It surprised Nadrina when the professor simply bowed his head, saying nothing. He rubbed absently at the sore spot, but did nothing else. The woman looked like she wanted to hit him again, and moved on him as if she was about to, but instead hugged him fiercely.

“But you are still alive. And that awful look on your face is gone. That is more than I could have dared hope for. For that, I forgive you.”

Professor Aldric looked stunned, like he couldn’t believe she would say such a thing. Nadrina suspected that she and Lilianna were intruding on something important. She was deciding whether to leave when the woman’s sharp gaze turned to her and Lilianna, making her freeze.

“They are with you?”

Professor Aldric merely nodded.

“Then they will come, too. Hurry now, into the carriage,” she said, with the air of someone who was used to being obeyed.

“Um, we have more classmates waiting for us...” Nadrina tried to say, but Aldric gently grabbed her shoulder and moved her towards the carriage.

“It’s alright, I'll tell them where to go. It’s not safe to stay out here or travel by ourselves.” He looked back at the elderly woman stepping into the carriage, clearly not looking forward to the ride. “And it’s best to just do as she says when she gets like that.”

Chapter 12

Lilianna had been raised in nobility. Maneuvering in court with people of power was something she’d been taught how to do since birth. Being the heir to her house, her family expected her to conduct herself as a proper lady in any circumstance.

The familiar older woman on the carriage bench across from her had thrown all that training out the window.

The woman had insisted that they be given a ride back to their camp, and that they would all accompany her inside. The team of knights had only taken a few minutes to replace the damaged wheel, but the carriage still looked a sorry sight. Lilianna did her best to ignore the shafts of light streaming in from arrow holes all around the cabin.

Professor Aldric hadn’t been of any help so far. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet, stubbornly staring out the carriage window at nothing in particular. Nadrina looked like a dam ready to burst. She kept shifting her gaze between the woman and the professor.

Lilianna was worried her friend was about to demonstrate her most admirable yet most untimely of qualities. She saw the moment Nadrina worked up the nerve, watched as she opened her mouth to speak to someone she really shouldn’t. Lilianna was too late to stop her when she suddenly blurted out, “Are you really his grandmother?”

The old woman stared and blinked in surprise. Professor Aldric finally looked away from his window long enough to give Nadrina a stupefied expression. Lilianna nervously looked at the woman, waiting for all hell to break loose.