46. Lord of the Tides
Chapter 46
Lord of the Tides
AIDAN
T he sun dips low on the horizon, casting a warm, golden light over the Augustus shore as the boat glides toward land. I hold Beth close, her body pressed against mine. The finality of our vows still lingers between us, but it's no longer a burden—it's the promise of a future side by side, no matter the storm ahead.
“It pains me to say, but you’re a fine captain,” I tell Seth.
He looks more at ease here than I’ve ever seen him, working the ropes and pulleys with an absent-minded smile. “I’m a Storm Fae. If I’m not a good sailor, I’m good at nothing.”
“Thank you, Seth. I mean it,” I say.
“Hey, if things work out for us, I’ll be able to tell my children I captained the Summer King’s honeymoon.”
Heather is sitting at the bow, impatient to reach solid ground, and I untangle myself from my wife to join her melancholy. I sit with my legs dangling from the side of the bow and try to find the words to ease her sorrow. “I’m still so, so sorry, Heather.”
She looks down at her lap, playing with the loose threads of the shirt she borrowed from Luther’s cabin. “I’m happy for you. Truly.”
“I hope you’ll find someone, too, Heather. Someone you’d die for.”
“Willow was that for me.”
I press my lips together. “I know. I miss her bitterly still, especially on a day like this.”
“She would have loved this boat. She used to dream about a life away from court, traditions, and responsibilities.”
My lips quirk at the truth in those words. “And she would have made a fine sailor, too.” She stifles a sob on a long, heavy breath. “The Lord of the Tides mentioned her, you know. He said that it would have broken her heart—if she were still alive—to see you and me wed. That she’d be…disgusted.” Her long hair fans to hide her face as she gazes down at the sea.
I catch a wince from surfacing on my lips. “We suspect he was in school at the same time as Beth was, so it makes sense for him to know her, too.”
“He was right. I think this all happened for a reason. I can’t believe we ever came so close to dishonoring Will’s memory like that. She always reviled arranged weddings, and yet we were about to choose one for ourselves—” The sobs she was barely holding back shake her shoulders, and I pat her gently, waiting for her sniffles to subside.
“Honestly… I think it’s Ezra,” I say softly, hoping she won’t be too upset.
Her voice hikes up to a squeaky denial. “Ezra? No. Ezra was always sweet with me. I don’t know what the Lord of the Tides planned to do or why he sequestered me in his cabin and chained me to his bedpost, but he certainly wasn’t planning to cuddle. Ezra would never have done that.”
“He’s been gone for a long time. The years might have hardened him.”
She rubs the tears off her long, wet lashes. “I understand that you’d like it to be him, to finally have some closure as to what happened to your friend, but I’m telling you it wasn’t him.”
“Who, then?”
“I have no idea.”
“Hey, I need everyone by the stern,” Seth calls out, and we join him at the back of the ship. “Alright. This is as close as I can go to shore without beaching the boat. You three will have to swim the rest of the way,” he announces.
Beth frowns. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
Seth shakes his head, his lips pursed in a regretful grimace. “Luther is a rebel. If I leave him in your hands to stand trial, he’ll be executed.”
“We could work out an arrangement—” Beth starts.
Seth cuts her off. “I can’t surrender him to your care. Not after what he’s done.”
I understand his point of view. If his brother sets foot on dry land and is arrested in the Summerlands—after the queen’s poisoning and subsequent death at the hands of the Tidecallers—I’ll have to make an example out of him.
“But you can go and save your crown, and tell everyone you couldn’t possibly do both since it would have required you to sail this boat without my help,” he adds for my benefit.
I give him a nod. “I could do that. But I can't believe you'd still protect him.”
“My brother was taken from us when he was still too young to know any better. Hell, he’s not even twenty, yet. I won’t let my father’s mistakes destroy him.”
“I respect that.” I extend my hand, not for a handshake but a forearm clasp. Seth hesitates, then grips my arm, matching my hold. Our eyes lock. We’re not friends, not even close, but in this moment, we understand each other.
Beth, Heather, and I leap over the side of the boat, plunging into the sea below. Beth helps Heather toward the safety of Saffron Cove, the Spring Fae uneasy about swimming alone, while I guard our rear until my feet sink into the orange sand.
Beth adjusts my shirt around herself, her shift from tail to legs leaving her bare again as she steps out of the water. I take her hand briefly, but the moment is cut short by the sound of hurried boots on the beach. A group of academy guards rushes forward, their hands resting on their weapons, but it’s Evelyn who reaches us first.
She strides forward, her braided hair tied back, her sharp gaze assessing us like the academy headmaster she once was. “Aidan! Beth! What are you doing here toge—” She cuts herself off, though her expression finishes the thought plainly.
“Evelyn. You’re back from retirement?” I ask.
“They needed someone to step in,” she replies. “With you about to be king.”
“When is the coronation?”
Her eyes narrow. “You tell me. I thought it was tonight?—”
I don’t wait for her to finish. “It is. We have to go. I promise I’ll explain everything later.”
Beth and I break away, racing up the winding path to my study.
I grab my Shadow mask, and guide Beth into the closest mirror to reach the Eternal Hall, the nearest gateway to the throne room where the coronation will take place.
We’re barely out of the glass when the sound hits me—the deep grind of stone sealing the entrance to the throne room. My heart kicks hard against my ribs as I glance at Beth.
“We’re not too late,” she says, her voice steady but quick. “The tunnels.”
There might still be time to stop the impostor from stealing my crown—if we move now.