LYRA POINT OF VIEW

I left Kael’s chamber with my spine straight and my expression composed.

But composure is not the same as calm.

Inside me, something roared.

Aria’s laughter still rang in my ears, clear, sharp, fearless. It had not been the desperate hysteria of a prisoner. It had been deliberate, controlled and mocking.

She had laughed at him.

At Kael and at Moonfang.

And the worst part was not the insult, it was what followed it, the silence and unease. The subtle shift in the air ...