A moment of tension stretched, seconds feeling like hours.
Then, the tutor whispered, without turning toward the niche where they were hiding:
"Larissa needs her friends now. Enough of suffering alone."
The girls exchanged looks of silent shock. The tutor knew they were there? Had their infiltration been compromised or was this something else entirely?
The answer…
"Perhaps going out to get some sun and see the world she's missing would help her," the woman continued in the same low tone, her voice seeming worried for that someone who had withdrawn too far into herself. "Though not too far, because of the crisis and all that."
She made a significant pause. Then again…
"The tower roof is always free at these hours. The views of the city and its academies are... educational."
