Although she'd deliberately tried not to think about Astrid, when Lyra carefully reflected, she realized that nearly every thought in her mind was somehow tied to Astrid's presence.
Arranging a private tutor without charging a single coin, providing a private residence within the palace, offering a job with wages far above average, using her influence to protect Lyra's parents back in their hometown, and constantly shielding her throughout her academy life.
In those early years upon arriving at the palace, without Astrid's repeated help, there was no way she could have lived so smoothly. And the only "payment" Astrid ever demanded from her was that glass of red wine spilled over Lyra's head.
In fact, immediately after the wine-pouring incident, maids had taken her to a room to clean up and change clothes.
That hardly counts as any kind of payment at all...
Thinking about it, she liked Astrid even more.
