Roxana and the other students who had been left puzzled now saw Jax and Astrid coming their way. But their confusion only doubled when they noticed some very unusual things about the scene in front of them.
Astrid was leading the way with the posture of a general returning from a successful negotiation. And behind her, trailing like a shadow that had lost its confidence, was Jax. His face carried the expression of a man who had been thoroughly and completely defeated.
Astrid was lecturing him about something and he was nodding along like a child who had been caught sneaking sweets and was now receiving the full wrath of his mother's disappointment.
Their brains simply refused to register what they were seeing. The only image they had of this man was his short temper and arrogance that didn't even pardon the highest-ranking nobles in the world. He had threatened kings. Killed a pope. Told an entire room of world leaders to sit down like dogs.
