Page 148 of In Rising Tides

Lyra shook her head, but then realized his eyes were still closed. “I didn’t see any.”

He frowned and then opened his eyes.

There must have been something in her expression because he scooted over and patted the rock.

She stared at it.

“I know I’m the biggest predator here,” he drawled. “But I don’t bite.”

Her eyes darkened when he smiled.

“I can’t lie,” he muttered. “I have thought about what you might taste like.”

Rolling her eyes, she sat beside him and took in the view of the reef his seat produced.

“The reef is healthy,” she murmured.

The last time she was here, the reef had been distressed in areas with several spots bleached. She didn’t see any now.

A lobster clambered over a small rock beneath them, and a sea worm moved away, disturbing the silt. It plumed, hiding the lobster for a moment before it ascended the haze. Its red shell gleamed before it slid into a crevice and disappeared.

“It’s healthy here. There is more damage near Zeal, where the earthquake was. But with this part being directly above the ley line, it heals faster.”

Stress, water fluctuations, and overfishing all contributed to the coral releasing algae and bleaching themselves. The reef was a precariously delicate ecosystem.

“Ley line?” She felt as though she had heard that term somewhere before, but couldn’t quite remember it.

Drystan chuckled. “I thought that was why you always came here. The magic is stronger on ley lines. More concentrated. We’re not sure why.”

Oh. That made sense. It had always felt older here, and now that she was back, it reminded her of the serenity she had felt beneath the ancient willow.

There must be a ley line there, too.

“The water feels warmer than is usually is this time of year,” she said quietly.

She didn’t know why she was even trying to make conversation with him, but he must have gotten the idea because he sat up.

“It is,” he nodded. “Yet another challenge that I’m dealing with.”

Lyra snorted. There wasn’t anything he could do about the changing of the seasons, but he could do plenty about the threats they were facing from all sides.

“What?” he asked, cocking his head to the side.

“You can’t change the water. Why don’t you do something actually useful like get rid of Aegir, or help me unbind the fucking Tidal Tithe?”

Drystan leaned back on his elbows and swished his tail in lazy strokes. “You seem to think I’m not doing anything at all.”

She threw up her hands. “Well, are you?”

He turned his attention to the reef and clownfish that swam by.

“I’m not … infallible,” he said slowly. “I’ve never ruled before.”

It sounded eerily as if he were admitting to making mistakes.

“Then why did you take the throne in the first place?” she snapped. “Things were fine before you killed my father.”

His expression turned brittle as his lips thinned. “You call being tortured and ordered to murder—fine?”