Page 19 of In Rising Tides

Lyra understood Cora’s joy over the arrangement. Hadrian was handsome, with a pale-blue tail that matched the crystalline waters of Baiae.

Yet annoyance soured Lyra’s memory when she thought of the ceremony in its entirety.

The tedious religious rituals and the tension that thickened the water.

“I was ten. You know this—you were there.”

Drystan grinned, no doubt his own memories playing out in his mind. He had been a nuisance at the wedding.

King Auris tasked him with monitoring Lyra throughout the ceremony. And Drystan went to great lengths to bully her through all of it.

He’d even covered her eyes when the wedding ended, keeping Lyra from bidding her sister farewell when she left for Baiae.

Lyra’s displeasure at that memory tugged her lips down in a pout.

“You’ll see her soon. She’s on her way to Atlantis now—forourwedding.”

Lyra balled her hands into fists. The weight of the shackles reminded her that she had no freedom here.

No freedom to do what she wanted to do, which was shove him away from her.

“Are we not speaking the same language?” Her voice came out low, despite the venom that twisted her mind.

Drystan arched a brow, cocking his head to the side.

“Let me say it plainly, one more time. I willnotmarry you.”

Drystan scoffed. “Sure you will, and I’ve gathered the entire council to bear witness.”

She sucked in a sharp breath at the mere mention of the council. They would be a hindrance to her plans of completing a bargain and escaping the bounds of matrimony.

“Theentirecouncil?” Lyra questioned.

Drystan’s smile was wicked, and it deepened the shadow in the dimple on his chin. “Yes.All.”

The council consisted of the princes from each territory.

Atlantis’s immense realm included seven surrounding territories, with Atlantis at its core.

From northwest in a clockwise fashion, they were: Huron, Olous, Pavlopetri, Zeal, Naguni, Baiae, and Ithicais.

Each territory was vastly different, from the rocky terrain of Huron to the ancient cypress grove waters of Pavlopetri. They were unique in land and people.

The princes of each territory met often under her father’s rule, and Lyra believed it was that partnership that had kept the sea at peace for so long.

Now that her father was no longer king, would the sea resort to its old ways of war?

It wasn’t unfathomable to think that territories of lesser means, like Ithicais and Huron, would resort to war instead of trade to get supplies from richer territories, like Zeal and Pavlopetri.

It was often whispered that Prince Caspian of Huron was as rough-hewn as the land he ruled. Caspian wed her eldest sister, Marmoris.

The two had been married longer than Lyra had been alive, and her memories of Marmoris were few and far between.

Rumors of Caspian ran rampant in the palace. He was strong-willed and unforgiving.

She’d seen him often at King Auris’s right side, both in meetings and at the lavish feasts her father hosted.

From what she remembered of him, Lyra was inclined to believe the rumors. His long white hair was memorable as he often left it floating, untied, above his shoulders.