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Lyra sighed. "Well, Pan, we might as well go. There's nothing we can do now. Tomorrow we'll have to tell Dame Hannah the alethiometer isn't working."
Pan nodded. "Yes. Lyra, remember, we have the dinner with the Master of Jordan tonight!"
"Oh, how could I forget? We better hurry, Pan!"
Lyra fled to her room, and pulled on a nice dress. She then dashed downstairs to the entrance hall.
"Lyra, you're late," Dame Hannah scolded.
"I know. I was studying with the alethiometer."
The four years hadn't taken Lyra's natural ability to lie away. Dame Hannah believed the excuse and nodded, very pleased. "Well, come along. We mustn't keep the Master waiting. He is looking forward to seeing you greatly, as he has not for over three years."
Three years. It had been that long already? Lyra hardly thought about time anymore. She dwelled so much on Will and the alethiometer that nothing else seemed important. Sure, her studies were important too. She had the best grades in her class. She had already learned the French language and was moving onto another language soon. But after classes, the alethiometer was the most important thing. And at night, those long sleepless nights, it was Will. She had often lain awake thinking of Will. She even spoke to him at times during those long nights.
"Come now, Lyra. The rickshaw is here."
Lyra followed Dame Hannah and climbed into her own rickshaw, with Pan on her lap. The rickshaw began to slowly move away, closer to Jordan College.
"Look at that!" Lottie exclaimed. "Now she's going off in a rickshaw with Dame Hannah!"
"Shut up, Lottie," Margaret snapped. "I have my own rickshaw at my summer home."
Lottie turned, her brown eyes growing wide. "You do?"
"Oh yes, of course. Father bought me one years ago." Margaret tossed her long, dark, chestnut colored curls. They were always perfect, largely because of all her servants. She had three at school with her. A private maid, a private groomer, and a nanny. Her father had even bought separate rooms for her servants.
"Wow. You must be really rich, Margaret." Lottie was in awe. She was only nine-years-old, the youngest at the school. Normally the school accepted no one under twelve, but Lottie was an exception. She was an orphan. The orphanage had recently closed, so the school had taken Lottie in. Lottie was by far the poorest of the girls. She had blond hair that was naturally curly. She was probably the prettiest of them all though. Lottie's dresses were always torn and in poor condition. Sitting next to Margaret made Lottie look even worse. Everything Margaret owned was new and beautiful.
"Oh, I am, Lottie." Margaret was also the most conceited girl in school.
"Riding off again," Celia whispered to Dongwalo. "Where is she always going off to? She's missing dinner."
"Celia, I don't know. Pantalaimon never tells me much. I suspect they're going to eat someplace else."
"I wish I knew. Maybe we should follow." Celia leapt to her feet. Her green eyes were blazing. "Let's go Dongwalo."
Dongwalo leapt onto her shoulders. "No, Celia. Dinner is about to be served! We can't leave. We'll get in trouble!"
"Who cares? I want to find out where she's going!" Celia began running the best she could in her satin green dress and nice green shoes.
"Celia, you'll ruin your dress. Your parents spent so much money on it."
"Dongwalo, be quiet."
Celia dashed after the rickshaws. She could see them way off in the distance. "Dongwalo, get off and run yourself. You're slowing me down!"
"I like it up here."
"Stop being so indolent! Get off!"
Dongwalo leapt down and began running next to her.
Celia ran for a good deal more time. Finally, the rickshaws stopped. Celia caught up with them. She hid, and noticed Lyra and Dame Hannah walk into the school.
"That's Jordan College, Dongwalo. What could she be doing there?"
"I don't know. Jordan is a college for male scholars. Females aren't really, accepted here. I have no clue what she's doing."
Celia crept after them.
"Are you Miss Lyra?" a voice asked.
Celia turned, and saw a little boy standing behind her. "Why?" Celia asked.
"I was told Miss Lyra was coming tonight. I got some questions for her."
Celia thought for a second, and despite efforts from Dongwalo… "Yes, I'm Lyra. What is it you wanted?"
"Well, begging your pardon, Miss Lyra. I know you got some fancy dinner with the Master, but I was wonderin if I could ask you some questions."
Dinner with the Master? Now Celia was getting somewhere. "Yes. You can ask me questions."
"Well, I'm Ronnie Parslow. You used to be friends with my big brother, Roger, before he died."
Ronnie Parslow? Celia had never heard Lyra speak of any Parslows. She had been friends with Ronnie's brother before he died. Maybe that was it! Maybe Roger had been Lyra's boyfriend, and Lyra felt guilty about Roger's death!
"Oh, yes! I remember Roger! What was it you wanted to know, Ronnie?"
"Well, I dunno nothing about my brother. I en't never seen him. He died right after I was born. People tell me I look like him, but I dunno, cuz I en't ever known him. So what was my brother like?"
Celia hesitated. She couldn't lie to Ronnie, after all, all he wanted was information about his brother. The little four-year-old stared at her impatiently.
"Please? I dunno nothing! I en't heard a thing 'bout him since I was born. I want to know something! I en't had anyone to ask before, so please tell me, Miss Lyra!"
Celia stared at Ronnie, and turned and ran off.
Ronnie burst into tears.
Cousins answered the door to the Master's room. "Dame Hannah! What a pleasure!" he said and greeted Dame Hannah warmly.
"Good evening, Cousins," Dame Hannah replied. She walked into the room.
"Well, Miss Lyra! It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"
'So much has changed,' Lyra thought. 'A few years ago he hated me, now he's kind and generous to me.' "Yes, three years!" Lyra agreed. 'Put on a fake front.'
"You have grown so much! Oh, but why am I keeping you? Go see the Master!"
Lyra nodded and walked into the room. Pantalaimon was trotting along at her said fashionably. The two of them looked respectable.
The Master saw Lyra and gasped. 'She has grown up!'
In the past year, Lyra had grown a lot. "Hello," Lyra said. Pantalaimon bowed a little to the Master's raven daemon.
"Hello, Lyra," the Master responded. 'She looks so much like her mother! It's remarkable. What a fine young lady she's become in three years!'
Dinner went on normally. The Master noticed how Lyra's speech had picked up tremendously. It was no longer littered with en'ts, dunnos, and other wrong language patterns, but with a large vocabulary.
"Well, Lyra. I see school has improved you greatly. You look so much older. Tell me, how is school treating you? Dame Hannah, what do you think?"
Lyra listened to Dame Hannah tell the Master about recent happenings. Meanwhile, Lyra thought about everything that had happened to her.
Lyra walked into the school's entrance hall. She was clutching Pan tightly as she stepped inside.
"Hello, Lyra. I am the Headmistress at St. Sophia's. Welcome to our school. We're pleased to have you."
Lyra nodded. "Pleased to meet you." Pan jumped onto the floor.
"Have you ever been at a school like this before?"
"No, I en't never been at a school like this."
The Headmistress froze. "Can you repeat that?"
"I en't never been at a school like this."
The Headmistress's daemon, a large Golden Retriever, leapt forward. He bit Pantalaimon. Pan screamed in pain and so did Lyra.
"STOP! STOP!"
The Headmistress signaled her daemon to let go. The dog trotted back to it's human. "Well, Lyra, you have learned rule one. At St. Sophia's, all our students speak perfect English. There are no en'ts at St. Sophia's. Every time you use en't, dunno, or other poor form of English, there is a consequence."
That had been the first day. Lyra recalled it painfully, and Pan trembled on her lap. "Pan, it's fine. We don't talk like that anymore," Lyra comforted.
After a great deal of time at the Master's, Lyra and Dame Hannah left Jordan College. As Lyra was leaving she noticed a little boy crying. Lyra gasped, and Pan felt her shock also.
'He looks like Roger!' Lyra thought to Pan.
'I know,' Pan thought back.
Lyra rushed over to the boy. "What's the matter?"
"No one tells me a thing about my brother! I want to hear about him, but I dunno nothing!"
"What was your brother's name?"
The boy looked up at Lyra. "I'm Ronnie Parslow. My brother was Roger."
Lyra gasped. 'Pan!' she cried mentally. "R-ronnie?"
"Yeah. Hey, maybe you're Miss Lyra! Are you Miss Lyra?"
"I am, Ronnie. Your Roger's brother?"
"Yup. He died right after I was born, so I en't never known him. Please tell me!"
Lyra went into a long, detailed discussion about Roger. It hurt her to talk about her friend, so Lyra only told certain things. She told the story of the brickburner children and the rook on the roof of Jordan. After these stories, Ronnie looked rather happy.
"Thanks, Lyra! Now I can tell people stuff about Roger! I en't clueless no more!"
Lyra smiled at the little boy, and walked away.
***********************************************************************
"Will! Dr. Malone is back! It's time to go!" Mrs. Parry shouted. "Hurry up! I told you to be ready!"
Will groaned. He sat up and looked at Kirjava. "Go on, Will. I'll be fine here. Don't worry about me."
Will nodded. "Okay, Kirjava. Guard the knife."
"Will, who would want it? It's broken! What could anyone do with the knife?"
"I don't know, Kirjava. I just don't want to risk it! Guard it, and I'll be back soon." Will walked off to join his mother and Dr. Malone. The truth was, the knife was his only piece of Lyra left. Whenever he was sad or missed Lyra, he'd take out the knife. If someone took it from him, he didn't know how he'd deal with it.
The restaurant was a nice one. It was a typical English pub, but it was Will's favorite restaurant. Will wondered why they had come here, if the celebration was for his mother. Maybe she had noticed how depressed he'd been lately. Will hoped not. He didn't want his mother to be worried about him. All he wanted was for her to be happy and not worry about anything. Will sat lost in thought for a long time at the restaurant.
"Will? Will? What are you ordering? The waiter just asked you, son," Mrs. Parry said, nudging her only son. She stared at him as he slowly snapped out of his deep thoughts. She was so worried about him. He had been so preoccupied lately, always spending time in his room. It was like he was hiding something from her. She could always hear him talking to someone in his room. At first Mrs. Parry had thought he was sneaking girls in, but when she thought about it, she realized she was wrong. For some strange reason, Will had never dated anyone. Or had many friends for that matter. Mrs. Parry knew it was because of her when he had been younger, but now Will had no excuse.
"Oh, I'll have fish and chips, please." What would Lyra have ordered if she was sitting with him right now? Lyra. He missed her terribly. He knew he shouldn't be pining over her like this, but he couldn't help it. His thoughts always drifted to her. He recalled her golden hair, her blue eyes, her stubborn manner with happiness. He remembered Pantalaimon first talking and the shock he had gotten.
"Will? Is something the matter?" Mary asked.
"No! Nothing is wrong!"
"Son, don't yell at Mary. She's just worried about you, and so am I. You've been so secretive. You're always running straight to your room! You come home from school, and you're in your room. Will, please tell us what is wrong! You come out to eat, then go back in. Tell us what we can do to help, Will. Would you like a pet of some sort? I know how you miss Moxie, since she died when you were away all those years ago. Are you still angry about that? Son, please tell us!"
Moxie. Will's tabby cat. He missed her too. She had died after he had run from those men. No one had fed her. Sure, neighboring children had given her scraps, but their parents had chased Moxie away while she was eating. Moxie had hunted also, but that hadn't been enough. After Will had returned, he had gone back to his house to find his poor cat dead. "NO! Nothing is wrong! Just leave me alone!" Will got up from the table and ran away as fast as he could.
"Will, what is wrong?" Kirjava whispered after Will had calmed down a bit.
"Nothing, Kirjava. Just please go away!"
"Will, I can't do that. I'm your daemon!"
"You're right. I'm sorry Kirjava."
"Will, you shouldn't worry so much. Everything will look better in the morning."
"You're right. I should get some sleep, shouldn't I?" He went to put on his pajamas. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, then got into bed. Kirjava curled up next to his head on her pillow. He watched the moonlight reflect off her fur. Kirjava purred softly. "Night, Kirjava."
"Goodnight, Will. Tomorrow everything will seem better."
"I hope so," Will whispered. He slowly shut his eyes and fell asleep.
Will was standing outside his house. He didn't know why he was there. "Kirjava!" he called, but his cat daemon was no where. He frowned.
"Hello, Will. It has been a long time," a voice whispered.
"Who's there?" Will shouted. He wished he had the knife intact. Right now he was rather defenseless.
"Will, it is Xaphania. Do you remember me?"
"Xaphania? What are you doing here? You said not to expect to see you ever again!" Will was in complete shock. He couldn't believe the angel was here.
"Will, you are depressed. I have noticed it. But you have also not dwelt on finding a window, and you broke the knife. I am pleased with that."
'I didn't despose of it,' Will thought. "You are?"
"Yes, Will. I am very happy with that."
"Thanks, Xaphania. I'm glad you're happy."
"Well, Will, because you have obeyed my requests earlier, I have come to grant you something I know you desperately want."
"What's that?"
"I have come to allow you to see Lyra."
Lyra. "You have? You're not joking?"
"I am as serious as I could ever be. Would you like to see Lyra?"
"Of course I would! When can I leave?"
"Right away, Will. Are you ready?"
"As I will ever be! When?"
"Soon, Will. Soon. Be ready." The angel disappeared.
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Lyra sighed. "Well, Pan, we might as well go. There's nothing we can do now. Tomorrow we'll have to tell Dame Hannah the alethiometer isn't working."
Pan nodded. "Yes. Lyra, remember, we have the dinner with the Master of Jordan tonight!"
"Oh, how could I forget? We better hurry, Pan!"
Lyra fled to her room, and pulled on a nice dress. She then dashed downstairs to the entrance hall.
"Lyra, you're late," Dame Hannah scolded.
"I know. I was studying with the alethiometer."
The four years hadn't taken Lyra's natural ability to lie away. Dame Hannah believed the excuse and nodded, very pleased. "Well, come along. We mustn't keep the Master waiting. He is looking forward to seeing you greatly, as he has not for over three years."
Three years. It had been that long already? Lyra hardly thought about time anymore. She dwelled so much on Will and the alethiometer that nothing else seemed important. Sure, her studies were important too. She had the best grades in her class. She had already learned the French language and was moving onto another language soon. But after classes, the alethiometer was the most important thing. And at night, those long sleepless nights, it was Will. She had often lain awake thinking of Will. She even spoke to him at times during those long nights.
"Come now, Lyra. The rickshaw is here."
Lyra followed Dame Hannah and climbed into her own rickshaw, with Pan on her lap. The rickshaw began to slowly move away, closer to Jordan College.
"Look at that!" Lottie exclaimed. "Now she's going off in a rickshaw with Dame Hannah!"
"Shut up, Lottie," Margaret snapped. "I have my own rickshaw at my summer home."
Lottie turned, her brown eyes growing wide. "You do?"
"Oh yes, of course. Father bought me one years ago." Margaret tossed her long, dark, chestnut colored curls. They were always perfect, largely because of all her servants. She had three at school with her. A private maid, a private groomer, and a nanny. Her father had even bought separate rooms for her servants.
"Wow. You must be really rich, Margaret." Lottie was in awe. She was only nine-years-old, the youngest at the school. Normally the school accepted no one under twelve, but Lottie was an exception. She was an orphan. The orphanage had recently closed, so the school had taken Lottie in. Lottie was by far the poorest of the girls. She had blond hair that was naturally curly. She was probably the prettiest of them all though. Lottie's dresses were always torn and in poor condition. Sitting next to Margaret made Lottie look even worse. Everything Margaret owned was new and beautiful.
"Oh, I am, Lottie." Margaret was also the most conceited girl in school.
"Riding off again," Celia whispered to Dongwalo. "Where is she always going off to? She's missing dinner."
"Celia, I don't know. Pantalaimon never tells me much. I suspect they're going to eat someplace else."
"I wish I knew. Maybe we should follow." Celia leapt to her feet. Her green eyes were blazing. "Let's go Dongwalo."
Dongwalo leapt onto her shoulders. "No, Celia. Dinner is about to be served! We can't leave. We'll get in trouble!"
"Who cares? I want to find out where she's going!" Celia began running the best she could in her satin green dress and nice green shoes.
"Celia, you'll ruin your dress. Your parents spent so much money on it."
"Dongwalo, be quiet."
Celia dashed after the rickshaws. She could see them way off in the distance. "Dongwalo, get off and run yourself. You're slowing me down!"
"I like it up here."
"Stop being so indolent! Get off!"
Dongwalo leapt down and began running next to her.
Celia ran for a good deal more time. Finally, the rickshaws stopped. Celia caught up with them. She hid, and noticed Lyra and Dame Hannah walk into the school.
"That's Jordan College, Dongwalo. What could she be doing there?"
"I don't know. Jordan is a college for male scholars. Females aren't really, accepted here. I have no clue what she's doing."
Celia crept after them.
"Are you Miss Lyra?" a voice asked.
Celia turned, and saw a little boy standing behind her. "Why?" Celia asked.
"I was told Miss Lyra was coming tonight. I got some questions for her."
Celia thought for a second, and despite efforts from Dongwalo… "Yes, I'm Lyra. What is it you wanted?"
"Well, begging your pardon, Miss Lyra. I know you got some fancy dinner with the Master, but I was wonderin if I could ask you some questions."
Dinner with the Master? Now Celia was getting somewhere. "Yes. You can ask me questions."
"Well, I'm Ronnie Parslow. You used to be friends with my big brother, Roger, before he died."
Ronnie Parslow? Celia had never heard Lyra speak of any Parslows. She had been friends with Ronnie's brother before he died. Maybe that was it! Maybe Roger had been Lyra's boyfriend, and Lyra felt guilty about Roger's death!
"Oh, yes! I remember Roger! What was it you wanted to know, Ronnie?"
"Well, I dunno nothing about my brother. I en't never seen him. He died right after I was born. People tell me I look like him, but I dunno, cuz I en't ever known him. So what was my brother like?"
Celia hesitated. She couldn't lie to Ronnie, after all, all he wanted was information about his brother. The little four-year-old stared at her impatiently.
"Please? I dunno nothing! I en't heard a thing 'bout him since I was born. I want to know something! I en't had anyone to ask before, so please tell me, Miss Lyra!"
Celia stared at Ronnie, and turned and ran off.
Ronnie burst into tears.
Cousins answered the door to the Master's room. "Dame Hannah! What a pleasure!" he said and greeted Dame Hannah warmly.
"Good evening, Cousins," Dame Hannah replied. She walked into the room.
"Well, Miss Lyra! It has been quite a while, hasn't it?"
'So much has changed,' Lyra thought. 'A few years ago he hated me, now he's kind and generous to me.' "Yes, three years!" Lyra agreed. 'Put on a fake front.'
"You have grown so much! Oh, but why am I keeping you? Go see the Master!"
Lyra nodded and walked into the room. Pantalaimon was trotting along at her said fashionably. The two of them looked respectable.
The Master saw Lyra and gasped. 'She has grown up!'
In the past year, Lyra had grown a lot. "Hello," Lyra said. Pantalaimon bowed a little to the Master's raven daemon.
"Hello, Lyra," the Master responded. 'She looks so much like her mother! It's remarkable. What a fine young lady she's become in three years!'
Dinner went on normally. The Master noticed how Lyra's speech had picked up tremendously. It was no longer littered with en'ts, dunnos, and other wrong language patterns, but with a large vocabulary.
"Well, Lyra. I see school has improved you greatly. You look so much older. Tell me, how is school treating you? Dame Hannah, what do you think?"
Lyra listened to Dame Hannah tell the Master about recent happenings. Meanwhile, Lyra thought about everything that had happened to her.
Lyra walked into the school's entrance hall. She was clutching Pan tightly as she stepped inside.
"Hello, Lyra. I am the Headmistress at St. Sophia's. Welcome to our school. We're pleased to have you."
Lyra nodded. "Pleased to meet you." Pan jumped onto the floor.
"Have you ever been at a school like this before?"
"No, I en't never been at a school like this."
The Headmistress froze. "Can you repeat that?"
"I en't never been at a school like this."
The Headmistress's daemon, a large Golden Retriever, leapt forward. He bit Pantalaimon. Pan screamed in pain and so did Lyra.
"STOP! STOP!"
The Headmistress signaled her daemon to let go. The dog trotted back to it's human. "Well, Lyra, you have learned rule one. At St. Sophia's, all our students speak perfect English. There are no en'ts at St. Sophia's. Every time you use en't, dunno, or other poor form of English, there is a consequence."
That had been the first day. Lyra recalled it painfully, and Pan trembled on her lap. "Pan, it's fine. We don't talk like that anymore," Lyra comforted.
After a great deal of time at the Master's, Lyra and Dame Hannah left Jordan College. As Lyra was leaving she noticed a little boy crying. Lyra gasped, and Pan felt her shock also.
'He looks like Roger!' Lyra thought to Pan.
'I know,' Pan thought back.
Lyra rushed over to the boy. "What's the matter?"
"No one tells me a thing about my brother! I want to hear about him, but I dunno nothing!"
"What was your brother's name?"
The boy looked up at Lyra. "I'm Ronnie Parslow. My brother was Roger."
Lyra gasped. 'Pan!' she cried mentally. "R-ronnie?"
"Yeah. Hey, maybe you're Miss Lyra! Are you Miss Lyra?"
"I am, Ronnie. Your Roger's brother?"
"Yup. He died right after I was born, so I en't never known him. Please tell me!"
Lyra went into a long, detailed discussion about Roger. It hurt her to talk about her friend, so Lyra only told certain things. She told the story of the brickburner children and the rook on the roof of Jordan. After these stories, Ronnie looked rather happy.
"Thanks, Lyra! Now I can tell people stuff about Roger! I en't clueless no more!"
Lyra smiled at the little boy, and walked away.
***********************************************************************
"Will! Dr. Malone is back! It's time to go!" Mrs. Parry shouted. "Hurry up! I told you to be ready!"
Will groaned. He sat up and looked at Kirjava. "Go on, Will. I'll be fine here. Don't worry about me."
Will nodded. "Okay, Kirjava. Guard the knife."
"Will, who would want it? It's broken! What could anyone do with the knife?"
"I don't know, Kirjava. I just don't want to risk it! Guard it, and I'll be back soon." Will walked off to join his mother and Dr. Malone. The truth was, the knife was his only piece of Lyra left. Whenever he was sad or missed Lyra, he'd take out the knife. If someone took it from him, he didn't know how he'd deal with it.
The restaurant was a nice one. It was a typical English pub, but it was Will's favorite restaurant. Will wondered why they had come here, if the celebration was for his mother. Maybe she had noticed how depressed he'd been lately. Will hoped not. He didn't want his mother to be worried about him. All he wanted was for her to be happy and not worry about anything. Will sat lost in thought for a long time at the restaurant.
"Will? Will? What are you ordering? The waiter just asked you, son," Mrs. Parry said, nudging her only son. She stared at him as he slowly snapped out of his deep thoughts. She was so worried about him. He had been so preoccupied lately, always spending time in his room. It was like he was hiding something from her. She could always hear him talking to someone in his room. At first Mrs. Parry had thought he was sneaking girls in, but when she thought about it, she realized she was wrong. For some strange reason, Will had never dated anyone. Or had many friends for that matter. Mrs. Parry knew it was because of her when he had been younger, but now Will had no excuse.
"Oh, I'll have fish and chips, please." What would Lyra have ordered if she was sitting with him right now? Lyra. He missed her terribly. He knew he shouldn't be pining over her like this, but he couldn't help it. His thoughts always drifted to her. He recalled her golden hair, her blue eyes, her stubborn manner with happiness. He remembered Pantalaimon first talking and the shock he had gotten.
"Will? Is something the matter?" Mary asked.
"No! Nothing is wrong!"
"Son, don't yell at Mary. She's just worried about you, and so am I. You've been so secretive. You're always running straight to your room! You come home from school, and you're in your room. Will, please tell us what is wrong! You come out to eat, then go back in. Tell us what we can do to help, Will. Would you like a pet of some sort? I know how you miss Moxie, since she died when you were away all those years ago. Are you still angry about that? Son, please tell us!"
Moxie. Will's tabby cat. He missed her too. She had died after he had run from those men. No one had fed her. Sure, neighboring children had given her scraps, but their parents had chased Moxie away while she was eating. Moxie had hunted also, but that hadn't been enough. After Will had returned, he had gone back to his house to find his poor cat dead. "NO! Nothing is wrong! Just leave me alone!" Will got up from the table and ran away as fast as he could.
"Will, what is wrong?" Kirjava whispered after Will had calmed down a bit.
"Nothing, Kirjava. Just please go away!"
"Will, I can't do that. I'm your daemon!"
"You're right. I'm sorry Kirjava."
"Will, you shouldn't worry so much. Everything will look better in the morning."
"You're right. I should get some sleep, shouldn't I?" He went to put on his pajamas. He brushed his teeth and washed his face, then got into bed. Kirjava curled up next to his head on her pillow. He watched the moonlight reflect off her fur. Kirjava purred softly. "Night, Kirjava."
"Goodnight, Will. Tomorrow everything will seem better."
"I hope so," Will whispered. He slowly shut his eyes and fell asleep.
Will was standing outside his house. He didn't know why he was there. "Kirjava!" he called, but his cat daemon was no where. He frowned.
"Hello, Will. It has been a long time," a voice whispered.
"Who's there?" Will shouted. He wished he had the knife intact. Right now he was rather defenseless.
"Will, it is Xaphania. Do you remember me?"
"Xaphania? What are you doing here? You said not to expect to see you ever again!" Will was in complete shock. He couldn't believe the angel was here.
"Will, you are depressed. I have noticed it. But you have also not dwelt on finding a window, and you broke the knife. I am pleased with that."
'I didn't despose of it,' Will thought. "You are?"
"Yes, Will. I am very happy with that."
"Thanks, Xaphania. I'm glad you're happy."
"Well, Will, because you have obeyed my requests earlier, I have come to grant you something I know you desperately want."
"What's that?"
"I have come to allow you to see Lyra."
Lyra. "You have? You're not joking?"
"I am as serious as I could ever be. Would you like to see Lyra?"
"Of course I would! When can I leave?"
"Right away, Will. Are you ready?"
"As I will ever be! When?"
"Soon, Will. Soon. Be ready." The angel disappeared.
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