Page 33 of Lore of the Tides

Syrelle chased them around the house, their socks making them slip and slide on the hardwood floors before they grew tired of that game and begged him to play hide-then-seek with them using their new compasses. While they played, Lore surveyed more of Maple’s art. She was truly prolific, and her brushstrokes were sure, steady, and cleverly placed, but it was the emotion she conveyed that made Lore fall in love.

She wished she had the coin to purchase the one of the sea turtle. Maple had painted him in the same spot where Lore had seen him earlier; it must be a favorite place to sunbathe for him. She wished she could buy it so she could bring it home and showthe kiddos at the shelter. They would never believe a turtle could grow so large without proof.

After the twins had been found multiple times in their hiding places, Syrelle hugged them goodbye, and she and Syrelle set out to search the town, the rocky beach. Lore wanted to slow her journey just for the simple fact that the earth was, for the first time in weeks, not moving beneath her. She couldn’t believe how long it had been since she’d touched solid ground. She missed it. Sea life was decidedly not for her. They spent hours looking for any traces of theAuroradel, but Lore found none.

Syrelle had errands to run up on the cliffs and left to find the stables to lease a horse.

Unfortunately for Lore, though she longed to explore the cliffs, she was ordered back to the ship with Thadrik.

Chapter 10

The sun was setting as the dinghy rose steadily into the air. When the smaller boat was level with the deck, two sailors hooked it and pulled it flush before securing it with ropes as thick as Lore’s arms. Lore clambered over theLavender Lark’s railing and landed ungracefully on the deck.

Cecil, the rabbit-eared guard, was waiting for her there. Lore wasn’t ready to go belowdecks. This was the most time she’d spent in the open air in weeks, and the thought of being locked into the room set her heart hammering in her chest. She wasn’t ready to be shut away again; she needed just a few more moments with the breeze and fresh air. Lore stepped backward, away from Cecil’s sympathetic face, but yelped when her back hit something hard behind her. She whirled around, only to see that she had collided with Thadrik. The guard towered above her, and his grin... the smile was a sick smear across his face.

Goosebumps erupted on Lore’s arms, and suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to be belowdecks, locked in her room.

“You can press up against me all you want, abomination; you won’t tempt me with your demon powers.” His voice was low and cruel, his words at odds with his eyes that lingered on her cleavage.Lore crossed her arms over her chest, taking another step back. His gaze made her skin crawl.

“I would tempt a hog before tempingyouwith anything.”

He took a menacing step toward her. “You think we don’t know what you are? A demon sent from the depths of whatever demented void your lot hails from.”

Lore sputtered. “A demon? You think—”

“You cast a spell on our commander, and if you are left to your own devices, you’ll cast one over the rest of us.”

Lore squared her shoulders against his accusations. “I understand that you’re too senseless to comprehend that just because I’m different from you, it doesn’t mean I’m bad or evil, but I would appreciate it if you kept your thoughts to yourself.”

“You would appreciate it, huh?”

“Thadrik, stop it. You know our orders; we aren’t to engage with the prisoner,” Cecil said from beside Lore.

“Shut it, Cecil. She’s got you under her spell too; it’s clear to anyone with eyes. You’re soft on her, letting her out on the deck to see the sunrise, putting extra food on her plate when we shouldn’t be feeding her kind at all. And don’t get me started on how you pant over the clanless fae down there, wishing he would let you into his bed. But he never will, because he’s under her spell too.”

Cecil’s face turned bright red, but not with embarrassment—anger. “Shut your narrow-minded mouth, Thadrik!” Cecil tensed muscled shoulders, fisting her hands until veins stood out on her forearms. “You overstep. Distant relation to the king or no, you’d best not insult me or the human again.”

Lore prepared to smirk. Thadrik may tower over Cecil as well, but the guard wasn’t timid—Lore would cast her bet on Cecil against the creep any day.

But Thadrik had dismissed Cecil already, his eyes trained on Lore. “It’s clear you need to be taught a lesson.” He raised his voice,projecting it now. “We don’t take kindly to a demon whore making a fool of our commander.”

Lore’s gaze swiveled around the deck. Every sailor had stopped mid task to watch the scene. Fear slithered up Lore’s spine as realization dawned on her that not one of them looked on sympathetically. In fact, they seemed to be nodding along—supporting Thadrik’s twisted thoughts.

“The witch shouldn’t even be on our ship! We’re just asking for something to happen and drag us down to her dark depths,” said a sailor sporting a row of rusted rings through one pointed ear, before spitting on the deck and making a sign against evil.

“—’Tis not safe. I told the captain myself just this morning, either she goes, or I do—”

“—I’ve got a family to get home to, I’m not going to be murdered like Old Salt by the likes ofher—”

“—She’s going to cast her power over us next. I saw her in my dreams last night, trying to lure me into temptation. Only it wasn’t a dream. It was a vision that she put into my head—”

“—The same thing happened to me last night! She must be pushing her evil magic on us all!” someone else shouted, voice awash with terror, before being lost to a fray of other baseless accusations.

“Quiet!” Cecil tried to order, but her shout was strangled by the din of turbulent sailors.

Thadrik’s perverse smile grew, splitting his face in two. “I knew I wasn’t alone. See how many recognize you as an abomination? A sickness. What if your ilk spreads to the other humans? You are rotten fruit waiting to corrupt the rest.”

“None of this is true!” Lore called out. She understood they were grieving Old Salt, but blaming her was nonsensical. “Cecil, take me to my quarters.” Lore’s voice was shrill from fear. She was surrounded now by jeering sailors.

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