Page 68 of In Violent Waves

“What is this fabric?”

“It’s silk. Do you like it?” Daisy asked, stepping back and looking at Lyra.

“It’s incredible,” she breathed.

“I made it.” Daisy beamed with pride. “That will help us narrow down the dresses you like. Follow me,” she instructed as she strutted back into the bedroom.

Feeling revitalized, Lyra bounced as she walked back into her bedroom. The dresses were piled in a heap on the bed, and Daisy grabbed the first one. It was the same silk fabric as the robe, but in a cheery yellow color. Lyra shook her head.

“No?” Daisy asked, looking from Lyra to the dress.

“Yellow isn’t my color,” Lyra answered.

“My lady, every color is your color.”

Lyra blushed again but shook her head.

Daisy held up the next dress. It was garish. Large skirts and jewel-toned beads on the neckline.

Lyra shook her head again, and Daisy sighed. The next dress she held up was a grayish-blue silk gown with a low-cut neckline and a straight skirt. It resembled a flower petal.

“Yes,” Lyra breathed and stepped closer to run her fingers down the length of the gown.

“It is quite beautiful,” Daisy murmured. She didn’t move to set it down but rather stood there patiently and let Lyra admire it.

“You can show me the next one now, Daisy,” Lyra said as she stopped stroking the gown.

The next was a similar cut to the last but had dainty straps and was in the same color as a fruit she had read about. Shecouldn’t quite remember the name, and she racked her brain, searching for it.

“What is this color?”

“Plum.”

Lyra nodded. “Plum. I like this one, too.”

When she yawned and covered her mouth, Daisy smiled at her.

“We don’t have to go through the rest. I have an inkling of what you like now.”

Lyra cocked her head, looking at the pile of dresses they had yet to go through.

“And what inkling is that?”

Daisy grinned and set the plum dress down. “You like things dark—that feel like the water.”

Lyra snorted. Daisy had no idea how right she was.

“I’ll ring for your food and bid you farewell, my lady. If you need anything else at all, pull that chain to the right of the door.”

Lyra watched as Daisy hung up several gowns in the armoire before hefting colorful ones over her shoulder and leaving.

Pressing a hand to her stomach, Lyra felt hollow, but it wasn’t from hunger.

Every disturbance in the night had Wilder staring at his bedroom door. Surely she wouldn’t try to escape on her first night, especially after the toll the venom had taken on her body.

Another creaking noise in the hall had Wilder striding to his bedroom door.

Dust and Oron, guards Wilder knew and respected, were posted outside her door.