10
(Lyra’s POV)
The castle was even bigger than in her dreams.
Lyra pressed her face against the glass window of the carriage, eyes wide as the towering spires of Ashmoor Castle came into view.
It didn’t look like the pictures in the books Mommy read her.
It looked alive — all silver stone and dark ivy, with windows that blinked like eyes and flags that fluttered like wings.
Her heart beat fast — the way it did before something big was about to happen.
“Are you nervous?” her mother asked, brushing a strand of hair behind Lyra’s ear.
Lyra shook her head too quickly. “Nope. Not even a little.”
Evanna smiled, but her eyes were sad. “You don’t have to be brave all the time.”
“But I am brave,” Lyra whispered. “You said so. And Daddy says I’m strong, too.”
Evanna didn’t respond.
Instead, she looked out the opposite window, the tension in her shoulders tight like a string waiting to snap.
Lyra held her fox tighter.
---
The gates opened with a low groan, like the whole castle was waking up just to look at her.
Inside, people were everywhere — servants bowing, guards in polished black armor, nobles in long cloaks that shimmered like snake scales. Some smiled when they saw her.
Some just stared.
One woman whispered behind a gloved hand.
Lyra felt her mother’s hand tighten around hers.
But she kept her chin high. She was here. In the castle from her dreams. The one with the spiral staircase made of moonstone. The one where her Daddy wore a crown and people listened when he talked.
She followed Rylan down the grand hall, her footsteps echoing off the marble. Everything smelled like old books and firewood and something wild she couldn’t name.
Rylan bent down beside her and smiled. “This way, Princess.”
She grinned. “I like when you call me that.”
“Then I’ll keep saying it.”
---
Her new room was nothing like the tiny one back home.
The walls were a soft gray-blue, like the sky right before night. There was a canopy bed with curtains that sparkled like stardust and a bookshelf that reached the ceiling. The windows opened out onto the whole kingdom — mountains, forest, and sky, all stretched beneath her like a painting.
“This is mine?” she whispered.
“All yours,” Rylan said.
“Even the telescope?”
He laughed. “Especially the telescope.”
Evanna stood near the door, arms crossed, eyes scanning every corner like she expected it all to vanish. Or explode.
Lyra ran up and hugged her waist. “Do you like it, Mommy?”
Evanna hesitated, then nodded. “It’s beautiful.”
But her voice sounded far away.
---
Later that night, Lyra stood by the window with the telescope, squinting at the moon while Rylan knelt beside her. He showed her how to adjust the lens, how to find Orion’s Belt, and told her stories about the stars that wolves once followed home.
She listened quietly, her hand resting in his.
“Daddy?”
“Yes, little one?”
“Is this a dream?”
“No,” he said softly. “But I think it’s the beginning of one.”
---
Across the castle, Evanna paced the guest room, her pulse fluttering in her throat.
Every noble they passed had looked at Lyra. Not with love. Not even with curiosity.
But with calculation.
She could feel it.
She wasn’t sure how long they could stay.
But she’d made a promise.
And for now… she’d keep it.