The cart waited in front of the chapel at first light.
A small barrel of water, a sack of oats, a coil of rope and a few bundles of spare clothes were tied down under a sheet. Torren stood beside the horse, checking the harness. His spear rested against the cart, within easy reach.
Father Corwin and Sister Elaina had called the children out early. Breathing showed in the cool air as they huddled near the doorway in cloaks and shawls.
Two other boys stood a little apart. One was thin and freckled, maybe ten years old, with a patched coat and eyes that kept drifting between the cart and the chapel roof. The other was a year or two older, stockier, with a serious mouth.
Corwin introduced them. "These are Jarik and Toben," he said. "They came from villages along the north road. The three of you will travel together to Larethin."
The older boy, Toben, nodded politely and fell quiet again. The younger, Jarik, grinned.
"You are Alaric," he said. "The Shersian priest in my village said you roasted a demon wolf with flour. I thought he was joking."
"It was still just a wolf," Alaric said. "And the flour helped more than I did."
Jarik laughed. "Still better than anything I have done yet."
His accent carried a bit of the northern stretch in it, but his words came easy, as if he were used to talking to strangers.
Elaina tugged at Alaric's cloak, pulling him away from the boys for a moment. She dusted imaginary specks off his shoulder and fixed a loose fold.
"Eat what they give you," she said. "Listen to Torren. Do not skip your letters just because city walls are impressive."
"I will write," Alaric said. His voice wanted to catch, he forced it to stay even. "Every week if I can."
She studied his face. "You look like you are going to a funeral, not an exam."
"I am leaving home," he said.
Shuru had burned. He had not had time to say goodbye there. Here, the chapel and yard and noisy dorm all stood solid behind him, and leaving hurt in a different way.
Elaina's expression softened. For a instant she looked like she might pull him into a tight hug and not let go. Instead she flicked him lightly on the forehead.
"Then come back strong enough that I do not have to worry next time something ugly walks up the road," she said.
He nodded, swallowing once.
Corwin approached with a small cloth pouch. The faint clink inside said coins.
"Emergencies only," the priest said, pressing it into Alaric's hand. "Not meat pies for your friends."
Rin, standing within earshot, made a face. "Mean."
"You will live," Corwin said. He turned back to Alaric. "Remember what you are going for. Not just pride. Knowledge. Training. Use all of it."
"I will," Alaric said.
Kellan clapped him on the shoulder, careful of old bruises. "Do well on the exam," he said. "If you do not pass, I will be annoyed that I have to catch up to you the slow way."
"I will save you a seat in the academy," Alaric replied.
Mira smiled faintly. "Bring back stories," she said. "About spells and classrooms and noble brats being idiots."
"I can do that," smilingly he said.
Rin stepped in last. She tried to smirk and ended up half scowling instead. "You had better come back stronger," she said. "If you let those capital kids push you around, I will walk there and hit you myself."
He managed a small laugh.
Lia was the hardest.
She had been hovering near Elaina's skirt the whole time, silent, watching with big eyes. When Torren called that it was nearly time, she broke free and ran to Alaric, wrapping both arms around his waist.
"Do not go," she said into his cloak.
He knelt so they were eye to eye. Her cheeks were already wet.
"If I stay," he said quietly, "I will only be able to protect this one place. Maybe not even that."
"I do not care," she said. "I want you here."
He did not have a good answer for that. He put his hands on her shoulders.
"I promised I would write," he said. "I will send letters. I will send money if I can. And when they let me leave the academy, I will come back and visit. Every time."
"You promise," she repeated.
"I promise," he said.
She sniffed hard and nodded, fingers loosening from his cloak. Elaina drew her back gently.
Torren swung up onto the cart's front bench. "That is it," he called. "If we want to make the first inn by nightfall, we move."
Alaric climbed onto the cart beside Jarik and Toben. The wood creaked under their combined weight. Torren clicked his tongue, the horse started forward with a slow pull.
The chapel steps rolled away beneath them. Children waved. Elaina lifted a hand once, then turned back toward the door before anyone saw her eyes.
Alaric watched until the building slipped out of sight behind a stand of trees.
I lost Shuru without saying goodbye, he thought. I am not losing this place. I will come back.
"Two days to the first patrol post," Torren said. "Three more after that to Larethin. If you fall behind, I am not carrying you."
Jarik nudged Alaric with an elbow. "You look like someone stole your favorite bread," he said lightly. "First time leaving home?"
"First time leaving a home that is still standing," Alaric replied.
Jarik blinked, then nodded slowly. "I want to get out of mine," he said. "Nothing but mud and debts. If I pass this exam and become a knight, maybe I can fix at least the debt part."
"That is why you came," Alaric said.
"Why did you?" Jarik asked.
Alaric thought of fire, and blue wolf eyes, and a village that had turned to ash.
"Because I do not want any more places to burn like mine did," he said.
Jarik stared at him for a heartbeat, then gave a short, crooked grin. "Sounds like a knight answer already."
The cart rolled on.
By late afternoon they reached a inn in the road. The right stretched south and east, toward hills Alaric had only seen on Corwin's maps.
Torren pulled on the reins and pointed with his spear toward the right‑hand path.
"That way is Larethin," he said. "And after that, if you pass,its the capital."
He turned the horse onto the Larethin road.
The cart creaked forward, carrying them toward the first city Alaric would ever see.