Thoughts of his students bubbled to the surface, unbidden. Okay, maybe it was a stretch to call them family as well. They were more like something for him to work towards, to invest his time in. There was no denying they were important to him, even if it still felt weird. In fact, everything that Aldric felt was important was here at this academy, so yeah... maybe this place was home.

And now someone had attacked it. Attacked it with the sole purpose of getting to him. Making this mostly his fault.

Aldric had put on an act for the sake of his friends, but he’d been far more rattled by this than he wanted to admit. He’d lost far too many things in his life. Losing his family, too, was unacceptable. They’d made it through this time, but what would have happened if students had gotten involved? Hell, Lilianna and Nadrina had almost gotten offed while he was only a few minutes away from them.

Zasia and Kedrin could more than take care of themselves, but they weren’t invincible, and Aldric was only one man who couldn’t be everywhere at once. He could plan for every eventuality he could think of, but he wasn’t infallible. Miraea had learned that the hard way.

Aldric instinctively started practicing one of the breathing techniques Kedrin had shown him for dealing with sudden stress. Deciding he didn’t want to dive down that spiral of depression right now, he stood up and stared through the simple window next to his desk. After several minutes, his sour thoughts were interrupted by gentle fingers combing through his hair. Had someone actually sneaked up on him in a quiet room with only one door? Damn, he really was losing it.

“I figured you’d be here,” Zasia’s quiet voice said from beside him. He saw her staring out the window with him in the corner of his vision.

“How’s that?” Aldric asked, knowing the answer already.

“Aldric, I’ve known you most of my life, even longer than Kedrin and Balrus have. I also lived with you for nearly a decade and have seen you at your best and your worst. I could practically write a book on you at this point.”

“Oh? Better not. I’ve seen your handwriting. Looks like a whole new alphabet. I feel bad for your tutors.”

Zasia flicked him in the back of the head, but otherwise ignored his comment while she continued her petting of him. “I also know you well enough to recognize when you’re deflecting with humor. You have this awful habit of trying to carry the entire world on your shoulders, just to spare your friends the trouble.”

“I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”