Page 177 of In Rising Tides

“Finn,” Lyra smiled despite the sorrow that still clung to her like a second skin. “What else did your Mormor tell you?”

He shook his head with a chuckle. “You’ll think her mad, and she probably was. She wrote books.”

Lyra gasped and covered her mouth. “You shouldn’t tell anyone that. She could be killed!”

The light dimmed in Finn’s eyes. “She’s long gone, Your Highness.”

“Oh,” Lyra breathed, relieved that Finn’s Mormor would not be in any danger. “I’m so sorry.”

Finn nodded as he led her around a pillar of rock that appeared to have symbols carved into it.

It should have interested her, but the weight of her choice was dragging her down. It was a sadness she could feel bone deep.

It was a sadness that would inhibit her from doing what she came to do if she allowed it.

“Can you tell me some of her stories, Finn? I’m in need of a distraction,” Lyra sighed, holding onto her necklace.

She didn’t hear Wilder’s voice this time, and it opened a hole in her chest.

“Of course, but you know they’re just the ravings of an old mermaid?”

Lyra nodded, and Finn leveled his shoulders, preparing to launch into old tales.

“The temple here was actually erected for a goddess. Her name lost to time, but she had two sisters …”

Lyra felt the thread within her flare.

Tiandra’s temple.

There was a templehereto Tiandra.

Finn gestured to a pillar that was too symmetrical to be natural.

“See that column there,” he led her towards it. “The rock on this side was part of an altar. That’s why it’s so smooth. Someone removed the writing that had been there long ago.”

Lyra reached out to brush her palm along the stone.

It buzzed with latent energy, and she froze, not daring to pull away.

This was the place.

This is where she needed to unbind the Tidal Tithe.

“Finn,” Lyra looked over her shoulder. “Do you mind giving me a moment?”

He frowned, tilting his head to the side.

“I would like to pay my respects,” she said, and then quickly tacked on, “to the ancestors.”

Finn shrugged and headed a few paces away with his back to her.

Lyra pressed her forehead against the rock.

She didn’t have to marry Drystan first. She could break the tithe now with no one the wiser and then flee back to shore.

But that would leave Drystan to deal with the aftermath.

Drystan and her sisters and Marina to deal with Aegir’s poison.