"Ow!" Nova cried out and rubbed her upper arm.
Rinniz clenched her hands in front of her torso, as if forcing herself to stay calm, and wrinkled her nose in irritation.
"What was that for?" Nova asked and twisted her mouth.
Just a blink ago, she had still been fully absorbed in her story, and in the next moment Rinniz had struck her "affectionately" on the arm.
After that, Rinniz pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and sighed loudly.
Ayaz held the history book in front of him like a shield and peeked over the edge while he chuckled:
"That's new. Usually I'm the one who takes the brunt of Rinniz's anger."
She shot him a dark look, whereupon he grinned crookedly from behind the book before hiding behind it again.
Nova slid a little to the side to be out of Rinniz's reach in case of possible "follow-up attacks."
The aftereffects would surely show themselves later in the form of a proper bruise, even though the blow had only caused a brief, dull pain.
She knew that Rinniz had not meant it badly, but many often forgot that humans were nowhere near as resilient as other species. And Nova was no exception. At least not as long as she did not actively use her magic to counteract it.
"That was for that," Rinniz scolded her in a sharp tone, "for letting yourself be beaten down and driven off so easily. After everything you're telling us, you don't seem to have changed very much."
'Not changed very much'? That was not entirely true. Nova had changed. You inevitably did when enough time passed or when you had experienced a great deal.
She blinked hastily and objected:
"That's not how it was at all. I didn't let myself be driven off. Beaten down, yes, fine, I'll grant you that, but not driven off. I left of my own accord."
Now it was no longer just Rinniz who glared at Nova, but Ayaz as well.
"You let yourself be driven off!" both of them said at the same time and pointed at her.
"And you're still doing that today," Rinniz said, a furrow between her eyebrows.
Nova looked at Ayaz, hoping that he would agree with her, but he nodded several times with a serious expression, which made her hold her breath.
She stood up, walked to the middle of the room, and planted her hands on her hips:
"No, I have to disagree with that."
The pair shook their heads firmly.
"How often have we already been confronted, threatened, or even attacked after it became known who you are? And you bear the title of hero, which, incidentally, is the highest distinction one can receive…", Ayaz listed and raised a finger each time to emphasize the individual points.
"Exactly, but that's not even the worst part," Rinniz added and turned toward Nova as she sat, "What's really bad is that you let yourself be driven off by people like that every single time."
Nova bit the inside of her cheek. Had she, without realizing it, fallen back into ancient behavioral patterns?
"That has nothing to do with it," she murmured. However, she was speaking more to herself than to anyone else.
"Yes, it does," Rinniz objected.
Nova exhaled audibly and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
"In Grania there is a saying: The smarter one gives way, the donkey remains stubborn," Nova replied and let herself fall onto the bed.
Ayaz and Rinniz stared at her with wide eyes, so she explained:
"It means giving in for the sake of peace instead of letting the conflict escalate."
"What do you Granians have against donkeys…" Ayaz quietly focused on the wrong issue. Then he lay down on the floor and folded his arms behind his head, making himself more comfortable.
Rinniz rolled her eyes and then addressed Nova:
"We don't mean to say that you should pick a fight with everyone, even though most of them probably wouldn't have much to oppose you with... What they say about you, you clearly don't deserve…"
She paused and looked at her lap.
"But it must not determine where you go. Especially not purely as a precaution," she said and lifted her gaze.
Nova was just about to say something when Rinniz's outstretched index finger suddenly silenced her.
Rinniz continued, while the finger remained in the air:
"I think back then with Marceline and Kiyan you didn't just leave because you felt guilty or because Kiyan demanded that you go. You probably would have managed it again, even if it had been uncomfortable at first."
She slowly lowered her hand and stared at the carpet.
"In my opinion, you left far more because you didn't want them to see you," Rinniz added after a brief hesitation, "as if you were afraid of showing your true feelings."
Nova looked past her and watched the birds that occasionally flew past the open window before settling on the tree opposite.
What nonsense, she thought. Rinniz had to be wrong, hadn't she?
But Rinniz's words troubled her more than she wanted to admit at that moment. Why did her stomach tighten so much at what Rinniz had said?
"However, I had imagined Kiyan to be much friendlier. After everything I've heard…" Ayaz spoke up after a while, groaning as he sat up, leaned back, and supported himself up on his arms.
Rinniz pulled the pillow from the bed and threw it at Ayaz, whereupon he fell onto his back.
As he straightened up with a sparkle in his eyes, she took Nova's hand and whispered with a mischievous smile:
"I take back that I'll buy him an ice cream too. We'll just share his."
She giggled and drew a brief smile from Nova.
"Rinniz," Ayaz sniffed in exaggerated drama, "don't break my poor heart again."
He hugged the pillow to his chest and let his head droop.
"You'll survive," she murmured dryly and held her hand out toward him.
Ayaz grinned and handed her the pillow as requested.
"Go on and continue, Nova," Rinniz prompted her as she placed it back in his old spot.