Lyra did not speak to Kieran for three days.

Not a word, not a glance. Not even the polite, public neutrality expected of a Luna who understood optics. She did not rage, did not cry, did not storm halls or throw fire at walls. She simply removed her voice from him entirely, and the absence of it settled over the palace like an unnatural weather pattern

It was worse than shouting.

On the first morning, Kieran told himself it was temporary. It made him very angry, especially when it came from ...