Page 64 of In Rising Tides

Lyra read the answer in her reaction. “And where does Aegir reside?”

Marina licked her lips and hesitated before she responded. “Here. In the palace. But Lyra—listen—those who speak out against him are punished. You must be careful.”

Lyra plucked at the netting on her kelp mattress. Aegir was a complication she had not accounted for.

But it wouldn’t stop her from completing her bargain. She would just stay well away from him. With the big changes already laid out between them, Lyra dug into the smaller facets of information.

They talked late into the night, as Marina described how the princes began the revolt, but Drystan had finished the job. He had killed her father in the throne room. There had been no witnesses.

The princes had used their private soldiers to hold off the royal guard, and as King Auris fell, his guards surrendered.

There was no one left who had been loyal to her father, or knew about her magic, and there were even fewer who would be loyal to her.

It had been difficult for her to sleep after Marina had left.

Images of sobeks and murderous guards circled her mind until sleep finally found her.

It was a dreadful, unrestful night.

Exhausted and angry, Lyra dragged herself from bed. She had been used as a pawn time and time again. And she was sick of it.

The watery light that seeped into her room let her know it was still early morning, so she pulled herself out of bed and readied for the day.

Lyra had just put the finishing touches on her hair when the Fang and Angler appeared and led her to the dining chambers of King Drystan.

Lyra refused to call him that out loud, and they seethed at her lack of decorum.

Angler had bitten back a snarl when Lyra refused to use Drystan’s new title. It was an affront that still bothered him, judging by the glares he kept throwing over his broad shoulder at her.

She met each one with a bored look, practically daring him to say something. The latest frown would come any moment now, and she had decided to give him the push he needed to say something dumb.

Sure enough, he flicked a menacing glare her way as they turned the last corner before reaching the door at the end.

“Would you like to swim backwards?” she goaded. “So you can stare the entire time. I know my beauty is legendary, but surely you’ve seen a mermaid before?”

Angler’s nostrils flared before he looked forwards again. With no response from him, she looked to Fang at her side.

Drystan was smart to surround himself with guards from his home territory. How she had overlooked him bearing any kind of intelligence before now was beyond her.

Each of his moves that had come to light had been expertly calculated.

“Are you under orders not to speak to me?” she asked Fang.

His short blond hair gleamed as they passed under a chandelier of glowing tentacles. “No, Your Highness.”

“Then why did he not respond?” Lyra jerked her chin towards Angler.

“Becausehedidn’t have anything nice to say,” Angler replied.

Lyra grinned, pleased that she’d been successful.

Fang leaned closer and lowered his voice to a whisper, “He’s just mad you spent all night with Lady Marina, and he did not have the pleasure.”

Lyra’s brows shot up, and she covered her mouth to keep from gasping.

Fang brushed a finger across his lips and straightened right before Angler shot yet another glare over his shoulder.

Interesting.