The journey to the Tidal Caves required careful timing with the ocean's rhythm. The underwater entrance was only accessible during the lowest tides, when the sea pulled back enough to reveal passages that remained hidden most of the day.
"The caves have been used for storage in the past," Captain Reef explained as they descended through the palace's water-filled corridors toward the coastal access points. "Remote enough for privacy, but close enough to the palace for convenient access. Perfect for hiding things you don't want discovered."
Princess Liyana rode in tense silence, her mind racing through the implications of what they might find. If the prisoners had been dead for days, then everything they believed about the past forty-eight hours was wrong.
