“You have exams tomorrow.”

Instructor Soraya’s lips curled up as those were the first words that escaped her lips as she arrived at the dilapidated courtyard. She watched them with a mischievous smile.

“What?!” Willow gave her the reaction she wanted as she exclaimed in shock. “But we just returned a few days ago,” she protested, “and he was released from the hospital yesterday,” She pointed at Midhir in desperation.

Arwen didn’t seem particularly surprised or bothered by the instructor’s words, though she did shoot a concerned glance at Alistair and Midhir.

“The exam dates were posted from the very beginning of the semester, so you have no ground to complain,” the Instructor smirked. “But I’ll go easy on you – my exam is just a duel, so you especially don’t need to worry. I heard you’ve been duelling quite often,” she smirked, feigning ignorance about how she made all those duels happen in the first place.

Willow’s shoulders dropped, she seemed visibly relieved.

“Um,” Arwen sheepishly spoke up. “Am I supposed to duel as well?”

Instructor Soraya shook her head. “Gods no, I’m not having you fight yet. You’re very obviously not in full control of your weapon, you’d just end up injuring yourself or you opponent,” she hesitated before adding, “or both.”

Arwen pursed her lips. “Then what am I supposed to do?”

Instructor Soraya smirked. “Your job is to watch them fight, and list me all the mistakes they made.” She gestured towards Midhir, Willow, and Alistair.

Arwen’s eyes shot wide open. “But I don’t know anything about sword fighting!” she protested, “or spears,” she glanced at Alistair. “How am I supposed to notice their mistakes?”

Midhir scowled. She was right – she had no experience concerning weapons at all. She probably hadn’t even touched a spear or rapier before, and she seemed awkward even when she held Midhir’s sword while holding back the mist. She had no way of understanding what mistakes they did.

“You will watch.” Instructor Soraya raised her chin. “And you will try to learn from that. Like I said before, the field assignments you will partake in matter a lot more for your grades – you won’t fail just because of a single exam.” She waved her hand dismissively, “anyways, class dismissed, go to your next classes and have an early night.”

“Your exam is in two days.” Instructor Theodore said with a grim expression.

“What?!” Willow shouted, slamming her hands on her desk, and starting on her feet. Her fiery eyes glared at the instructor. “What do you mean in two days?!”

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“It was Soraya’s request not to notify you. In fact, I think I shouldn’t have told you even now…” The young instructor leaned his chin against his palm as he pondered. “Hmmm…. Yes I believe I wasn’t supposed to tell you until I served you the exam papers…” He seemed ever so slightly paler compared to moments ago.

A fire lit in his eyes. He glared at each and every one of them for several moments. “You won’t tell her.”

Midhir quickly looked away, trying to hide his smirk. He covered his mouth with his hand in an attempt to suppress his laughter.

A chuckle escaped Arwen’s lips, while Alistair nodded solemnly. “Your secret is safe with us, Instructor.”

Willow looked at them wide eyed. “Seriously?!” She exclaimed. “We have two days to study and you’re laughing at this?” The desperation in her voice was palpable.

“That’s a fault of your own, Lady Aulorn,” Instructor Theodore corrected his glasses, “the exam dates were posted on the board for each class from the very first day of the semester.”

Willow sank back into her chair and putting her forehead against her arms. A weak mumble was all they could hear from her.

“But putting that aside, you should absolutely read The Fall of the Rose Capital. It’s a detailed memoir of arguably the biggest event in Eldorian history.” He winked, then stretched his arms. “I’ll end class early today, you’re dismissed.”

“I should go to the library,” Willow muttered in a defeated tone as they slowly walked along the wide hallways. “I returned the book before we left for Lohssa, I should borrow it again. Study it…” Her voice grew weaker with every word she spoke.

“Are you worried?” Arwen asked, glancing at Alistair.

The young noble’s lips curled up into a smile for a split second. “No, not for Instructor Theodore’s exam. The duel, however,” he looked at Midhir. “If I’m put against you, it will be a tough fight.”

“Yes,” Midhir smirked. “Tough, but fun.”

He couldn’t wait for the duel. Last time he crossed weapons with Alistair had been a great teacher for both of them, and since then they had both come face to face with death and survived. Their experience in Lohssa had honed both of their abilities, he was sure. He couldn’t wait to see just how much they had both improved.

“What about you?” Arwen asked with a smile, “Worried about Instructor Theodore’s exam?”

He shook his head, “No, I’ll probably do fine there.”

“Naturally,” Alistair pursed his lips, “apologies for changing the subject, but I dropped by the board after Instructor Soraya dismissed us and noticed a third class added to our curriculum after the exams. Do any of you know anything about it?”

Midhir scowled. His sister had only mentioned two classes during her time here. Practical Combat and Strategy was only supposed to focus on combat and history for the first year, with leadership and politics related classes being added in the second and third years.

“No, I don’t,” Arwen shook her head. “We should ask Instructor Soraya about it tomorrow.”

Willow soon left them to head to the library. The three of them only mingled for a short while longer before each went to their own rooms.

Closing the door to his room behind him, the conversation he had with Alistair surfaced in his mind. Did he know? Or was he just guessing? He was acting different – it was a very small difference, but it was there.

A mix of worry and guilt clouded his heart as he sat on his bed and leaned his back against the wall.

He didn’t want things to change. He was content, happy even.

His sister’s words before he boarded that airship in An’Larion were still fresh in his mind.

You don’t carry the burden as I do. Don’t take up that mantle unless you must – you will never be able to return to how things were.