She cringed at the feel of her blood soaked tunic as it pressed against her body, but she yanked the chest out and opened it. Sadness filled her heart as she viewed the belongings of her brother, Alfred. Alfred had been killed when Lyra was still young, but she still remembered him well. How proud everyone had been of Alfred when he was chosen to serve with the Monitors, the Katana’s own personal bodyguard. He hadn’t been in the capital more than a year before an assassination attempt cost him his life. The victim of a magical projectile, Alfred never had a chance to defend himself, but his death saved the Katana.

The day the news arrived was the very day her father vowed to never teach offensive magic again and the last day he ever spoke to his brother, Temiker. The assassin was caught and identified as one of Temiker’s former students. Very likely, Uncle Temiker taught the very spell that cost Alfred his life. Father could never forgive him for that.

Lyra looked through the contents of the chest and piled items she would be taking with her on the floor. She added Alfred’s pants and leather vest to the pile and reasoned that she could alter them to fit herself while they traveled. A dark waistband with pouches for Omunga Stars and the Stars themselves were set aside for the journey. Six fine throwing knives with leather sheaths also made the pile. She examined the boots and decided they were too big for her, but smiled when she saw the black cap. She decided that it would do nicely to cover her hair and help to disguise her.

Alfred’s sword was a mean looking double-edged sword, which was considerably heavier than what she was used to, but it also had a well-maintained back sheath and Lyra figured that she would get used to the extra weight of it. Lyra was slim, but she was not weak or frail. In fact, she was quite athletic and in as good a shape as any of the cadets. At the bottom of the chest was a fine bow with three extra bowstrings and a quiver of hunting arrows. Lyra added them to her pile and closed the chest. Gathering up her new belongings, Lyra ran to her own room and started tossing clothes on the bed for her journey. She grabbed the outfit she would wear for today and headed off to bathe.