Page 133 of Lore of the Tides

Gagging, mind staggering, she tried to avert her eyes from this horror, but the king controlled what she saw; the king controlled everything.

—Syrelle’s scream abated abruptly as the king shoved his clawlike hand inside his nephew’s body and pulled out his still-beating heart. Syrelle’s silence was heartbreak. His silence was torture. Then the king bit into his heart, slurping up his life blood—

Lore had come here to rescue him, but she’d been too late.

I’ve shown you what was, witch. Now witness what follows.

His cruelty leached into her skin as he encased Lore in viselike magic; it was unbreakable and fluid simultaneously; it slipped over her body, glued her to the floor. She tried to fight against it, but she was no match for him. Then, with one last look of contempt, heturned his back on her and left the room. But she was not free of him; she would never again be free of his control. She saw everything he saw.

—The king had combed through her mind the moment she’d set foot in his throne room, so when he stepped outside the castle gate... he knew exactly who to start with.

Finndryl Hwraeth was easy to spot—

“Run,” Lore screamed, but she was not there with him, she was trapped on the floor, writhing in agony. “Run, my love.”

—The low-class nonentity who dared defy a king was standing at the front of the huddle of vermin. The half-breed should have dropped to his knees and groveled before the king the moment he’d appeared, but the clanless one was foolish, and when he spotted the king, he had the arrogance to shout the witch’s name. As though he’d truly expected her to return victorious. When it was clear to Finn that Lore was nowhere to be seen, he shouted to the humans to gather and ignited an arc of fire around them, as if that would slow the king while he left to find his witch—

To the king, inside her mind, she begged him to stop. She would do anything. She would give him anything.Please don’t do this. Not him, please, gods, not Finn!

The king paused for a moment to remind her:She would have nothing to give once he’d taken everything.

Something had taken over her mind before. Something had done this before, and she had survived. She had beat it. She had lived...

The cave.

Auroradel!

Lore twitched her fingers. All she had to do was use her magic. She could burn him from the inside out. She could cleanse the scourge of him with her light.

Lore reached for the sun book with her mind; she called toAuroradel, and toDeeping Lune.

—It was nothing to step through the arc of fire. The king could noteven feel its heat. He deflected a blow from Isla, the sister, as though she were a gnat buzzing in his ear. With a flick of his wrist, he shoved her so she fell into her own brother’s fire—

Lore called to the grimoires.Unleash the spooled magic! Unleash it so I can save him. I was too late for Syrelle, please let me save Finndryl!But there was no response. Something was wrong.

All that magic she had spooled and put on reserve... it should have obliterated the hold the king had on her. The pain in her cheek, in her jaw, was like pulsing fire. But pain was good. She should really worry when it went away.

Lore squinted her eyes through a haze, seeing double vision. The king was encroaching on her mind again, stealing her ability to think. She fought it off. She needed her fucking books, she wasn’t going to let them die! She shook her hands, urging the black, inky stains to spring awake with her power, like on the ship. This reserve ofSource... her black stains were still, lifeless.Sourceless. Lore looked around, squinting. There was something wrong with this room...

There wasn’t anySource, not a drop of it glittering on the windowsills, not a collection of it swirling in the corners, none flowing in an air current from under the doors; this room was a void.

Magic could not exist here. Unless it was his magic.

—Finndryl roared his sister’s name, quelling his fire immediately—

She felt her coat brushed aside. Someone unclasped her belt and ripped it free, satchel and all.

“Thank you for bringing the grimoires to us.” Coretha’s singsong voice broke through.

Lore shook. Finndryl—she had to get to Finndryl and Isla!

Coretha continued, “I have to admit, I’ve been curious about them. If they were worth my cousin throwing away his future on them, they might be worth something to me.”

—Finndryl’s fire had been too hot; Isla’s skin and hair had melted, and she wasn’t breathing as Emalie pulled her into the circle of humans.Roaring a battle cry, Finndryl lunged at the king, his sword flashing like lightning—

“Cor... th... a, plss...” she gurgled. Swollen tongue. Too much coppery blood.

Coretha huffed, standing up. “There’sbloodon my slippers. I’ll have to throw these away now.” Lore’s belt, which held the grimoires, dangled from Coretha’s hands. She turned her back on Lore and walked calmly toward the door, her braids swishing behind her.

---