Lyra POV
Pain had a way of blurring time.
Lyra wasn’t sure how long she had been lying on the cold dungeon floor. Minutes… hours… it all felt the same now. Her body ached with every breath, her back burned from the whip marks, and a fever had begun to creep through her veins like slow fire.
Her thoughts drifted in and out of awareness.
Voices came and went.
And one voice… lingered.
Selene’s.
⸻
It had happened not long after the punishment.
Lyra had barely managed to pull herself back into her cell when the soft sound of footsteps returned. She had been too weak to stand, too exhausted to even react.
Selene appeared at the bars.
Alone this time.
Her expression was calm. Almost… sympathetic.
“Rough day?” she asked softly.
Lyra didn’t respond.
She didn’t have the strength.
Sel
