Lyra's POV
She leaned forward and set the glass on her knee. "I mean, not Ruth. Your actual mother."
My throat closed up. "I was told she died when I was a baby."
Kate nodded slowly, but her gaze never wavered from my own. "That's what you were told. Do you remember anything from being a kid? Anything prior to Ruth?"
I opened my mouth, but I couldn't speak.
I didn't know. I couldn't know. I was never Ravenna to start with.
But I couldn't tell her that.
"I… don't remember," I said cautiously, hoping that would suffice.
Kate leaned forward, intrigued. "You're saying that you don't remember your childhood?"
I shook my head, reluctantly.
She frowned. "Not even one thing? That's not normal, Ravenna."
My heart pounded.
She went on, "If I didn't know you, I'd say someone deleted your
