**Chapter 2B: Shadows on the Road**
Inside, the compartment was warm and quiet, lined with deep indigo velvet and lit by small enchanted lanterns that cast a soft, steady glow.
For the first hour, silence reigned. The road to the Royal Arcane Academy wound through frost-kissed hills, past stands of silver birch and ancient standing stones etched with faded runes. The twin moons had set; the sky beyond the carriage windows was a pale, cold blue.
Albert broke the quiet first. “So,” he began, tone deliberately casual, “what do you think of the Academy?”
Rin kept her eyes on the passing landscape. “I’ve heard it’s large. And competitive.”
“It is both,” Albert said. “The first-years are sorted into houses based on aptitude—Arcane, Martial, Scholar, or Shadow. You’ll be tested tomorrow.”
She nodded once.
Lily, sitting beside Rin, glanced sideways at her. “I hope we’re in the same house,” she said softly. “It would be… nice.”
Rin did not answer.
Albert tried again. “You’ve never mentioned where you grew up.”
“The borderlands,” Rin said shortly.
“That’s vague.”
“It’s enough.”
He chuckled, used to her curt responses. “You’re not much interested in the Academy, are you?”
“No.”
Lily fidgeted with the edge of her cloak. “What… what do you like to do? For fun?” She had not reached out for Rin like Albert thus she did not know how to act around Rin. Even if she did, she feared Rin to get close.
Rin considered the question. “Read. Train. Be left alone.”
Lily’s smile faltered. “Oh.”
Albert leaned back against the cushions. “You’ll have plenty of time to be left alone at the Academy. The dormitories are private, and the grounds are huge.”
Rin said nothing.
The carriage rattled over a stone bridge. Lily shifted, peering out the window at the frozen stream below. “It’s pretty,” she murmured. “Like a painting.”
Neither Rin nor Albert replied.
After a while, Albert spoke again, quieter this time. “You don’t have to like us,” he said. “But you’re here now. Might as well make the best of it.” He had said it to Rin once, spoke it for Lily's sake even if he did not care much.
Rin turned her head, meeting his gaze for the first time since they left the estate. Her silver-blue eyes were cool, assessing.
“I’m not here for family,” she said. “I’m here to learn.” Once again she responded the same way. She glanced at Lily as if to make things clear.
Albert studied her a moment longer, then nodded. He smiled knowing that she had understood his context.
He looked away, out the opposite window. Lily fell silent again, folding her hands in her lap.
The three of them rode toward the Academy in the close confines of the carriage—three strangers bound by duty, each carrying their own quiet secrets into the unknown.