Lyra’s POV
“Lyra, wake up.”
The soft voice pulled me from a restless sleep. For one blissful heartbeat, I forgot where I was.
Then yesterday returned all at once.
The dragon.
The mountain.
The King.
My eyes flew open.
Maren stood over me, one hand resting lightly on my shoulder. Her brown hair was already neatly arranged, though the faint shadows beneath her eyes suggested she had slept no better than I had.
I groaned and considered dragging the blanket over my head.
“What time is it?” I asked, my voice rough with sleep.
“Before sunrise.”
Of course it was.
I pushed myself upright and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. It had taken me hours to drift off the night before. Every creak of the dormitory had made me tense. Every whisper had sounded like Elin plotting another way to ma
