Page 140 of In Rising Tides

“Drystan and the council are aware that her life hangs in the balance. But with tumultuous alliances between them and their people, the more pressing matter is Drystan ascending the throne.”

Maelys plucked at the loose threads on the edge of the plaid blanket. “I thought he had risen into power already because of the coup?”

“He can not formally claim the title until he weds Lyra.”

Even though he already knew that was the case, it still didn’t stop him from feeling as if the wind had been ripped from his lungs.

“We knew that already,” Otto said, stretching his back and adjusting his posture.

“Fine.” Jordania quirked a brow. “Did you know they had set a date?”

“What?” The question exploded from Wilder and Ridge.

She nodded. “They’re to be wed during the summer equinox.”

Maelys covered her face with her hands, and Ridge wrapped her up in his arms.

She wept, and Wilder felt her anguish mirror his. There was a fire in his eyes, and he blinked it away.

“I hate this,” Maelys sobbed. “We have to stop it. We have to help her.”

Wilder agreed wholeheartedly but felt powerless to do anything.

“We have to trust that Lyra knows what she’s doing,” Otto added.

“Lyra’s not doing anything,” Maelys snapped, pulling her head from her hands and wiping away her tears. Lines still streaked down her face, and the tears that had yet to fall glimmered like gold. “She can’t help herself, not down there.”

Ridge stroked a large palm down her back. “There’s nothing we can do, Lys.”

She pulled away from his touch and clambered to her feet. “I am sick of feeling this way. We’ve been hiding out here just waiting for everything to fix itself. We have to do something.Storm the Wilds, or go back to the Mannereds and plead with Titania to launch a thousand ships. Do something—anything.” Her voice was a wail in the wind.

Maelys’ shoulders rose and fell rapidly as she cast pleading eyes at all of them, her bottom lip still trembling. Her words were identical to the ones he battled against every single day.

“She’s right,” Wilder added. “I’m sick of training for what could happen. We need to be making things happen.”

Jordania tilted her head back as she stared up at Maelys. “I have an idea, but it’s dangerous and may not work.”

Otto shook his head. “That kind of magic is unpredictable.” Wilder’s brows tugged over his eyes as he shifted his attention between them.

“Care to share with the group?” Dust said with a twitch of his lips. “Some of us don’t have the gift of sight.”

Jordania rose to her full height. “I’m talking about scrying to form a mind connection with Lyra.”

“A what now?” Ridge asked, leaning away from Jordania as if she had threatened to kick him.

“Because we’re on a ley line, the magic here is strong, rooted in our world.” She gestured to the land beneath her feet and then to the sea. “If I can draw upon that, I might be able to link Wilder’s mind with hers so that we can communicate directly and work together to get her back.”

“No,” Otto said, thick with anger. “It’s too dangerous. That type of magic isn’t practiced anymore.”

“How is it dangerous?” Ridge asked.

Wilder was thinking the same thing, but was also still processing the possibility that he could speak with her.

Just hearing her voice would bring light back into his life.

Oron cleared his throat. “I fail to see how that would help us.”

Wilder looked out to sea.