Page 174 of In Rising Tides

“Fill me in,” she breathed, and it scalded her throat. “Quickly.”

Wilder nodded.

“As soon as they took you, I left for the Wilds. My plan was to launch an invasion, but the High King denied my claim.”

Lyra grimaced, remembering that excruciating detail. “I had heard.”

Wilder cocked his head to the side. “You did?”

“There is a witch in the sea, Estria,” Lyra couldn’t help the peeling back of her lips as she said her name. “But she told me you had accepted his refusal and,” she pressed a hand to her burning throat, “given up on me.”

Wilder shook his head vehemently. “No,” he stroked a hand down her cheek. “Never. Otto struck me.”

“What?”Lyra’s eyes widened to the point of pain.

He chuckled weakly. “He saw that your life hung in the balance and that if I had challenged, you would be executed. So he knocked me out cold.”

Wilder pointed to the spot between his jaw and chin where Otto had struck him.

Lyra pressed her lips there with a smile. “Remind me to thank him forthatlater.”

“Yes, well. I woke up imprisoned on treason charges and utterly hopeless to save you, so I wasn’t very grateful at the time.”

Lyra’s lips thinned. “How did you escape?”

“Maelys and Ridge orchestrated a rescue. Used something called Dragon’s fire they nicked from some ruffians.” Wilder’s grin was wicked. “It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“Dragon’s fire?”

“I don’t know what it is, but it was loud and hot,” he laughed. “Something they stole from human alchemists in Badenvaria.”

Lyra’s chest ached, and with every breath, it felt like burning nails raking down her throat. Her head was light as if it were about to float away. Darkness shimmered at the edge of her vision.

“We received word about the humans before we left. I know they seek to stop me.”

Wilder grimaced, and his teeth flashed a brilliant white against his tan skin.

But Lyra continued. “We think they’re siphoning the magic from the mermaids they keep from the tithe.”

“That would make sense,” Wilder mused. “The reports that come out of Badenvaria are astonishing. They attacked your scouts and won, did they not?”

Lyra exhaled as she flexed her fingers. “We heard of that as well.”

“What else?” Wilder asked with a quirk of his brow.

“Our kingdom is unstable. Aegir is gaining power, and without Drystan on the throne, I don’t know how we’ll be able to stop him.”

Wilder tilted his head to the side, and his eyes scoured her face. “You sound as if you want Drystan on the throne?”

Lyra struggled for the words to explain. Wilder’s expression darkened as his brow lowered.

“You were willingly going to marry him, weren’t you?”

Lyra’s nostrils flared as she pursed her lips. “I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t break the tithe without security, and that security came in the form of marriage. You don’t know what it’s like down there.”

Anger pumped through her veins, scorching her skin.

Time was running out. The words turned to sand in her throat, and she coughed.