Staeli punched one of the girls in the stomach, twisting his leg around hers before throwing her down.

“Never better!” he shouted with a defiant grin.

Trynne’s face was dripping with sweat. But she wondered what she would do if there were no end to Gahalatine’s soldiers.

Even her magic had its limits.

My mind is…

My mind is much clearer now that I’ve stopped drinking the sugared poison. I still cannot remember who I am or how I came to be in this cell. But I have learned some things from the clues around me. I can summon fresh water from a carving I made in the stone wall. I don’t know how I do it, but I feel there is power inside me. My left hand once bore a ring. The skin on my ring finger is callused where it used to be. I feel an empty ache inside of me, a longing for people I cannot remember. I was married, or used to be. I know how to fight. Every time the guard comes to feed me, I am tempted to wrestle him for control of his dagger. He has some gout in his left knee, and even with these chains, I think I can overpower him. He refuses to answer my questions, but he’s worried that I’m so lucid. I think he realizes that the poison isn’t affecting me anymore.

Someone is coming. Not enough time has passed since my last bit of food. What is happening? I can feel the power the visitor is using. The door squeals as it opens. My jailor has brought a man wearing a silver mask.

CHAPTER NINE Turandokht

CHAPTER NINE

Turandokht

As Trynne fastened a bracelet onto her wrist, there was a knock on the door. She gazed at herself in the mirror, feeling clean from her bath, fresh in a gown, and confident. She had not depleted all her magic during the test with the Oath Maidens. Far from it. After some delicious peaches and salted nuts, she felt replenished and invigorated and ready to leave for Ploemeur.

“Enter,” she said, pulling out a pair of earrings as the door opened and old Farnes entered, wheezing, with Rani Sureya behind him.

Farnes gave her a formal bow, struggling with his breath. “A carriage arrived at the gate with a nobleman from the Occitanian city of Lionn seeking to meet you. I . . . sent him away. You wished to speak to the princess.” He straightened and shut the door as he left.

Sureya, who had taken to wearing the fashions of Kingfountain, had also bathed and changed. She looked on nervously as Trynne fastened the earrings to her lobes.

“You fight very well, Sureya,” Trynne said, turning around and smoothing her dress. “I thought you came here to be taught, but you are more capable than many of the girls who have been training for months.”