Chapter 140 - 141
Alistar felt as if his soul had just slipped out of his body. One didn’t simply study at an arcannia for a year or two. Traditionally, they would never be allowed to return to the institution if they left before achieving the rank of a tier-three mage. This usually took many years, and from what Alistar knew Lessa was still an apprentice mage.
"I’m heading home." It was likely that Lessa was still at the estate, so he wanted to go confront her about the important secret that she had evidently been keeping from most of her friends. Picking up the broken practice swords, he turned to Zech and Jaden and said, "I’ll have Teacher fix these for you. I’ll bring them back tomorrow around the usual time, good as new. See you all later!"
Sprinting as fast as he could, he caught up to Emely and then walked her home before resuming his run and returning to the manor house. Unfortunately, Lessa and Anice were nowhere in sight, and it wasn’t until he bumped into a kind-faced Madeline that he learned that they had gone to the Silvus family estate a short while ago.
Alistar hadn’t been so restless in a long while. Suffering from an odd sensation that seemed to be eating away at his stomach, he retired to the central courtyard with his sword in hand where he began a long stint of thoughtless, ceaseless training. Before he knew it, nighttime had rolled around, at which point he went right to his room without any thoughts of dinner.
While it wasn’t nearly as severe, he felt similar to the time when he’d learned that only he and his uncle Raidon had been freed from the mines.
Not all goodbyes are forever...
It wasn’t until his mother’s voice surfaced in his memory that he wiped an unsuspecting tear from his cheek and extinguished all of the candles within his room with a slight thought. Fully clothed and very anxious, Alistar fell sleep thanks to the exhaustion of the intense training session that he’d just poured all of his focus into, his heart uneasy beneath the warm touch of his mother’s locket.
***
"Are you really going to study in Valay?"
Lessa’s pupils contracted, a light gasp escaping her rosy lips as she faced Alistar with guilty eyes.
"What’s he talking about, Lessa?"