Leon went to Loriel first.
She was standing slightly apart from the others, close to the portal but not facing it directly, as though looking at it head-on required more composure than she currently had available. Her hands were at her sides. One of them was trembling — not dramatically, just a fine continuous vibration that she probably didn't know was visible.
Leon put his arms around her.
She went still for a moment, then leaned into it with the specific quality of someone who had been holding tension in their body for a long time and had just been given permission to set some of it down.
He kept his voice low, just for her.
"If you don't want to go, you don't have to. A higher-ranked class isn't worth more than your life. Stay out here — there's no shame in it, and I mean that completely."
He felt her breathing change as his words landed. The trembling in her hand slowed, then stopped. Her shoulders dropped slightly, the held tension releasing in stages.
