"How he feels about you"
The word seemed ordinary just slipping off Auryn's tongue but the importance to Lyra was much different.
She felt her heart skip a beat and it wasn't just a hint of love but also guilt. The guilt that had lingered from the inception of this marriage.
"But I'm more now. Someone else layered on top. I don't know who. Don't know why this happened."
Auryn's words broke her from her tension.
"I just know I woke up different. And I can't undo it." Auryn finished even as his jaw tightened.
She looked down at her hands. Fingers twisting together. If only her thoughts could easily find their way like her fingers.
"I mourned him, you know." Her voice cracked. "The Auryn I married. When I realized something had changed."
She looked up. Tears threatening but held back.
"But then you—" Her voice caught. Held back bynthe feeling.again.
"You were better, smarter and stronger. You looked at me different."
