Page 184 of In Violent Waves

Otto cleared his throat, and Lyra flinched.

Baelwyn turned on a heel, and they followed behind him. When Lyra slipped her hand into Wilder’s, he did not hesitate to grip hers. She was afraid.

“Queen Titania is kind,” Wilder whispered, knowing damn well everyone in the hall could hear his words.

Lyra shook her head once, and Wilder’s brow furrowed.

“Later,” she mouthed.

Stone doors opened on silent hinges. The metal ivy filigree flanking each door unwound itself to allow entry, and they stepped through the threshold.

Wilder heard Lyra’s breath catch in her throat.

Evening light poured through rainbow-tinted windows in the ceiling. Archways made of the white, glittering stone led to the tall dais on which the crescent-moon-shaped throne sat.

Queen Titania sat regally in a high-collar navy gown embroidered with silver thread. The light danced upon the thread, casting tiny rainbows around her like bobbing butterflies.

Wilder walked with steady legs to the queen, who would have been his mother-in-law.

“Wilder,” she breathed, her voice as soft and lovely as a spring breeze.

He dropped to one knee and bowed. Lyra dropped alongside him, and the queen tutted.

“Such formalities,” she giggled. “Up, up, my child!”

Wilder didn’t know who she spoke to until Baelwyn stepped alongside Lyra and offered her a hand to lead her up the steps.

Lyra walked with such grace that he stared with astonishment. She had never been that steady on her feet before.

Titania stood and clasped Lyra’s hands in hers. A rustle of her gown was all that could be heard as she moved Lyra into a beam of light.

“Pray, child, who is your mother?”

Lyra opened her mouth and then shrugged. Wilder continued to stare, his ears pricking as he listened to their conversation from down the stairs.

“My father had her dragged to shore.”

“Your father? King Auris?”

Lyra bobbed a nod, and Titania reached out, plucking a loose strand of auburn between her fingertips.

“Only one other female in the world had hair of this color …” she breathed.

Otto cleared his throat, and Wilder’s eyes flashed to his friend.

Baelwyn gasped, and Titania looked down from her throne to Otto.

“Am I correct?”

Lyra looked from person to person, not quite understanding what was happening. Which made two of them.

“Blessed three,” Maelys blurted out.

Ridge clapped a hand over her mouth and grimaced with an apology.

Dust and Oak shared a look and then shrugged.

Wilder turned back to Otto, who bowed low to the queen.