NORA POV After Maya helped me lie back properly, Lyra turned the whole room upside down trying to make everything perfect. She carried my pillow, fluffed it like ten times, shifted the tray beside my bed, and even opened the curtain halfway—then closed it again like she couldn’t decide which one was better. “Do you need more water?” she asked for the fourth time. I sighed softly. “Lyra, I’m fine. You’re making me feel like I’m fragile.” “You are fragile!” she said quickly, pointing her finger at me. “You’re carrying royalty inside you. You can’t just be lying down anyhow.” Maya chuckled from where she was sitting, scrolling through her phone. “If you continue like this, Lyra, she’ll faint again from stress.” Lyra ignored her completely and came to sit beside me. “We were supposed to

