Lyra’s POV.

I woke before dawn, same as always. The letter waited in my desk drawer. I didn’t need to open it again. I’d memorized every word day ago.

A fresh start. New territory. No one knows your name here. No one knows what you did. I could leave. Pack my things, walk out the gate, never look back.

Mira would understand. She might even encourage it. But my hands remembered the weight of the sword. My ears remembered the screams when the eastern wall fell.

Running didn’t erase what ...