Inside the Aurealis, everything looked beautiful at first. The children were given rare food and sweet drinks. Many began to relax.
"See?" said a boy named Julian. "The stories were lies. We'll live like royalty."
But Lyra did not eat. She watched the masked man. He never touched the food. He barely moved.
"Where is the Queen?" Lyra asked.
"She is everywhere," the man replied. "In the light. In your blood."
Later, they were shown where to sleep. There were no beds—only glass pods filled with warm liquid. The man said it would keep them strong.
The others climbed in, sleepy from the food. Lyra waited.
When the lights dimmed, she hid and slipped through a door. She followed strange sounds deeper into the ship.
The beauty disappeared. Metal walls replaced silk. The air smelled like blood and burning.
She reached a balcony and looked down.
What she saw made her heart stop.