Shivering in the predawn light out in the courtyard, Aleydis resisted the urge to yawn. The only slot available to return to the academy on such short notice was a very, very early one. She supposed that she should be grateful that it hadn't been in the middle of the night, since that would've meant that she would've had to miss most of the Yule ball.

As it was, the ball had lasted into the early hours of the morning before slowly breaking up as people drifted to either their carriages or the rooms that had been provided. Since it would only be a few hours of sleep if she even managed to fall asleep, she had chosen to stay away and spend the time with her family in their private sitting room.

The hours had passed too fast and before they knew it, the servant was bringing her a steaming mug of the tea she needed to take half an hour before taking the portal. Resigning herself to the fact that their time together had come to an end, she had done her best not to grimace as she gulped down the bitter brew. Although it tasted nasty, it had made the portal travel at least bearable. However, she planned to talk to Matteo about adding a sweetener or something to make it more palatable to those who were not doctors or herbalists.

Swallowing down another yawn, she realized that it was odd that Matteo hadn't shown up yet. She thought for sure that he would insist upon coming the day before so that he could monitor every little detail. However, one of two things had probably happened. One, he was too caught up in their research and would end up forgetting all about her. Or two, the demands on the portal were too great for there to be two trips to Colbini only a day apart lacking urgent necessity. And somehow she doubted that the portal master would consider academic rigor an acceptable excuse for opening one.

In a mirror of the night before, a steaming mug appeared before her eyes. Since Alrik and her parents had been with her the entire time, it couldn't be them and Ellie was currently making sure that her suitcase was ready to go and properly secured, so it could only belong to one person.

Turning and looking at the person holding the mug, who was indeed Kadin, she shook her head regretfully. "Thank you, that was very nice. But I can't eat or drink anything after I take the tea. The researchers don't want to risk interference with the results. There's apparently another group that is required to eat or drink after taking the decoction, but given my reaction to portal travel last time, I figure it's probably better that I wasn't in that group anyway."

He grimaced sympathetically, handing the mug to Alrik instead, who took it with a yawn. "I heard about that. Doesn't sound fun, sorry you're dealing with that."

She shrugged, "It wasn't as bad as usual portal travel, so I'll take what I can get. What are you doing out here? Don't you have a few hours until training? You could've gotten at least a few hours of sleep, unlike the rest of us."

He and Alrik shared a speaking glance before he shrugged, "Going without sleep for one night won't kill me. I just wanted to see you off and thank you for coming to witness our knighthood trial. It was an honor to be able to test in front of the royal family."

She laughed, feeling her drowsiness fade away to a more manageable level. "Such pretty words, one would think that you have been studying diplomacy instead of me. You're the one who put in all the time and hard work, both of you deserve to have your hard work recognized. I'm just glad that I got to see the knighting of 'The Youngest Knight in a Century'."

He grimaced, reaching out like he was going to ruffle her hair messily. "This is the thanks I get for coming to see you off? I see how it is. A gremlin is what you are. I don't know how you've managed to fool the academy into thinking that you're some sort of demure lady when you're really a mischievous sprite."

She laughed and dodged out of reach, moving over to Alrik's other side and grinning at him. However, before she could fire a comment back or Alrik intervene before it escalated, the whirring sound of a portal flaring to life filled the courtyard.

She huffed a sigh, her good mood falling. She wasn't ready to go back to the academy, even if she knew that it was time. However, she'd already managed to complete a year and a half, only five and a half to go. And if her teachers were to be believed, if she kept her studies at this pace, she could possibly even manage to graduate a year early. It was too soon to make any plans since a lot could happen in the next four years to prevent such a thing from happening.

She hadn't mentioned the possibility to her family either, because she knew that they would urge her to take her time and enjoy learning and friendships before returning to Colbini to stay permanently. But she found that the longer she was away from Colbini, the more she missed it, both the country and the people there. So she was going to do her best to make sure that she kept on track to graduate early. Although they would surely protest when they learned that she was graduating early, by then, it would be too late for them to do anything.

Blue light flared to life at the end of the courtyard and moments later, Matteo bounced out of the portal, immediately scanning the area for any sign of her. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at him and hide behind Alrik, but it was a near thing. Instead, she turned to her parents and hugged them tightly one last time, promising to write as soon as she had a minute to let them know how the return trip had gone. She didn't want to worry them, so she would probably downplay whatever happened, but she would still do her best to convey things truthfully. Just, not graphically.

She turned back to hug Alrik, only to find him and Kadin talking to Matteo. Alrik's expression was arranged in a warm smile while Kadin's looked more stern. Matteo looked completely baffled by whatever the pair was saying but was nodding anyway. Although it looked like it was pleasant idle chatter, she had the feeling that the pair were threatening the herbalist to behave around her. However, what she didn't know, she couldn't confirm if she was questioned, so she decided to give them their space to sort things out. 

Alrik was very protective of her and protesting it would mean that he would only become more covert in his efforts to protect her instead of stopping. Since she would prefer to know what he was up to, turning a blind eye was the best solution to keep the peace. So she made her way over to where Ellie was, giving her a tight hug and thanking her for all her help. She knew that her coming during the busy Yule season had heaped extra work on Ellie's shoulders but she hadn't been able to resist the chance to visit home.

She had just finished up when Alrik tapped her lightly on the shoulder, a reluctant smile on his face. "All right, Sprout, time to go. As much as I want to keep you here, we can't delay any longer."

Knowing that he was right, they only had a five-minute window, ten minutes at best before the portal dissipated, so she couldn't linger. If the portal disappeared before she entered it, she would have to take the long road back to the academy and since the one stretch of road had been destroyed by the flood, she would end up being nearly half a month tardy, which would be grounds for probation with the possibility of being expelled if she made any more errors.

So, instead, she gave him a fierce hug, knowing that it would have to tide her over until she returned home for summer break. With a quick wave to Kadin, she moved over and joined Matteo where he was waiting, holding her luggage.

Although his demeanor was a little more subdued than it had been the last time she'd seen him, his eyes were still burning with the desire to catalogue and dissect every move she made. "Ready to return to the academy, Junior Aleydis."

Pulling on every diplomatic trick she had learned so far, she offered him a polite smile, "Yes, Senior Matteo. Thank you for coming and picking me up."

He flapped her words away with his hand, clearly done with what were probably pointless formalities in his opinion. "All right, into the portal. We only have another three minutes and twenty-three seconds before they close the portal on this end. Now, remember, take note of everything you're feeling while in the portal, we'll need you to write a report of both trips once you are settled in at the academy."

Resignation filling her, she gave one last wave to her family before taking a deep breath and stepping into the portal.

She didn't know if her exhaustion played a part in it or not, but the trip back seemed to be twice as rough as the trip to Colbini had been. Thankfully, although she didn't know why, the return time did seem to be less than that of her trip home.

It seemed like barely any time had passed at all until she was stepping out into the soothing light of the portal atrium at the academy.

Her face must've given away her churning stomach because the portal master immediately pointed at bins lining the wall a few feet away. "If you must throw up, do it in those, they'll automatically vanish it."

She gave a jerky nod of thanks and dashed over to the bins, immediately throwing up.

When she finished, she straightened to find Matteo scribbling frantically in a small notebook. Exchanging a wry look with the sympathetic portal master, she shuffled over and grabbed her suitcase from where it had been abandoned at his feet. She muttered wryly, "Peppermint for nausea, honey to make it sweeter or even just bearable when it comes back up. Something, anything, for us poor test subjects, okay?"

He just gave a grunt and kept on scribbling, so she gave it up as a bad job. With a nod of thanks to the portal master, she turned and headed for the exit. She had almost made it there when she heard Matteo yell after her, "Don't forget to submit your reports!"

Without bothering to slow down or look back, she waved her hand in acknowledgment. She would submit the reports of the trips and their effects on her. But first, she was going to take a nap.