The quiet between them settled again after Aldric's words, the warmth of the tea doing little to ease the thoughts now stirring in Lyra's mind.
Aldric set his cup down gently and looked at her with calm attention.
"Now," he said, "why don't you tell me what happened yesterday?"
Lyra blinked, caught off guard.
"How do you know about that?" she asked.
Aldric's lips curved into a faint, knowing smile.
"There is very little this old man does not know," he replied. "Go on."
Lyra hesitated.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the cup and her gaze dropped to the surface of the tea as if searching for the right words there.
For a moment, she considered brushing it off, saying it wasn't a big deal and that it was nothing but something about the way he watched her made that impossible.
She exhaled slowly.
"I don't even know where to start," she said quietly.
"Start where it changed," Aldric replied.
Lyra nodded faintly.
