The training ground introductions dragged on until shadows began to stretch long across the stone. By the time Ilthane dismissed them, most of the students were weary, their excitement dulled by fatigue.
Mozrael slipped from the group as the lines dispersed with light steps, almost silent.
She didn't draw attention. Didn't want to risk having any trouble. Her heart pulled her in a different direction, away from the chatter and the nervous laughter of those who tried to ease the day's weight. She had only one destination.
The field outside the main campus was quiet. Here, near the assembly grounds, the trees looked taller somehow, yet the silence was strangely soothing. She spotted them at once.
Aramith lay on a patch of grass, his hands folded behind his head, his eyes closed as if he were napping beneath the fading sun. A faint breeze tugged strands of his hair across his face, but he didn't stir.
