Page 31 of In Rising Tides

People lowered their heads as they passed, but the mermen didn’t pay them any heed.

Their low singing wasn’t quite a song. It was almost like a melody in time with the beat of the drum.

“What is that?” Lyra slung her thumb in the direction of the odd parade.

“It’s the observance of the tide,” Taria murmured.

Lyra leaned farther out of the window to get a better look as they swam deeper into the city, carrying their mirthless song with them.

When they were too far away for her to see, she pushed off the window and returned to her stool. “Since when was that a thing?”

Taria pursed her lips as if she were deliberating the most precise way to answer.

“The death of King Auris had brought many changes to court …” Verilia trailed off, realizing she had tread into water much too deep for her liking, but Taria offered refuge.

“It’s good for her to know some things. She was absent during the change.”

Lyra pondered the undercurrent to Taria’s phrasing. Were they calling the revolt merely a “change?”

Taria picked up a particularly sharp hairpin before setting it back down on the vanity. Its new position was within Lyra’s reach.

When it became obvious they didn’t know how to proceed with an explanation, Lyra’s curiosity got the better of her.

“What sort of changes?” She hoped her questions would distract them enough so that she could reach the hairpin.

Taria and Verilia shared a look that only sisters could communicate through, and Lyra covered the hairpin with her hand.

Verilia winced. “Well, th-the Tidal Master?—”

The door to her room thundered under pounding blows.

Taria and Verilia flinched so violently Lyra was shocked they hadn’t screamed.

They recovered swiftly enough as they turned towards the door. It continued to rattle with each knock.

Lyra seized the moment and slid the hairpin off the table, tucking it into her hair.

“Yes?” Lyra replied, quieting the thunderous knocking.

The door was roughly shoved open as Fang and Angler entered. Their large, powerful tails only allowed them entry one at a time, giving her a split second longer to tuck the pin in tighter.

She couldn’t have it falling out, or gaining notice too soon.

Fang and Angler both bore expressions of impassivity as they stared at Lyra. She breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t picked up on anything amiss.

They wore breastplates engraved with Ithicais’ seal, and the steely points of spears peeked out over their broad shoulders. A myriad of blades were strapped to their waist.

It was strange to see such weaponry within the palace walls. When her father had ruled, the guards hardly brandished any kind of weaponry.

That had probably played a part in his upheaval.

Their heavy stares scrutinized every inch of her.

From her hair that was elegantly styled down to her kylix that was dripping with amethysts and pearls.

She looked like a princess, a true mermaid of Atlantis.

Angler rubbed a palm across the light stubble on his jaw. “She looks ready enough.”