Page 100 of In Violent Waves

Lyra nodded. “I’m glad. You need not be afraid of me.”

Daisy’s mouth dropped open and she spluttered, “I-I’m not. Why would you think that?”

“You seem flustered around me today.”

Daisy grabbed the linen shirt off the bed, but twisted it between her fingers. “It’s not you, my lady.”

Lyra stared long and hard at Daisy. “Then who?”

“I shouldn’t say.”

Pulling the shirt over her head, Lyra tried to read Daisy’s body language. She had trembling hands, and her eyes kept darting to the bedroom door.

“Daisy—who?”

The young servant looked traumatized. With a heavy sigh, her head drooped between her shoulders. “It’s the guard—Cyrus.”

Lyra’s blood ran cold. She had thought there was something off about that male.

“What has he done?”

Daisy shook her head. “No, he just, well, he leers. It’s repugnant.”

Lyra nodded. “If he ever does anything. And I mean anything—you let me know.” There was enough malice in her words that Daisy’s eyes bulged before her lips spread into a grateful smile.

“Thank you.”

Lyra grinned wickedly. She felt a kinship with Daisy. The young servant was kind and deserved only good things. If Cyrus ever did anything wrong, he would meet Lyra’s monster.

Daisy wrapped the leather around Lyra’s waist and cinched it tight. It didn’t make breathing difficult, but she could tell how it would protect her from a blow. The wrist guards went on next, and they made the sleeves of her blouse look like bells. It was feminine—but fierce.

“I like this,” Lyra murmured.

“You look like a warrior.”

Lyra couldn’t explain how that made her feel. But it made her breathing easier and her shoulders square. Was it pride?

Right after Daisy had finished braiding her hair out of her face and into a coronet, there was a knock on the door. It seemed light compared to Wilder’s pounding.

“Lyra,” Maelys called. “Are you ready?”

Daisy and Lyra shared a look. Wilder was her escort and mentor for training.

“Yes. I’ll be right out,” Lyra replied.

Daisy smeared some kind of clear jelly on Lyra’s face and rubbed it in. It was cool and smelled light and earthy.

“What’s that?”

“It’s to protect your skin from the sun. You’ve already had several freckles bloom, and your forehead is still burned.”

Lyra raised her brow and found that the skin didn’t pull as tight as it had this morning, which was a relief. And she despised the brown spots that had appeared on her skin of late.

“Thank you.”

Daisy patted her shoulders. “Off you get! Have a lovely training.”

Lyra grimaced and reached for the door before stopping and turning back to Daisy.