The boisterous banquet faded into a quiet night. Music subsided and dancers calmed. Laughter settled into a hum of satisfaction as the guests dispersed. Servants quickly and carefully cleared away all evidence of the merry gathering. Lyra and Kaela were escorted back to Lyra’s room by Tarek, at Merrow’s order, tucked away for the night.
The quiet persisted through the morning, greeting Lyra as her mind pulled reluctantly from sleep. Sunlight filtered through the gauzy curtains adorning her window, casting the clean, luxurious space in a muted gold. She shifted on the soft mattress, letting her reality filter back in despite the soft shift of her silken nightgown.
Somewhere in her mind, she still expected to feel the bite of iron bars against her body or for her skin to ache from the col
