Chapter 47 Lyra
Lyra
With dawn comes the knock on the door. The shouts. Kaelen slips from the bed before they even arrive, standing by the window for several long minutes before finally returning to bed.
I wonder how many times he did that while we were sleeping.
Laying on my side, I watch the low gleam of the sun as it pushes through the narrow window, casting golden light across the bed. It feels… unfair.
That this should be the last day, and the room is already filling with light.
Darian’s eyes search my face.
My body is wrung out, exhausted despite the most restful sleep I’ve ever had, but my mind doesn’t stop moving.
“There has to be a way,” I whisper. “Some sort of hope.”
Darian’s lips curve, just a little. “There's always hope.”
Behind me, Eres touches his lips to the curve of my shoulder. His arm tightens around me. And Kaelen… Kaelen is staring at the ceiling, his brow a dark, twisted frown. He pushes himself upright, dropping to kiss Darian’s temple.
“I’m glad that we had this.” His words are a soft rumble. “To face the day like this… it is a gift.”
His hand reaches out. He fingers a strand of my hair, runs it through his fingers. “I have something for you.”
I watch as he climbs out of bed. The muscles in his back flex and stretch as he walks across the room, tugging on a pair of linen braies before tugging open the door to the garderobe.
When he turns, I feel myself stiffen. “Where did you get that?”
Kaelen looks at me, and the darkness in his eyes is almost too much. Too much to look at, too much to understand. “Our storage rooms, down below. Eres found them.”
Gently, carefully, he places the armor down on the bed.
It glints at me, the sunlight hitting it and curving a ray of gold across the room.
Golden armor. Lightbringer armor. Standard military issue. Kaelen brushes his hand over the breastplate, carved with the three lines of my father’s insignia. When I start shaking my head, Eres’s words halt me into silence.
“You can get through.” Lips on my neck. “You can live, Lyra. This gives you a chance to slip inside their lines. To hide.”
“I’m not doing that.” My voice cracks, breaks. “I won’t.”
“I…,” Kaelen hesitates. And his smile has my eyes burning. “I am grateful I met you, witch.”
His hands reach for me. He pulls me from the bed, wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my neck. “And I have never been more grateful that you are who you are than I am in this moment. Because you can live, Lyra. Promise us.”
It wouldn’t work. Everyone is accounted for in Lightbringer society. Everyone has a role. And I don’t know their world well enough to be able to blend in.
My hands brush Kaelen’s hair. “Tell me I have a choice.”
“Always.” He steps away, returning with a pair of dark, familiar leathers that he places beside the armor. “But choose the armor, Lyra. If you need to run… it'll be here.”
The burning in my eyes makes its way down my cheeks. Swiping the wetness away, I look over my shoulder. My voice is hoarse. “If you think I would use this to flee and leave you behind, then you’re wrong.”
Darian meets my eyes. His eyes look less bruised today. Peaceful. “As I said. There is always hope.”