Warrior's Ransom (The First Argentines #2) - Jeff Wheeler Page 0,43

until after he was gone. My uncle was at the tournament in Chessy at the time.”

“Who are you?” he asked intently.

She glanced down at her hands before she looked up at him. “Who was I then, or who am I now?”

“There is a difference, then?” He leaned toward her.

“Yes.” Her eyes peered into his. “We are both Fountain-blessed, Ransom. We are not like other people. When you were wounded, the Fountain told me to heal you, even though I risked my own safety by doing so.”

His feelings churned with uncertainty. He’d always felt a great curiosity about the woman who’d saved him. He’d fallen a little in love with the idea of her, before discovering she was the cloaked lady. The mystery of it had been alluring, although his feelings for Claire were much stronger. Now his savior, Devon’s killer, sat with him, and he struggled to reconcile her with the things she’d done.

“Are we the only ones?” he asked.

“The only ones I know of,” she answered. “I was just beginning to learn about my powers when they brought you here. I sensed something different about you. Afterward, I heard about how you’d stood alone against DeVaux’s knights. They couldn’t defeat you. It reminded me of stories I’ve read.”

“What stories?” he asked with interest.

“The legends of King Andrew. This castle plays a role in that history. Before it was named Kerjean, they called it the Castle of the Fisher Kings. It draws those who are Fountain-blessed. It drew me here. And now it’s brought you.”

She looked into his eyes, her expression full of wonder and confusion. “You are part of something greater than yourself, Ransom. Can’t you feel that? We both are. It is so strange meeting you like this. I didn’t think there was any chance you would ever come here voluntarily. Yet . . . here you are. It’s a miracle to me.”

“What is significant about this castle?” Ransom asked. “I’ve never heard of the Fisher Kings before.”

“I’m sure you haven’t,” she said. “This castle has been here for as long as written history. This place used to be its own kingdom. There has always been a deep connection between this place and the Fountain because the people are so dependent on the streams and the ocean, and the bounty they provide, for their livelihood. The folk who lived here were called Fisher Kings. Now it is just a duchy. But in days of old, the Duke of Bayree would have been a king. The people here treated him as one.”

Ransom felt a twinge of sorrow for having killed the man. “He was your uncle, then?”

She shook her head. “But that was what I called him. That was what everyone believed. As you may have guessed, I am the natural daughter of the Duchess of Vexin. Your queen.” She seemed to wrestle inwardly with some dark emotion, then shook it off and continued. “The Duke of Bayree thought to woo her after her father died. He sent his first knight to win her trust, to see if she would be amenable to such an alliance, but another offer had come in from the Duke of Westmarch. That duchy was more significant, more powerful than Bayree. In his zeal to persuade my mother to love his master, the knight . . .” Her voice trailed off. Her lips pressed tightly together. “Let’s just say they failed to suppress their affection for each other. I was born of their union. I was their shame. Queen Emiloh got rid of me as soon as I was born. She ordered her lover, the knight, to take me away. And I was brought here. My uncle, the man I call my uncle, took me in. And now he is dead, and he has named me his heir.”

She breathed out slowly. “King Lewis had other plans for me. He sent me to be trained by an order of women in the kingdom of Pisan. To be used as a tool to ensure that his son, the Black Prince, would one day rule over all the kingdoms. I have been their tool for most of my life, Ransom. But what has happened now . . . it changes everything. The game of Wizr is almost over, and Devon will likely win it.”

“Game?” Ransom asked with confusion. He felt his pulse in his ears as she told her story. She knew things that he did not. She could help him understand his place in the world,