Lyra Point Of View.

Kael had barely been gone an hour, yet the chamber already felt emptier without the steady hum of his presence.

His scent still lingered near the doorway and the faint warmth that always clung to him after training.

It drifted toward me in soft currents, bittersweet and fading.

I sat on the edge of my bed, fingers twisting the fabric of my night-robe as the restlessness coiled tight in my stomach.

The curtains were half drawn, letting in a thin slice of afternoon ...