Valerie's POV
Three days had passed since I'd locked Lyra in the dungeon.
I descended the spiral staircase, my footsteps echoing in the silence. The cells were cold and damp, the torchlight casting flickering shadows across the stone walls. Lyra sat in the corner of her cell, her wrists bound in silver chains. She looked up as I approached, and I saw the hollows beneath her eyes, the way her cheeks had sunken.
She hadn't been eating.
"Luna." Her voice was a rasp, barely audible. "I didn't think you'd come back."
"I wasn't sure I would either." I knelt before the bars, meeting her gaze. "But I needed to see you. To talk to you. Really talk."
Lyra's lip trembled. "I don't deserve your words."
"Maybe not." I leaned closer. "But I'm giving them anyway."
We talked. About fear. About the
