Page 163 of In Rising Tides

Drystan must have sensed her hesitation because he rested a hand on top of hers.

“As soon as the ceremony is over, we’ll go to the reef and unbind the tithe. The throne will be ours, and my trident will be returned to me.”

The temple felt eerily familiar. Its domed roof was nearly identical to throne room in Atlantis, except this one appeared organic, like the lopsided shape of that ancient willow.

The stone carvings on either side of the door were long and thin, like tree branches. And not the types of trees one would find beneath the surface, but like the ones she had seen in theValewood. Covered in bark and stretching up to the sky like grasping fingers.

Carvings of roots spread along the exterior walls, almost as if they were searching for soil and not sand.

“How strange …” Lyra breathed, floating up the front steps and stopping just before the large archway that constructed the front door.

“What?” Drystan asked. His head swiveled to-and-fro like he were still waiting for something to happen.

“Do all the temples look like this?” Lyra looked at Drystan for an answer, but his eyes were not on her.

“No,” a masculine voice purred from inside.

Aegir.

Drystan was at her side in an instant, an arm stretched in front of her.

“Tidal Master,” Drystan said coolly despite his defensive stance.

Aegir’s face appeared in the slanted light that floated down from the openings in the ceiling.

“And to what do I owe this pleasure?” Aegir said, staring inquisitively at them both. “Your wedding is tomorrow, not today.”

He clasped his hands together in front of him, and the dark robes floating around him resembled octopus tentacles.

Lyra leaned forward, attempting to cross the threshold, but Drystan didn’t remove his arm.

Aegir stared pointedly at it.

“We thought we’d check on the repairs. Make sure everything was perfect for tomorrow,” Drystan replied.

Aegir looked up and around. “There are still some walls that need patching, but the supplies had been delayed—until now.”

Lyra glanced at Drystan and noticed the feathering of the muscle in his jaw.

“But what a miracle I returned just in time,” Aegir said. “You nearly violated the sanctity of our oldest temple.”

Lyra’s brow furrowed, and she swiveled her head between the two males. “How would I?—”

“Females are forbidden,” Aegir cut in smoothly. “Except during weddings.”

“I’m notjusta female,” Lyra snapped.

Drystan rose to his full height, towering over Lyra and becoming eye-level with Aegir.

“I’m sure that allowances can be made for our future Queen.”

Aegir’s face was carefully blank. “She is still a female, is she not?”

Drystan shrugged. “Haven’t gotten around to checking, but one would assume so.”

If matters weren’t so tense, Lyra would have laughed at Drystan’s attempt at a jest.

But his words only infuriated Aegir.