Severn sneered. “The palace will not be difficult to defend. I would move half of your army to Beestone castle. You don’t want everyone to be trapped inside the city during a siege. You’ll need a solid force outside to coordinate attacks. If it were me,” he added in an aggrieved tone, “I would stay at Beestone myself. Let him throw away lives trying to attack a landlocked castle. Then hit him hard from the sides. Remember, lad. You are the kingdom. Taking the capital won’t make Gahalatine king. Only you can give him what he seeks.”

As much as Trynne hated to admit it, she saw wisdom in Severn’s words. He had spent his entire reign clutching the hollow crown, defying those who sought to wrest it from him. Drew didn’t have that kind of experience. How much was he willing to wrestle to preserve what the Fountain had given him?

“Lady Trynne,” Drew said, shifting his gaze to her. “How would you advise me?”

She was startled by the sudden attention to her and her ideas. Her stomach began to fill with butterflies, but Genny smiled at her husband’s question and patted his arm approvingly.

“Well, I know for a fact that Gahalatine is not with his fleet,” Trynne answered, feeling her voice tremble a little. She had received Genny’s permission to share her story with the council. “The queen recently sent me on a mission to Chandleer Oasis, which lies in the desert along the trade routes to Gahalatine’s domain. He attacked it while I was there, striking from the mountains to the east of the oasis. No one expected it, least of all the king. I agree with Duke Severn,” she said, giving him a respectful nod. “The kingdom is where you are, my lord. And that means you should not be where Gahalatine can easily reach you.”

A few murmurs of assent followed her words.

The king breathed heavily. “I do not relish the idea of leaving my wife and child unprotected.”

Genny leaned forward. “Your grandfather once sent his wife and children to the sanctuary of Our Lady during an invasion. I don’t think Gahalatine would harm a woman deliberately. It’s you he wants.”

Drew’s eyes narrowed. Trynne could see he was wrestling with the decision. “Lady Sinia?”

Her bearing was very solemn. “Morwenna knows how to invoke the protections that will defend the sanctuary from a flood. My visions have all been about the journey I must shortly make. I’m sorry to be of no use here.”

“Maybe your use,” the king replied with great respect, “will come from assistance in other quarters. May the Fountain guide your sails, my lady of Brythonica.”

Sinia bowed her head to the king.

Drew rose from his chair and planted his hands on the table. “You think I should go to Beestone, then?” he said to Trynne.