11. FightFlight | Lyra
“An execution?” Lyra stammered. “For surviving what Drystan forced me to undergo?”
She waved at him with an open hand.
Lyra could hear murmurings between Lir and Caspian.
Hadrian’s voice interrupted them. “If there is no threat from the prince, surely we could overlook the Princess’ actions if they were born out of necessity.”
Lyra had to hold her breath to keep from reacting to Hadrian’s defense of her actions.
“I agree with Hadrian,” Ishmael said quickly.
Drystan slowly turned from Lyra to face the council, and she could at long last feel the thread of magic in her awakening.
It wasn’t the brilliant gold that it had been; it was now like tarnished brass, muted by the saltwater.
“This shouldn’t even be a discussion. She has been in the hands of our enemies. She should be executed!” Lir’s fist shook as he condemned her.
Estria floated near Lyra and gave her a sinister smile.
“They have been our enemies for millennia,” Rigel said. “Are you certain they didn’t use kindness as a way to exploit a weakness in you? Perhaps to gain information?”
Lyra jerked her head back. “Information? What? No?—”
Ishmael studied her. “They didn’t ask you about your life here? Your sisters? Our territories?”
Lyra’s mind swirled with all the things she had told Wilder.
He had asked her those things, but not under the guise of spying—he had cared—had wanted to know more about her.
“Well, yes.” She floundered for a way to explain it, but came up short. “But it wasn’t like that.”
Hadrian scrubbed a hand down his face. “How was it not? Did they share information with you?”
“Yes—” Lyra began, but Lir cut her off.
“Important things? Do you know their cities? Their streets?”
Her defense turned to ash in her throat as her body went still.
She had never gone through the city gates … they had always taken her the long way around, or she had been unconscious.
Had that been intentional?
Estria floated to the center of the room and outstretched her hands at her sides.
“The answers we seek are unfolding on the surface,” she said in an otherworldly voice.
Adamaris whispered something to Rigel.
Drystan snapped his fingers, and the council fell silent.
“She is seeing,” Drystan explained.
“The strands of fate are tangled, but the strongest path shows the elf prince before the High King. Wilder has returned to the Wilds …”
There was a faint glow coming from Estria’s eyes. It was different from what Otto’s did when he was seeing. His had swirled like smoke, while hers shimmered like the sun’s rays upon water.
Lyra’s heart thundered in her chest.
“Probably to gather reinforcements,” Lir muttered, glaring at Lyra. “If he does—we should execute her now and be done with it.”
“Would that not spark a war with the elves?” Rigel questioned.
“How could they go to war over the death of a mermaid? Surely their king would see it as foolish,” Caspian droned. “We’ll hand over her body and wash our hands of this mess. They won’t launch a thousand ships for naught.”
Estria’s body froze, but her hands opened and closed as if she was beckoning something from the shadows.
“Wilder has kneeled—kneeled before the High King’s command.”
Lyra found herself floating towards the witch.
“And?” Drystan asked, leaning forward too.
The muscles of his chest strained as if he were holding himself back from shaking the answers out of her.
“Denial,” her voice was lighter than a whisper.
Lyra assumed the High King had denied Wilder assistance.
What would Wilder do now?
Would he do something foolish?
Would he fight for her?
“What is happening?” Lyra said, trying to keep the tremble from her voice.
She felt herself breathing quickly despite the tightening of her chest.
Estria clasped her hands in front of her chest as a slow smile curled her lips. “The High King has ordered him to pick an elvish bride.”
Lyra’s nostrils flared.
Wilder would never. He loved her.
Drystan chuckled. “Of course he did. That is what I would do if my heir sought something so foolish.”
Lir crossed his arms over her chest. “And what did the prince say?”
“Nothing,” Estria said, her eyes becoming clear as she dropped her hands to her side. “His fight has been extinguished by duty.”
Drystan smiled ruefully and shook his head. “Then it was all a farce.” He turned to look at Lyra. “They used and then abandoned you. It is their way.”
Hadrian cleared his throat. “So then they will not be starting a war for her return?”
“There is no threat of war in the strands of fate I now see,” Estria waved off the words with a flourish of her hand.
Drystan shook his head. “Oh, there will still be war. But we will be bringing it to them. They used my betrothed against her will. Twisted her mind and heart. I will see them punished for that.”
Lyra’s shoulders dropped, and her heart plummeted into her stomach.
Would Wilder not fight for her?
Had he not said he was coming for her?
The pain of those thoughts was a hot blade twisting her insides.
But a sudden, intense pang nearly stole her breath as it sliced at her heart.
Tears pricked at her eyes, but they would not fall, not here. It wasn’t possible for mermaids to cry.
“Enough,” Drystan snapped.
She pulled herself from the sinking thoughts and tried to follow the discussion still happening around her.
But the fight had left her. Lyra fell deeper into an abyss of sorrow.
Wilder had left her.
She didn’t know why she was so startled by that realization.
He had said he never wanted to be king.
“I will retain my seat on the council for Ithicais,” Drystan barked.
Drystan was replying to Ishmael, who was shaking his head.
“That is not allowed. We can not discuss any more plans until your seat is filled. You must select a successor.”
Drystan snapped his jaw shut, and Lyra watched as the muscles there fluttered.
“Fine. Caius will take my place. I will notify him at once.”
Caspian pinched the bridge of his nose. “We can discuss the Wilds affront on this court as a whole once he arrives. But until then, no one is to speak a word of it outside of this chamber.”
His order was met with several nods. Lyra didn’t care. The world had been ripped from her.
“And the princess?” Lir’s voice was deathly quiet.
“She will remain alive,” Drystan said, his tone leaving no room for argument. “We have proven that the princess did nothing wrong. And I will seek retribution for what they did to her.”
Lyra blinked.
Drystan still planned to fight? Despite the council appearing still against it?
With Wilder not coming for her, she wavered in her plans.
Was he truly not coming? Had Estria lied?
Lyra wrestled with what she knew in her mind versus what she felt in her heart.
No, they hadn’t taken her through the Wilds, but that didn’t mean they were using her. It just hadn’t happened.
Wilder was merely regrouping, or trying to find a way around his father’s denial.
He was clever, very clever.
Drystan latched onto Lyra’s wrist and pulled her from the council chambers. His jaw worked from side to side as he propelled them to her chambers.
“King Drystan,” Estria called, and he slowed.
Estria appeared on Drystan’s other side. There was a tightness around her eyes as she gazed at him.
“There is more that I saw that I did not share,” her voice was barely a whisper.
“We’ll speak on it later,” he said abruptly. “Unless the prince has changed his course?”
Estria’s grin was filled with contempt as she turned her eyes to Lyra. “No. The Prince is not seeking a way to our borders.”
Lyra’s chest ached, and her throat burned. It had to be a lie. It was just a way to keep her here, to punish her, and make her feel alone.
“You’re a liar,” Lyra hissed. “He will come for me.”
Estria sized her up and blinked. “I would like nothing more than a war,” she said. “But it will not come to pass because the prince is coming to save you. No one is coming for you.”
Lyra swallowed forcibly.
“He’s not trying to find a way around the High King’s dismissal?” Drystan asked, his lips pursed.
“No,” Estria said. “It was strange. There was so much fight in him for her, and then just nothing.” She shook her head as if to rid herself of his thoughts. “I believe there is still a way to sway the council for war. But we must discuss it now.”
Drystan grinned. “Very well. Let me escort the princess to her chamber first.”
A throat cleared behind them, alerting them to Fang and Angler’s appearance.
“We can escort her, Your Highness,” Fang said through his teeth.
Drystan shifted his hold on Lyra so that she was outstretched like an offering.
“Give her whatever she requires. But she is not to leave her room without my express permission.”
They bowed lowly before taking up position on either side of Lyra. Where did he think she would run off to? She had nowhere to go now.
Lyra didn’t hesitate as they continued to move towards her room.
She didn’t even remember Drystan and Estria leaving. All she felt was a crippling nothingness.
The current thrummed in her mind and through her chest. Its presence was suffocating.
This was a prison.
There was no way out.
Wilder had abandoned her.