saw the two women at the door.

The Wizr’s eyes widened in surprise. “Who are you?” he demanded.

She felt something in his eyes, some look of recognition.

The door behind them was shoved open by invisible hands, knocking them both away.

“Rucrius!” the Wizr shouted. “It’s her!”

Trynne summoned her magic to defend herself. She had faced three Wizrs before, but not while fighting so many soldiers—that would be impossible. The magic revealed to her that the power of the sleeping spell was coming from high above the castle. She grabbed Lady Evie by the wrist and used the magic of the Tay al-Ard to bring them to the poisoner’s tower.

The rush of the magic spilled them both to the floor of the tower room, and they landed on their hands and knees. Trynne’s head swam with dizziness, and the force of the magic blasting down from the staff above her rang in her ears. She had sensed the magic coming from the tower earlier, but it had not been activated at the time. It was certainly active now. The power radiating from it was so immense, it had rendered the entire palace asleep except for those the Wizrs had made immune to it.

Trynne kicked open the balcony window and stepped outside, knowing her time was measured in moments. She gazed out at a sea of fog shrouding Kingfountain’s lower harbor beneath the falls. The fog was thick and unnatural, most unusual for the season, but she still saw the hulking treasure ship coming up the river. The crews and ships stationed at the harbor would not be able to see it coming. She heard the rush of the waterfall and realized with despair that the city was lost.

The Wizrs were controlling events, not Gahalatine. Trynne’s hasty visit to the Forbidden Court had merely accelerated the plans they’d already been brewing.