Lena
That was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Physically, anyway. Emotionally, I feel great. Amazing. From what Rose said after the final chime, we lost fewer than a dozen eggs out of a thousand, and none of them were from mine or Lyro’s sections.
I fist the edge of his cloak and hold on while he carries me back to our room. Hehelped. I don’t think all of mine would have made it if he hadn’t jumped in and worked twice as hard when I needed rest.
There’s a reason Harl called him “brother.” Without Lyro’s quick thinking, we would have lost more eggs. I might have stumbled and dropped one or collapsed between chimes, drawing Harl away from his rows. But Lyro stepped in and forced me to take the break I needed, averting disaster. He worked harder than anyone else except maybe Rose and Harl.
He saved the Turning...and probably hated every minute of being a hero. I hide my smile in the folds of his cloak. My cheeks ache from smiling. My joints ache, too, and muscles in my back and legs that I didn’t even know I had. My eyes are dry and burning, the corners of my lips cracked. I was so focused on getting the Turning right that I didn’t pay attention to how I was feeling.
Keeping my lids open is a struggle, so I close them. Then, staying awake is a struggle. Lyro slips me into bed, drawing a fur over me. Comfortable and warm, I let myself drift off. I’m pulled back to consciousness by the sounds of him arguing with Harl.
“—give her fluids,” Harl is saying. “You, too. I’m not leaving unless you both drink something.”
“Frix.Fine,” Lyro growls. “Bring your remedies and then get out.”
The next thing I know, which could be minutes or hours later, someone is supporting the back of my head and pressing the rim of a cup to my parched lips. Without even opening my eyes, I drink the liquid, which tastes like weak lemonade, swallowing until the cup tips up, indicating it’s empty.
“Satisfied?” Lyro growls. For a second I think he’s asking me, but then Harl’s voice answers, hollow and quiet.
“No.”
Lyro squeezes the back of my neck the tiniest amount. “And you never will be,” he says tersely.
Harl sighs and his boots scrape the floor grates. “I realize that. It was just a planet-wish. A close-to-impossible dream,” he clarifies the odd Frathik word. “I did not think you worthy of her at first, but you have proven me wrong. I understand the goddess’s wisdom better now.”
Lyro’s fingers twitch again. “Normally, I’d argue with you on that point, but I am beginning to understand myself.”
Footsteps sound as Harl leaves, and then Lyro slides into bed next to me with a stifled groan. My heart does a sideways thump when he strokes my hair instead of going straight to sleep. I should let him know I’m awake, but I don’t want to ruin the moment, so I just bask in his rare affection internally.
“Thick-skull,” he whispers scathingly. “Pathetic little pet, who follows wherever you’re led. They could’ve killed you today, and you served them with a smile. Broke your weak little bonesfor them. Must I steal you away to keep you safe, even if it breaks your heart instead? You make me a villain, Alara. You are a curse that I can never escape.”
It's the most romantic thing anyone’s ever said to me. I try to stop the tears, but I can’t. They leak out, sliding down the sides of my face to pool behind my ears. When Lyro’s fingers encounter the wet tracks, they freeze.
“Stop your sadness,” he orders, sliding his thumb toward my eye like he can push the tears back in. He presses the pad of it against my eyelid, holding it shut. “You are asleep. You heard nothing, and nothing you heard was true.”
“I heard that I’m a pathetic pet.” I grin through the tears still pouring out from under his thumb.
“That part was true,” he concedes. “That’s why you must stop crying, because it reflects poorly on me as your keeper.”
“You’re not my keeper,” I argue sleepily, mostly for the sake of arguing with him. I like that he’s talking to me, giving me this back-and-forth instead of just shutting me down.
“Iam.” He growls at me, but it’s playful. His arms and legs tighten around me, trapping me against him. “I’ll prove it. Can you leave me?”
“No,” I answer, sighing happily as I curl into his chest and the heavy limbs of sleep find my shoulders again.
I wake up when my alarm beeps at the usual time. Every body part is swollen and screaming from the abuse I put it through during the Turning. Nothing as dramatic as breaking my bones like Lyro accused me of, but I definitely pushed myself beyond the limit.
But so did he. So did everyone. I’m just not as strong as them. He was right, I was dumb to take on an equal share. It put extra burden on him and Harl because they had to cover for me, when I could have just admitted up front that I couldn’t keep up the pace, and Ruth would have scheduled the breaks accordingly. Iwas so obsessed with helping that I ended up causing problems. A guilty little swish in my stomach reminds me that I did the same thing by staying with the Frathiks instead of allowing myself to be “rescued.” Ava’s probably been out of her mind looking for me. Her husband, the Emperor, has been making all kinds of political concessions to get me back. Searchers have spent countless hours. Lyro got sent all the way across the star system to find me.
It was all a lot of trouble that could have been avoided if I’d just commed my sister to explain. I should just do it and get it over with. I will. Later.
Wincing, I crawl over Lyro to get out of bed. He grumbles and loops his leg around mine, trapping me on top of him. “Go back to sleep,” he says without opening his eyes.
“I can’t!” Giggling, I try to twist out of his grip and fail when he pins my arms to my sides as well, clasping me like a dragonfly so I can’t move. “I have to sing this morning.”
“Someone else will do it.”
“Yeah, Rose. She’s killing herself to make this Hatching happen. Come on, let me go.”
