The Silent Shield (The Kingfountain Series Book 5)

by Jeff Wheeler

  Holding the torch, she continued down the steps, feeling the swell of the magic growing stronger. The stairs were short and ended in front of another door watched by another set of guards. They wore Fallon’s badge, the Pierced Lion. They asked no questions as she approached, only turned and pulled at the heavy doors for her. She nodded to them both, feeling her unease growing with each step.

  The presence of magic was growing stronger. She could sense it filling the corridor. She reached out with her magic and sensed a single person waiting for her ahead. Her heart pounded in her throat. Was it Gahalatine? He was making no effort to hide his power at all. In fact, quite the opposite. His power was luring her there.

  They were belowground in the bowels of the castle. The noise of the grinding stones had faded, and all was quiet other than her footsteps and the hissing flame of the torch. The smell of pitch was strong.

  As she walked carefully ahead, she saw an iron gate blocking the way. The darkness and her weariness descended on her, making her fearful. There were several iron doors farther down the corridor, beyond the gate, but no one was standing guard. She approached the gate, watching the light play off the round bars. There was someone in the corridor, though not behind any of the iron doors. Someone she could sense but not see.

  When the magic dissolved, all the air huffed out of her in a gasp. Dragan stood leaning against the bars, his cheek pressed against them.

  “Hello again, lass,” he said by way of greeting. There was a look of cunning and cruelty in his eyes as he stared at the left side of her face.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Lost

  Once again Trynne found herself facing the man who had harmed her as a child. Even with the bars separating them, she felt part of herself plunge into a dark abyss. Her childhood had been shattered by this man. She wanted revenge. The oath she had taken would be tested again.

  Somehow she found the courage to speak his name. “Dragan.” She stepped forward, holding the torch higher to get a better look at his face. He winced, his eyes not adjusting well to the stabs of light.

  “Put it down or put it lower; I can see ye well enough,” he said with a growl in his voice.

  “Why are you here?” she asked, keeping a good distance between them. She reached out with her magic and tested him. His reserves were running low. How did the thief lord usually supply his needs? Was it through stealing? If so, his cage was preventing it. Then again, there was no reason for him to be invisible in his prison.

  “Even a clever rat gets caught by a trap,” he answered, wagging his eyebrows at her. He gripped a bar with one hand and slid his palm up and down, taking the measure of it. Then he shook the bars roughly, impotently, furiously. His teeth were bared. “I was not expecting ye, lass.”

  “Then who were you expecting?” she demanded, trying to keep her voice from quavering. She probed his weaknesses. He was not a threat to her physically. His heart beat in quivering, irregular thumps, and his other internal organs were tender from hard drinking and complacency. He’d be winded in a trice if he tried to run—and that was if his knees held him.

  “Someone else,” he answered with a shrug of one shoulder.

  “Well, I’m the one who found you. The king is here. Did you know that?”

  Dragan blanched. “Well, I daresay he didn’t leave Kingfountain on a pleasure jaunt, did he? His time be almost up. There will be a new king soon.”

  Trynne glared at him. “Not if I can help it.”

  He chuckled roughly. “And what can you do, lass? You’re not half as clever as your papa.” He said the endearment with loathing in his voice. “Naught like your mam, neither. She was powerful. I heard about the day she saved the sanctuary from flooding. My ilk still pay homage to me. You swooned when ye tried to help her. If the other lass hadn’t come, you would have faltered and they’d all have drowned.”

  He was plying her with his words, trying to manipulate her emotions. She was tempted to thrust the torch through the bars to burn him. No! She reined in her feelings sharply.

  “You want revenge on me,” Dragan said. “I see it in your eyes. Your kind like to strut and mince and make a tinkling with your fancy jewelry. You say ‘as it please you, Father’ and make a little curtsy. Your papa got my daughter killt.” His eyes blazed with animosity. “I tried to be revenged on ye in turn. A daughter for a daughter. Right is right. But it didn’t satisfy. I made ye ugly, but it’s your father I wanted to destroy. Do you know where he is, lass?” He leered at her.

  “Tell me,” Trynne said in a low, dangerous voice.

  Dragan shook his head. “First, ye open this little rat trap. I swear I won’t harm ye further.”

  “You think I trust you?” Trynne said with annoyance. “You got your daughter killed. I know the stories. She died saving my father’s life. It was your fault.”

  He clucked his tongue. When he resumed speaking, his accent was less affected. He was comfortable speaking to any class, it would seem. “I know what I know, lass. A daughter’s duty is to her father, is that not the way of things? Now let me out of this cage. You can help me. And then I will help you. There are answers I can give you. Answers worth a king’s ransom, I should think, if you only knew them. It won’t save your king’s life. Nothing can do that now. But it could help you, lass. It could bring back your father.”

  Trynne stared at him. He was desperate for any way to escape the punishment he knew was coming. He had stolen all his life and he knew his life would be forfeit now that he had been caught.

  “I couldn’t believe anything you told me,” Trynne said with a shake of her head. “You’re a liar and a thief. You’re not acquainted with the meaning of truth.”

  He pressed his face against the bars, his eyes burning into hers. His lips quivered with rage. “I’m a liar, am I? The secrets I know are valuable.”

  “Prove it.”

  “Your father was summoned to a grove of trees in Brythonica,” Dragan said. “How would I know that except if I was there? He had a little ring . . . a ring on his finger. No one could see it, but it was there.”

  Trynne’s stomach twisted with dread. Dragan knew.

  “I see by the twitch of your cheek that you know I’m right. There’s more, lass. I know where the ring is.”

  Trynne narrowed her eyes. “How could you know that?”

  He grinned at her, his teeth rank and rotting. “Lass, open the gate and I’ll tell you all. My stash means nothing to me if I’m trapped in here. I was the one who captured him. But I was paid to do it by someone who knew about the grove. Who knew about the silver dish and what would happen if water were poured from it onto the slab. That was the trick, you see. That was how we got him. I had some sanctuary men with me.”

  “You cut off his hand and left the ring in the grove,” Trynne said, barely controlling the fury she felt as she stepped forward again, gazing into his green eyes.

  He shook his head. “No, lass. That wasn’t his hand!” he said. “It was only made to look like it. It was meant to throw you off the trail, looking for a one-handed man. But I kept the ring, sez I. And I know where it is. You have a decoy. A copy. She’s very good at copying.”

  Trynne jumped on the clue instantly. “She?”

  Dragan’s cheek twitched. He’d revealed more than he’d intended. “I will be killt for what I know, lass. Come, little dove. Open the gate. I’ll tell you all. You’ve a spider in the corner. A spider with fangs.”

  Morwenna.

  The grating of an iron door startled her. Her heart raced as she turned toward the sound of approaching bootfalls. Dragan tried to gaze past Trynne, but the light had made it impossible to see.

  Trynne turned sideways, shifting enough to watch the newcomer’s approach but not enough to lose sight of Dragan. She recognized the sound of the stride. From the shadows of the corridor, Fallon emerged.

  “What are you doing down here, Trynne?” he asked. He had a dark countenance, a brooding look.

  “Hello
, Master,” Dragan said.

  “I’m tempted to reach through those bars and throttle your neck, thief,” Fallon said grimly. “I am not your master, as you well know. Trynne, come with me.”

  “If you leave me here alone, I’m a dead man,” Dragan said to Trynne, his eyes widening with fear.

  Fallon glowered at him. “Your death is already a foregone conclusion.” He had reached Trynne and stood by her, almost in a protective stance. “I hope you don’t give too much credence to anything he’s said to you. He’s liable to say anything to save his skin from frostbite.”

  Trynne looked up at Fallon, feeling the familiar feelings at war inside her—the desire to trust him and the fear that she could not. “Why is he even here, Fallon?”

  “I will gladly explain it to you,” he said, gesturing for the exit. “But I’d rather not say more in front of such a man. He has a thousand tricks. I had no doubt that you would sense him when you arrived. I might not be Fountain-blessed, but I know that one Fountain-blessed can feel the presence of another. I was going to tell you about him before . . . well, you know what happened. Let’s speak now. Come with me.”

  “She will kill me,” Dragan said softly.

  Fallon snorted. “Not likely,” he countered. “She’s behind bars herself and I had the blacksmith melt lead into the lock. Just as I did with this one. When I open this gate, it will be to drag you to a donkey and haul you to Helvellyn to freeze to death.” He took another step toward the locked gate, as if he couldn’t help himself. “I know you were at the grove, Dragan. I know you were part of the abduction, and I’ve already found the horde of coins you were bribed with. You have no further information I desire. The only thing I want from you now is your sorry carcass. But it will be done by the Assizes or by the king’s command. Not my own. But rest assured, Dragan, if your life is ended sooner by other means, I could hardly care less.” Then he turned and bowed to Trynne. “My lady, if you would come with me?”

  Trynne nodded, feeling her heart flutter as Fallon’s words sank home. He gently took her arm and offered to carry her torch. As they walked away together, Dragan began to shake the bars in a fit of rage and screamed violent oaths.

  Neither of them turned to look at him.

  The stairwell leading up to the highest spire of the castle seemed unending. It was wide enough that they could climb it side by side, but soldiers wearing the badge of the Pierced Lion were coming down from above and they had to hug close to the wall to make room. Trynne craned her neck, peering up the dark shaft, unable to see the top. The noise of their steps and heavy breathing mingled to drown out any other sounds, save for the patter of distant steps and the noise from the wind every time they passed an arrow slit.

  The climb was long but invigorating. By the time they reached the highest level, coming to a stop before a ladder leading up to a trapdoor, Fallon had a sheen of sweat on his brow. Both of them were a little winded.

  “I don’t think Farnes would care to serve in Dundrennan, do you?” he asked.

  Trynne smiled a little as she thought of her aging herald scaling the steps. Fallon climbed up the ladder and pushed open the trapdoor. A brisk, knifelike wind came rushing down, cutting through her tunic instantly as she started to climb up the ladder. He emerged first and then reached down to help her up.

  The tower was the highest point of the castle and the view nearly made her dizzy as she stared down at the bailey. The sky was thick with clouds, though they parted to show a sliver of brilliant moon that shed its light across the woolen veil. The noise of the waterfall was much louder up there, a constant murmur against the howl of the wind. Fallon quickly removed his cloak and draped it over her shoulders. It was warm from his body heat and the exertion of the climb. The gesture sent a little shiver through her, and she smiled up at him.

  There were four soldiers already up there, each one looking in a different direction, their eyes piercing the gloom. There were no torches, but each man had a hooded lantern. The bailey yard below was still teeming with people.

  “What’s the latest news, Captain?” Fallon asked, half shouting to be heard above the screech of the wind.

  “My lord,” the captain shouted back, putting his arm out and gripping Fallon’s shoulder. “The forefront of Gahalatine’s army has reached Doublebrook. They’ll be at the walls before dawn by our reckoning.”

  “That soon?” Fallon answered, shaking his head in amazement.

  “Aye, my lord. His army never stops, not fully. A part of it is always in motion. There are now two supply lines. One from Blackpool. Another from Kennit, one on either side of us. They seemed to know the king would be here.”

  “Seems so,” Fallon responded gravely. “I’d like a moment with this young lady, if you wouldn’t mind, Captain.”

  The captain, a large man with a full beard and whiskers, grinned a toothy grin and motioned for the others to join him. “Let’s wait out of the wind for a bit, chaps. What do you say?”

  “Aye, Captain.” There was no disagreement, and soon Trynne and Fallon were alone at the top of the tower. The howling wind whipped her hair across her face.

  “I’m sorry to have brought you up this high, but it is one of the few places I can be assured a private conversation,” he said with a chuckle. He stood in front of her, leaning back slightly against the wall of the parapet. She was afraid the wind was going to suddenly shove him over the edge, but she was close enough to grab his sword belt if that happened. She gazed up at him, feeling a surge of warmth for him when she noticed how his unruly hair was being ruffled by the wind.

  “I owe you some answers,” he said, folding his arms.

  “I think you do,” Trynne agreed.

  “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve imagined us being here together,” he said, shaking his head. “There’s so much of the North that I long to show you. The falls. The ice caves where our parents found Drew’s sword. There’s a man here named Carrick. He’s Fountain-blessed—a hunter. I learned that he was called on to investigate your father’s disappearance. I was wroth that he kept the secret for so long, but eventually I wheedled it out of him. Don’t blame him, Trynne, he was forced between his duty to me as his duke and to his loyalty to your family. When I came to Gannon’s funeral, I brought him with me so he could show me the place where he’d found the evidence. He stayed at a farm outside Ploemeur.

  “That’s why I didn’t want you to bring me back to Kingfountain when you offered. There were no more bootprints, obviously. I just wanted to see it with my own eyes. There is something about that cave, Trynne.” He shook his head, gazing downward, his arms still folded.

  Then he looked at her, meeting her eyes without flinching. “I should have told you. My heart was hurting because of what happened to your brother. I was sure Dragan was behind it, and it made me sick to think of him walking free after everything he’s done. But how does one catch a thief who can turn invisible? Well, I’ve thought about that for a long time. The answer was greed. Dragan loves to steal, and the harder the target, the more it interests him. So I built a trap for him in my treasury. I commissioned a very expensive champion’s medallion and hired someone to build a trapped box to contain it. I kept it a secret, but I knew that workmen talk. I counted on it. The gate was installed so that if someone lifted the box, the trap would be sprung and the gate closed. I couldn’t care less about the treasure. I wanted to capture Dragan. I knew he would strike while I was at Kingfountain participating in the Gauntlet. He’s been trapped here for days, his power dwindling because there is no one to steal from. I only found out I’d caught the rat in my trap after arriving here with Morwenna. We’ve fed him prisoner’s rations through the bars so he won’t die, but it’s not expected he’ll live long now.”

  Trynne gave him an encouraging smile. “That was fairly clever, Fallon Llewellyn.”

  He shrugged but seemed to enjoy the praise, as his cheek twitched. “There’s more. I think Morwenna was behind the plot to kidnap your father. I�
��ve often wondered how she became so powerful so quickly. She knows things that a young woman her age . . . shouldn’t possibly know. While she says it comes from reading The Vulgate, I’ve had my doubts. I think she’s allied with the Wizrs of Chandigarl, and the men in the silver masks were coming here at her bidding. I even disguised myself as one to try and ferret out who was behind the plot. That ended disastrously,” he said with a snort, shaking his head with embarrassment. Then he looked at her. “When I heard she was taking you to Chandigarl . . .” He stopped again, sighing. “I cannot tell you how it tortured me. I feared I would never see you again. I had to trust that you’d remember the warning I gave you about Morwenna before, and that you’d be on your guard because of it. Now, there are two more reasons I wanted to bring you up here.” He reached out and took her shoulders, and for a dizzying moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Instead, he turned her around until she was facing away from him.

  “You are too clever by far, Trynne,” he said, lowering his voice but bringing his mouth near her ear. “One of your maidens must have told you about my soldiers. She told you correctly, and I disavowed it because it needs to be a secret still. I have ten thousand men up in the heights with a hundred thousand spears. Probably not that many, but it’s sufficiently vast. They’re awaiting my orders to start hurling them down at Gahalatine’s army after it arrives.”

  The pieces fit together in her mind. “That explains why you were so coy about it,” she said, nodding and turning around. “Can they see us?”

  He shook his head. “It’s too dark. They are living in snow caves they’ve dug themselves. They can’t stay up there forever, but hopefully long enough to strike hard at Gahalatine and throw him off. The lanterns are to be the signal. They let them shine at the changing of every watch, always from a different place. That way we’ll know they are still there and they are ready.”