Herding Cats (Again!)
In the end, Blanche and Alec split apart, going in different directions without meeting up with Alec's group.
Blanche maintained that she would head further north to see whether or not the seal that Alec passed her to track the white robe's magical signature would react at all, but Alec knew that she only said so because she was giving him some space.
She'd probably come to the conclusion that Alec's growth was stagnating around her, which filled him with both gratitude and something that felt distinctly like he was sorry towards her.
However, she never once let on that was how she felt, and there was also a part of Alec that was thankful for his pride being spared.
Alec started gathering more information about the 'chaos' that had been abreast the various nearby cities. His brows were furrowed from the information he heard going around.
Some of them were even happened simultaneously, and Alec almost let out a groan.