Page 24 of In Rising Tides

Her frustration rose like a swelling tide.

Something happened here—something monstrous, and it was all his doing.

“How did you usurp King Auris?”

A frown marred Drystan’s face, but he didn’t meet her gaze. He ordered Fang and Angler to escort her to her room.

“Do not speak that name in my presence again,” Drystan said to her at last.

Lyra rolled her eyes and attempted to pull free of Fang and Angler, who had gripped her arms to take her to her room.

Drystan turned his back to her and made to swim down the hall.

“What did you do to my father?”

Her voice shattered the silence, and Drystan froze, his shoulders rising to his ears.

It was unpleasant to refer to King Auris as such. Even though she had been his “favorite daughter,” there wasn’t much love between them.

That was likely connected to the persistent aftermath of her torment, combined with the emotional disregard she experienced.

But then she thought of what her mother had said about him. Who he was for her. It made her twist her fingers together.

Drystan whirled, heading back towards her.

“He barely warrants the title,” he seethed.

The violence that sparked in his eyes glowed like a flame.

He leaned closer to her, and she held still as he put his lips to her ear. “I know what he did to you,” he whispered. She couldn’t fight the shiver that crept down her spine at the nearness of him. His voice was as icy as the waters in Huron. “And I made sure he suffered greatly for it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I know,” he reiterated, leaning away from her and staring pointedly at where her scar was hidden. “I don’t want to rip your power from you. I merely need you to wield it in our favor, and I will ensure you remain unharmed.” He cupped her cheek, his eyes so full of promise that she almost believed him. “I told you I loved you once, and despite your time on land, I still mean it.”

Fang and Angler tugged her down the hall and away from Drystan. But before they could turn the corner, she glanced behind them.

Drystan held out the trident, her father’s trident, and an acolyte took it from him.

She didn’t have long to ponder the meaning behind that before she was being deposited into her room.

The guards unshackled her wrists, and she rubbed the bruises left behind as they slammed her door shut.

Lyra was alone, utterly and completely alone.

She didn’t mind one bit.

The journey had taken its toll both on her body and her mind. She could feel its ill effects swelling within her like a rising tide, but she forced them down.

That wasn’t something worth focusing on, not with this encroaching darkness enveloping her mind.

It was exhaustion, but also something akin to a bad omen.

Her room blurred, and she rubbed at her eyes, hoping to bring her vision into focus, to no avail.

Exhaustion had gripped her firmly and tugged her beneath the surface of consciousness.

Lyra woke in her room. It was exactly as she had left it. Tentacles covered in luminescent jelly dangled from the cavernous ceiling and danced lazily in the ever-moving water. It cast the room in a shifting glow, and shadows danced along the walls like specters in a ballroom.