Page 62 of Lore of the Tides

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Lore murmured as she twirled in place, trying to take in everything all at once.

The library resembled something out of a dream, unlike anyshe imagined could exist on land. It dawned on her all at once that this underwater kingdom was truly something foreign to her, and it was hard to wrap her mind around it. For one, the shelves weren’t straight. They curved and warped in such a way they gave the impression the architect had never seen anything perfectly straight in their life and, therefore, could not conceive of it.

Each shelf was a different size, some short and squiggly, and others reaching up toward the glass ceiling far above. Ladders were unnecessary here; if one needed a book from the top shelf, one simply had to swim to acquire it.

“I’m glad you appreciate it,” Prince Jaladri huffed, pride in the beautiful space that he’d built betraying his gruff facade.

Lore couldn’t put the grimoire down, of course. There was absolutely no way in a demon’s hallowed hall that she would relinquish hold of it now, so she tucked the book into her skirts and set to work.

First, the religious texts. She would start at their origins to understand the problem.

Lore was supplied with wax paper and a stylus with a fine tip for notes and the like. She wrote down a few ideas of what might help her and handed Prince Jaladri the list. The library was so large that it employed three librarians and a host of scribes. Before Lore could say,Please let me explore, I might be in heaven, the librarians began to bring volumes of religious texts, philosophy books by long dead siren scholars, and histories of the twelve great siren kingdoms.

Most of the books were made with water-resistant paper derived from a hardy marine plant; a few books from land were clearly spelled not to turn to mush and disintegrate; and some were made from wax paper, the words simply pressed into it like the paper Lore had been supplied with.

Finndryl ran an elegant finger over an intricately adorned spine of a book, a smirk playing on his features. Lore tried not to followthe dip and glide of his fingers as if every movement he made wasn’t art in motion.

Gorgeous,stimulatingart. Really, could anyone blame her? The male looked gorgeous perusing a library.

His resonant voice cut through her transfixed stare, and she glanced away from his hands as if she’d been caught spying on something naughty. “If only my old professors could see me now... the things they would do to trade places with their least favorite student.”

Lore laughed as she accepted another book from one of the librarians, grateful for the diversion. She was supposed to be reading the titles, just in case any of these books could help her with the sirens’ problem... not watching Finndryl read the titles. “Serves them right for withholding knowledge from you. I still can’t move past your banishment from your university for simply wanting toread.”

Lore shifted her arms. This stack was starting to get a little big. The librarians were very thorough.

“It’s true, I was just an innocent youth on a quest for knowledge... never mind that I stole the key from the Master of Scholars himself and broke into the library.” Finndryl’s hands brushed hers as he scooped the stack of books from her arms to carry them to one of the many tables scattered around the library.

“Finn... I didn’t know you were the type to carry a lady’s books for her.”

Finn grinned, the cheeky thing, before his face twisted in mock offense. “Should I be insulted that you thought I was the type tonotcarry a beautiful woman’s books?”

Lore’s cheeks heated, and she pulled a random book off the closest shelf just to have something to do with her hands. But then she couldn’t stop herself from adding, “I didn’t realize you thought I was beautiful.”

Finndryl side-eyed her as they rounded the corner. “You need to have your mind tested for parasites if my thinking you’re beautiful isnewsto you.”

“I just...”

“You’re beautiful, Lore. Even when I didn’t particularly enjoy your company... I would never have denied how beautiful you are.”

Lore almost fell over.

“Wait, so now you enjoy my company too?”

“Don’t twist my words, Alemeyu. I haven’t admitted to that yet.”

“All right, I was worried for a moment that you were the one with parasites. The barkeep I knew would never admit to something as pleasant asenjoyingmy company...toleratingmaybe...”

Finn paused beside the table, his gaze heavy on her own. His voice lowered, dropping the jovial tone. “The bartender you knew had a lot of time to think when he was locked away on a ship.”

Lore swallowed. She’d had a lot of time to think as well. And it was often spent devising ways to see him again.

“Maybe the reason I kept scrying... wasn’t only so that I could find the other grimoire... but was that it was also my only way to see you.”

Finndryl’s lips turned up into a smile.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how often you ‘visited’ during my strength training.”

Lore sputtered. “That was not on purpose—you’re, for some reason, always training!”

---