None of what Lester said had sounded promising. It's going was as far from good as one got without being obviously distraught, and she was about to press further when he turned the question around on her.

Obviously, Alice wasn't fine. She had gone through a horribly traumatic summer - and that was without touching upon the dragons. But, Lester didn't know as much. Neither did anyone beyond Calla and (maybe Edison.) "Yeah, I'm alright. What's the task?" Alice answered, determined as ever to keep the conversation from touching upon anything involving her wellbeing.

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