Editing The Lioness (Warhammer High) (section)

===The Aftermath===

The week after the accident had been interesting for Lyra, but not in the way she had expected. Initially, she had thought the press would swarm in like vultures after them, spreading rumors of infighting between the cousins, but that was not the case. Strangely enough, the interest the accident had caused did not come from why it happened, but how. 

As the story broke out, rumors began to spread on the usage of outdated model of jetbikes, the flaws of commercial duplicates and how the Imperial Army was beginning to phase out the fleet for more standard wheel bikes. The topic gained publicity as tech priests, politicians and commanders began to argue and discuss if jetbikes were too dangerous to use in these times without further safety protocols being installed. 

As none of the three had been injured and the explosion blamed on a simple accident, the press almost entirely dropped their names from their stories as the topic evolved on the future of Jetbikes, referring to them only if needing a recap of the story . She wondered if it had been done on purpose or by sheer luck, but didn’t think much of it. Her mind was already worried about other issues.

One such issue came hours after the accident as her mother stared her down, displeased with her in general. Lyra had been released from medical care as there was no injuries other than some bruising, which had been blamed from the explosion. Few doctors wondered why the bruising was more akin to a fist punch than from an explosion. These few were silenced quickly as Leman Russ was the first to arrive at the hospital. In his own words, he said that unless they needed more medical attention, he wasn’t going to leave his daughter and nieces with some “fangless medicae vultures” to conduct more tests on. Within a few minutes of his arrival, they were released as there was no longer any opposition with the Primarch in the room.

Neither Lion and Dorn could arrive as both had been preoccupied offworld, on mission to the eastern fringes of the Galaxy and were planned to return within two weeks. The car ride home was generally silent as Russ simply stared the three down unrelentingly, making them all uneasy. WD laid on her lap, still asleep from the accident hours ago. She stroked his head gently, hoping he would wake up, but he didn’t. 

Remilia was the first to drop off, and simply waved as they left her at her house. Russ had deemed her to be innocent from the whole accident and knew who the culprits were the minute he had walked into the hospital. As they moved away from the Dorn household, Russ finally spoke to them.

“So who threw the first punch?” he asked. Neither girl said a word, choosing silence than incriminate one another. Russ nodded, understanding how it would be. “I see. How noble. Too bad this isn’t the legal system. I don’t need any proof to pass judgement. Freya you are grounded until the end of the year.” Freya was about to object but Lyra cut her off.

“It was my fault uncle, Uncle Russ,” she confessed.

“No, I did it,” Freya blurted right after, and they both stared at each other, unwilling to back off from their confessions.

Russ chuckled. “I know you are both at fault girls. That is why you both will be punished. Unfortunately Lyra, I am not your father. But when your father returns, he will make sure it is the same.”

“But I did it, Dad. Lyra didn’t do anything” Freya insisted.

“Possibly. But until I know the full story, neither of you are exempt.” Silence followed, as neither wanted to say what had really happened. “I thought as much.” Russ mumbled as they finally arrived to the Jonson estate. The door opened and Lyra stepped out of the gravcar, WD in hand as she walked to her house. Her mother stood by the door, and she could see her angry look.

“Lyra” she heard behind her, and she turned to see Freya run up behind her. She stopped a foot short and stood there. “I just wanted to say... sorry.”

Lyra nodded. “Yeah, me too. I’m sorry Freya.” They shared a smile and Freya backed off.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow” she stated and walked back to the car. Lyra nodded as she left, turned back to her house and finished the journey to the door. Russ’ limo moved off as she reached her mother. 

Florence El’Jonson stared at her daughter and Lyra could not look her mother in the eye.  Like all typical Calibanian woman, Florence was tall and lean. She had long black hair and bright green eyes, both made her look more imposing than she really was. She simply stared her daughter down for a few moments, wondering if she would crack under the pressure. She knew Lyra wouldn’t. She was as stubborn as her father. 

“Go to your room and change your clothes. I’ll be there soon after.” Without a word, Lyra walked into her house and made her way up the winding staircase. A sense of relief flooded her as she was finally home. The familiar smell of Caliban pine wood calmed her down even further as she arrived at her room’s door. 

She walked in and turned on the lights, feeling like she hadn’t been there in ages. She moved over to her bed and laid WD down. She stared at him for a few moments as he slept, wondering what had really happened. She knew she wouldn’t get the answers any time soon, so she decided she better just keep going until she figured stuff out.

Moving to her mirror she took a good look at herself and grumbled. Her school uniform was a complete mess. It was ripped, dirtied, doused and somewhat burned. She removed all her clothing and threw it in a pile, seeing if she could salvage any of it later. She paused and took a look at her half naked self in the mirror. Her face had most of the damage, including a black eye and some bruising around the cheeks. Her throat was red and it hurt to move her neck. Her body in general was in pain. She looked at her hands and noticed that her knuckles had also been bruised from the fight. She sighed as she put a t-shirt and some sweatpants on. Her mother walked in minutes later as she sat beside WD, staring at him.

“What’s wrong with him?” she asked and Lyra shook her head. 

“I don’t know. He’s asleep” she whispered, her voice sore from the fight. 

Florence walked over to her daughter and handed her an ice pack. “Put that against your eye, it’ll help with the swelling. Now lay down on the bed.”

Lyra did as her mother told, and a second later she felt her mother’s warm hands on her neck, applying some sort of muscle cream. It instantly felt good as she dug her hands into her neck, easing tension and letting the blood flow. Hopefully the cream would help her along the road to recovery as well, but she really didn’t have any doubts. Her mother had studied and practiced medicine on Caliban, and was actually in charge of the Officio Medicae on the planet before she met Lion.

“I spoke with Leman” she said while still massaging her. “He was quite adamant that Freya and yourself were both at fault. And I know he is right. It was obvious the moment you stepped out of the car.” Lyra knew what she was going to say.

“I guess I’m grounded as well?”

“Not yet, no.” This surprised her.

“What? Why?” she asked.

“You wouldn’t get into a physical fight like this unless there was a damn good reason. You might be stubborn like your father, but that also means you aren’t an idiot. Plus, you lost the bike, so I already determined you won’t be going out on your own for a while.” She was right. Lyra had no other modes of transport, so once she got home, she was stuck.

“You going to tell me what happened?” she asked. Lyra didn’t know how to answer that.

“I don’t even know what happened,” Lyra mumbled, telling the truth. She wasn’t sure why she had acted the way she did and it was beginning to annoy her.

“Well, when you feel you can tell me, I’m ready to listen. I doubt your father will be as responsive.”

Lyra wasn’t looking forward to that conversation. “I’ll get back to you later.”

Florence paused and inspected the bruises she had, shaking her head. “Are you and Freya okay now?” she asked.

“Maybe. I think both of us are confused with what happened really.”

Florence nodded. “That’s unfortunate. I hate to see you two drift apart. I also hope this redness around her neck won’t affect your singing.Your voice sounds a bit sore.” Lyra didn’t care at that point about her singing, her head turned and watching WD’s still body. Her mother followed her gaze. “I’ve never seen him sleep before.”

“He does, every once in awhile. Like once or twice a year. I rarely catch him doing it. He gets back up after a couple hours and is back to his normal self.” She paused as a whimper crept into her voice. “Mom, I’m worried about him. This time... I don’t know. I’m afraid he won’t wake up.”

“Give it time, I’m sure he’s fine.” Florence got up from the bed, done applying the muscle cream. “Now, go to sleep. You are going to school tomorrow young lady, accident or not.” Lyra didn’t expect anything different. Her mother left the room, leaving her staring at her sleeping companion with an ice pack on her eye. She was physically exhausted, but her mental state made it so that it was many hours till she did fall asleep.