"Oh and take this too. You"re grandmother is lonely and would love to get a letter." Lady Zula said as she first pa.s.sed the stack of white envelopes then a pad of paper and a pen. Lobo took the travel canister from Ariana"s hands and then the stack of envelopes. "Write fast we only have a little bit of time before we all have to leave." Lady Zula said as she took the canister from Lobo. "Okay." Ariana said as she sat on the ground. She crossed her legs and placed the pad of paper on her knee. She wrote furiously as Lady Zula made small talk with Lobo."Done." Ariana announced as she ripped out the papper and folded it neatly. Lobo extended his hand and waited for Ariana to grab it. "Great. Too bad I couldn"t get a letter from my beloved daughter too." Lady Zula said as she shamelessly batted her lashes at Ariana. "I will write more often." Ariana laughed as she got up.
"Perfect! Well at least I have soup." Lady Zula said with a huge smile.
"Don"t be mean, share with grandmother." Ariana said with a small chuckle. "No way! She got the letter I get the food! It"s only fair!" Lady Zula shouted as she stomped her foot. "Alright! You"re right, you always are." Ariana giggled as she watched her mother pout. "I should probably walk you down to the pick up area." Ariana said as her smile slowly disappeared, gloom and regret started to enter her heart. "Hey, sweetheart. Don"t give me that face. Come on. We have another family day next month, then you have midterms, after that you have a two week break. So we have time to spend with eachother." Lady Zula said in a gentle and comforting tone.
"Mmmh." Ariana replied as she nodded her head. "Mom, what are all the envelopes for?" Ariana asked as she started to feel better. "Oh! From everyone back home. You"ll get monthly letters in bulk delivered by the most beautiful woman in the world. Who knows you might even get some parcels depending on her mood." Lady Zula said enthusiastically as she gave Ariana a wink. "No way!" Ariana shouted excitedly. "Everyone has been worried but we can"t communicate normally. We are all being watched. Especially after that incident that involved a couple of towns." Lady Zula said as she carefully watched Ariana"s face.
"What towns?" Ariana asked with great confusion. "Let me see." Lady Zula said as she tapped her right cheek with her index finger. "Something miraculous happened in Cruxious, Fatma and the Tetsu Forest. People are saying the priestess blessed the areas but they don"t know why." Lady Zula said as she stared at Ariana while Ariana broke out into a cold sweat. "Don"t worry I know what happened but you should know that it expanded a lot further out." Lady Zula whispered as she fixed her gaze to the road ahead.
Lobo looked at Ariana and waited for an explanation but Ariana shook her head no. "I had a bad cold and was in bed for a while." Ariana said awkwardly. "Oh! We had those days off since you were confined to your room." Lobo said happily. "You guys don"t hang outside the female dorm boundaries?" Ariana asked.
"What?! No way! The only person who has access to go to the female dorms whenever he wants is Cayden. Other then that, you"re friend Edlyn is a great informant, well only when it came to your health." Lobo explained. "I usually station mother ginger root to the area and wait for her to call me." Lobo explained further. "So you met a few nice people?" Lady Zula teased as she nudged Ariana with her elbow. "Ya.... Ya I did." Ariana sighed as she smiled brightly.
It felt like no time had gone by when Ariana saw that they had arrived at the drop off zone. Her grandmother was already waited impatiently by the rea.s.sembled cart. "You"re late!" The Countess shouted as she crossed her arms over her military uniform. "Hurray up already! You already missed Gregory and I don"t want to waste anymore time here." The Countess shouted arrogantly as she stepped into the carriage.
"Goodbye dear." Lady Zula said as she turned and gave Ariana a big hug. "Bye mom. Be safe, eat the food while it"s still warm. If it gets cold just get someone to heat it up in a pot." Ariana said quickly as she tightened her embrace. "Mom I love you. Please visit whenever you can." Ariana whispered as she slowly released her mother. "Silly!" Lady Zula said as she pinched Ariana"s cheek. She then planted a big kiss onto her other cheek. "Love you too." Lady Zula whispered into Ariana"s ear.
"Zula let"s go!" The Countess yelled from within the carriage. "Bye mom." Ariana said loudly as she waved. Lady Zula climbed into the carriage and closed the door behind her. The horses were whipped and the carriage started moving. "Bye mom! Love you!" Ariana shouted a little louder as she slowly walked beside the carriage, waving like a fool. "Bye! Please visit again next time!" Ariana shouted as the carriage picked up speed. Ariana stopped chasing after the carriage, still waving as she watched it get further away. An arm stuck out the window and waved goodbye vigorously.
"Bye." Ariana whispered as she brought her hand back down to her side. "Don"t get too sad." Lobo said as he placed his big hand on top of Ariana"s head. Ariana looked up at Lobo. "I know. I"m surrounded by a few good people." Ariana said as her eyes started to water. "Whatever." Lobo said as he messed up Ariana"s hair and tossed it to the front, covering her face completely. "Hey!" Ariana shouted as she quickly tried to fix her hair. "Speaking of good people, Xander is coming over." Lobo said as he nodded.
"Evening." Xander said as he got close enough. "Good evening Xander." Ariana said just as she flattened her hair down. "Edlyn and her family have been looking for you." He said indifferently as he eyed the distance between Lobo and Ariana.