Page 101 of In Rising Tides

Lyra swallowed forcibly and held her breath.

Wilder had warned her that no creature set foot in Badenvaria for fear of death. But the scouts on land appeared no differently than humans.

Then again, so did the mermaids on land for the tithe.

How do the humans know who to take in offering?

Caius scoffed. “The humans don’t have magic.”

The scout threw pleading eyes around the room. “I’m not lying, Your Highness. There is something wrong with the land there. We can’t set foot past their defenses.”

“These aren’t the right questions,” Caspian said, his voice thick with annoyance. “Why would the High King want to break the Tidal Tithe? It doesn’t involve him or his court.”

Drystan glanced sidelong at Lyra and his eyes dimmed.

She felt as if all the light in the room focused on her, a specimen for examining.

“If I tell you the answer, do you swear to listen before condemning me?” Lyra’s voice came out much stronger than she felt in that moment.

Adamaris face lit with surprise before a chuckle erupted from him. “She is much more like her sisters than I originally assumed.” He nodded, looking around the room for agreement. “We will withhold our judgment.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lir spat.

“Imagine that,” Rigel said. “The Prince of Olous still fails to see the value of someone who has lived with our enemies, just because she is a female.”

Red crept up Lir’s neck until his entire face was crimson.

Drystan swam to the center of the room and came to a halt beside the scout.

“Silence.”

The room quieted as he turned to look at her. She was all alone on this side of the room. Floating in front of them, she was defenseless.

But that wasn’t the truth. She had her voice. Her power.

A small voice whispered in the back of her mind not to use it,not yet.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “The Tithe does impact the elves. But it will impact us all before too long,” she swallowed. “The Tithe is a bargain with the humans.”

Lyra tried to read their expressions as her words landed their blow, but her gaze locked with Drystan’s and she couldn’t look away.

He searched her face for a tell, anything that would hint she was lying.

She heard Lir splutter, but still she couldn’t look away. She expected more.

More fury, more outrage, more chaos. There was only partial silence.

Finally, Drystan unlocked her from his attention as he shook his head.

“This is another lie the elves twisted your mind with,” he said. “There would be an account of such a bargain between our realms, and there is nothing of the sort.”

Caspian cleared his throat. “There is actuallynothingwritten about the origin of the Tidal Tithe, Your Majesty.”

Lyra blinked. That wasn’t a defense of her claims, but it also wasn’t a defense of Drystan’s either.

“How do you know?” Hadrian asked, his brow pinched together.

“Lyra’s disappearance,” Caspian winced. “Prompted an information-seeking mission in my territory.”