Three days later, Lyra was allowed to leave the House of Healing. After a final check up with Healer Merriam, who had been overseeing her care, Lyra gratefully donned her own, comfortable gown of Trainee Gray. She had just pulled her hair into a long tail coming down from her crown when there was a rap on the door.
A guardsman opened it, in her mother's formal livery. "Madame, I've been asked to escort you to your mother's quarters?"
Lyra regarded him oddly. "And why would I need as escort for barely two hundred metres?"
The Guardsman averted her eyes. "Um... perhaps you should address that to the Queen." He stepped out of the doorway so that she could exit.
Lyra became more and more annoyed as she moved out of the House, where the Guard was joined by two others, who formed a protective circle around her. She began to fume as they got even closer to her parents' suite.
The door was opened for her and she stalked in, not surprised to see Elspeth there as well as her parents.
"I'm under guard??!!" Lyra demanded, her hands on her hips.
Selenay rose, regarding her youngest daughter. "We believe it's what best."
"What's bloody best??? This is my life!" Lyra shot back.
"Which is in danger," Daren responded.
Elspeth walked over to her sister, putting an arm around her. "Kitling, I've been in your exact position."
Lyra crossed her arms. "But you were allowed to leave," she sent a dark look at her parents. "I have a feeling that I won't be."
"Well, I was finished my training," Elspeth replied diplomatically.
Lyra pushed away, beginning to pace. "I can't go through the Collegium with three guards on me all the time!"
"It would only be two actually," Selenay cut in.
Lyra glared at her mother. "I don't see any guards hanging around Kris."
"Kris isn't going to succeed!" Selenay snapped.
Lyra stood stock still for a moment. "What?" she whispered.
Selenay moved around the desk. "Kitling, you know that Kris isn't suited for any real responsibility. He'll be wonderful Herald, but when it comes to diplomacy..."
Elspeth sank into an easy chair. "He's about as subtle as the 'oh-shoot-me-now' uniform."
Selenay graced her eldest with a weary eye, "I wouldn't talk in that get up."
Elspeth grinned, crossing her arms and making her long, trailing sleeves float in the air. Selenay turned back to Lyra. "The Council and Circle have been in agreement about this for a while, we were just going to wait on announcing it until you had earned your Whites."
Lyra took in a deep breath. "And that's why the assassins are after me." She looked up at her mother, looking far more wise than her sixteen years. "Isn't it."
Selenay nodded. Daren moved forward. "Lyra, you must understand that you need to be protected."
The girl glanced down, nodding in acquiescence. But she raised her hair, her jaw set stubbornly. "But no guards. I want a Herald guarding me, someone I can trust absolutely."
Selenay frowned slightly, then nodded. "It makes sense. If Skif was still here I'd assign him to you but..."
Lyra looked sure of herself, and yet somewhat secretive. "I want Herald Conor."
Daren leaned against the desk. "He has already been serving the task, albeit informally."
Elspeth nodded. "He's a good Herald. He's actually somewhat sensitive to Mage energies, not at all Gifted, but he would be ideal because he can feel when magic is at work." She looked towards Lyra, "He could be useful to keep you from blowing anything more up."
Lyra stuck out her tongue at her elder sister. "I'm not so badly off. And I barely singed Darkwind."
Selenay rolled her eyes. "Children. Very well, Conor will guard you. He can be spared from Circuit. I'll have Talia see to it."
"Can I escort myself to my room?" Lyra asked.
"Fine." Selenay brushed a kiss on her daughter's cheek. "Expect Conor in the morning."
Lyra smiled enigmatically. "I will."