Page 41 of In Rising Tides

There was a nagging suspicion in Lyra’s mind that Lir would not be an ally, no matter how much she proved herself to him. That was not a merman capable of viewing her as anything other than Drystan’s property.

Drystan brushed a hand down Lyra’s arm, and she flinched, bringing her attention back to him. But his eyes were lingering on her injured arm still. He seemed to grapple with something, eyes churning like rough seas.

“I haven’t done well explaining the changes in Atlantis,” he began, and then snapped his jaw shut.

Lyra almost felt sorry for him,almost.

He tucked whatever he was struggling with away with one last feathering of his jaw.

“For right now, I need you to remember something.”

Lyra scoffed, rolling her eyes, but he stayed silent, staring at her until she relented and looked him in the eye.

“You are not just the princess of Atlantis in here. You are the future queen. Every word, every action you make is a direct reflection of our rule.”

She felt the skin around her eyes tighten as she narrowed her gaze.

“Ourrule?”

He jerked his chin down, reaching to open the door.

“Ours.”

Lyra had entered the council chamber by accident as a small child. She had been pretending to be a goddess lying on top of the Ennosidas mural on the throne room floor.

The tiny tiles were cold as they pressed into her spine and her palm as she gripped the imaginary trident.

One of her tutors had caught her and threatened to whip her with a rod.

Naturally, she had fled. Lyra had sought sanctuary here.

It had been a mistake.

Shehatedthis room.

Glowing crystals hung like ominous blades from the ceiling. She had been terrified that breathing too hard would send one of them cascading down and through the top of her skull.

It didn’t help that they were colossal, making her appear minuscule in comparison.

The chamber was circular, broken apart by seven expertly carved columns. Each column depicted a creature of the sea.

The crystals cast an ambient glow upon the three closest columns: a mermaid, a merman, and a kelpie.

Hidden in darkness at the back of the room were the four remaining columns. A shiver walked down her spine at the memory of them.

They were nightmares incarnate, the absolute most terrifying creatures the sea had to offer.

They were what mortals feared in dark waters, what mothers whispered to children to keep them in line, and what lurked in the abyss of the deepest trenches.

But from the recesses of her mind, Lyra knew every detail of the monsters that were carved there.

In the middle was a sea witch. Her talon-tipped fingers as long as Lyra’s arms. She had the most severe expression and eyes that followed you wherever you stood in the room, despite being stone.

Beside her was a sea dragon with scales carved in such impeccable detail you could feel the water cut around them as if it darted through the water. Its mouth was stretched wide open, jaws pulled back and readying to eviscerate its prey.

The water demon was an ancient monster so horrifying that she originally thought it might have been the Leviathan. But when she had spied the curled horns and the webbed fingers,she had breathed a sigh of relief before a raw and primal scream had spilt from her lips, coming straight from her chest when she flicked her attention to the next pillar.

The Leviathan stood beside the water demon.