We arrived in time for dinner.
I was curious who had called ahead because the conference room had the table set to accommodate all of us.
By all, I mean that there were eleven places set. The food smelled even more wonderful than the cafe had.
Paul was already sitting down next to a woman who had brown hair, green eyes, and green skin. Beside them was a much younger version of her, except their daughter had brown eyes and skin like her father.
“Everyone." Paul stood up. "I would like you to meet my wife Dacine, and my daughter Joy.” He pointed at us. "Atlas, Aelin, Ether, and Rix.”
We all smiled, except Rix, who just nodded. I could tell that despite this being a very friendly place so far, the golden-skinned woman was anxious about being in a confined space. She was on the other side of Ether, who I stepped around to whisper. "There’s not a place set at the end, sit there." I nodded at the place on the back side of the table. "And we’ll cover you.”
Our Shooter nodded and made a beeline for the seat. I directed Ether to sit next to her and Aelin sat to my right. Rix was sitting opposite Joy, but at least there were no windows or doors on the wall behind us, and Rix was in a corner with quick access to one of the two doors in case she needed to leave quickly.
After hugs, and hearing a very muffled ‘Uncle Trent’ from Joy, our teacher came around to the back side of the table and sat on the other side of Aelin and Justia sat down opposite him.
Before anyone could start talking, Justia’s parents walked in with the food.
Suna Publian looked like an older version of her daughter but with brown eyes instead of blue and snow-white-skin instead of green. She had black hair and a few other features that looked similar to Paul, so I could tell that they were related, but they didn’t look like brother and sister. They were too close together in age, I would have guessed to be only a few months apart. I knew that Nobles could be polyamorous, but that didn’t feel like the case here.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
Hye Publian was older, but it looked like only a handful of years. His hair was lighter, but still brown, but he had the clearest blue eyes that looked like the ocean. His green skin was another feature that he shared with his daughter. He kissed the top of his daughter’s head, then took his seat at the head of the table.
“Trent! I knew you were coming, but you didn’t tell me that you were bringing your class!” He rubbed his daughter’s arm. "And we didn’t know that you were teaching Jus’ class! I thought you were off a year, did you get that swapped around like you had hoped?”
Trent nodded. "It cost me a good deal, but I’m very happy to be teaching Justia." He nodded at her. "She and her friends did so well during the lock-in that they earned themselves two weeks of outside time.”
“Two weeks!” Hye looked at us. "Congratulations! How were things on the first floor? I remember my time…”
“You were in Mister Vowler’s class?” Aelin cut him off. She realized she spoke out of turn and covered her mouth with her hand. "Sorry.”
“It’s alright." Hye smiled as he nodded at our teacher. "I could tell you stories about this one. There was this one time…”
Trent cleared his throat. "We agreed to keep stories of your time at the Cathedral to a minimum so that Justia wouldn’t accidentally warn my class about some of the tests.”
“That was when she was going to be a year under your students.” Hye protested. "Now that they’re in your class…” His voice trailed off. "You still don't make them…”
“I do, and I’m sure that she’ll be fine.” Trent nodded at Justia. "They farmed for fourteen hours a day and split their party in half to reach level two in one week.” He smiled. "Previous record was nine days.”
“Did they double up on the…” Hye snapped his fingers. "What even spawns on the first floor there?”
“Bramble Skeletons.” Suna offered,
“Dust Lizards." Dacine remembered
“Oh yeah!” Paul laughed. "I remember those! You were wearing a dress and got too close to one…” He leaned back in his chair and she elbowed him in the gut. "OW! Hey, that was love at first sight!”
“We’d been there for six days.” Suna shot back. "How was that love at first sight?”
“Well, it was the first time I saw…”
“DAD!” Joy shrieked. "I haven’t even started eating yet! What are you trying to do to me?” She got up and marched out of the room.
“Fourteen, such a lovely age.” Hye laughed,
“Laugh it up." Paul pointed his fork at the other man. "You only had to go through this once.”
“And we still love her.” Hye smiled as he filled his plate.