"—really?"

"I think you underestimate how dangerous an uncontrolled mage can be," he says, flashbacks of Morvunskar going through his head. "And I do not want you to turn Stonehills into a crater or your own personal army of zombies."

"—I would never."

"You wouldn't, but whatever person you turned into if you got sufficiently out of control with your magic might.

"Anyway, we're in agreement; I'll convince your mother and take you to Winterhold."

"...okay. Thanks."

She looks... perhaps slightly less enthused than she was a moment ago.

Yeah.

Back to her house, then.

"Yes? —oh. I see she's gotten to you." Gretolde folds her arms. "And I assume you're here to try to convince me to let her be, be some sort of, of..."

"Wizard, yes."

    "Well, I won't let her."

"But mom—"

    "No buts! I won't have you become the talk of the town as some, some freak, it was bad enough with your father—"

"I'm already a freak, mom, don't you see? You're just trying to pretend—"

    "I'm not listening to this any more, young lady, this topic is over."

The teenager stomps on the ground and screams...

...causing an eight-foot tall ice construct to appear out of thin air.

Holy shit.

Ruby's already summoning a Flame Atronach in one hand and summoning a flame in the other.

The Frost Atronach ignores the girl and her mother and immediately beelines for Ruby himself, as the biggest threat around. When Ruby's own Daedroth gets in its way, it starts pummeling it.

That's okay, Ruby's Atronach can take a bit of a beating, and between it and him with the fire they can distract the Frost Atronach enough it won't attack other people.

Like most fights, it is short, and without its summoner actively directing it the ice construct has absolutely nothing in the way of tactics, so it goes down easily, but... Ruby does not like the prospect of what would have happened here had he not been around.

And of course, any hopes of keeping this under wraps have just evaporated. A lot of the villagers screamed and fled when they saw the fight, except for a couple of guards who looked like they wanted to scream and flee but instead stood by in case Ruby hadn't been enough.

Adara and her mother both emerge from where they'd been cowering behind some boxes, the former looking resolute and the latter terrified. "Do you see, Mother?" And, actually, she looks to be on the verge of tears. "I can't control it! I'm already a freak, and if I don't learn, something bad will happen! It could've happened!"

    "I—but my child—"

"Ma'am, that was a relatively small-scale spell," Ruby murmurs, and Gretolde blanches at the idea that that was small. "Adara's magicka reserves will grow with time, and if she receives no instruction she will become more and more dangerous, to herself and to others. And the danger to herself is spiritual, too, because using magic without control can damage the soul and chip away at her very being. Your child is very gifted, and I believe it is of paramount importance that she receive instruction on how to use her gift for good as soon as possible."

Gretolde bursts into tears.

"Oh, Mother..." says Adara, and she wraps her arms around her mother.

    "Adara, I don't want to be alone. I miss your father every minute of every day, and I can't lose you too."

"Mom... mom you're not losing me, Winterhold is just, just a few days away..."

Yeah okay he should not be here for this part. He quietly slips away to let them talk.

"On behalf of Stonehills, thank you for dealing with that creature," one of the guards walks up to him to say, sounding a bit stiff.

Probably thinks Ruby's just as bad for having summoned an Atronach of his own. "You don't need to thank me. It could've caused a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people, I'm glad I could prevent that."

"...right. Uh. Is... is Adara going to be going to Winterhold with you, then?" He shuffles his feet a bit. "We all knew. Gretolde tried to hide it but... we knew. We saw the small things she'd do, sometimes, especially when she was small. We thought... maybe she'd grow past it..."

Ruby shakes his head. "She can't. She'll only grow more powerful. The safest thing for her and for Stonehills is for her to come to the College. Once she can control her magic, she'll be able to return here and live a normal life, if she so wishes."

And what's left unsaid is that she's unlikely to wish it. Wizard or no, Stonehills isn't really the kind of place one returns to, after leaving. Some people enjoy the quiet, the calm, but...

"Will you take good care of her? At the College."

"I'm just an Apprentice, myself, but... she'll be in good hands. And she's a resourceful young lady, ordering an enchanted item using her mother's name was quite clever. Believe in her."

That... does cheer him up. "I will. Thank you."

"It's what I'm here for."

Gretolde and Adara have they heart to heart. Gretolde is finally honest about her thoughts and feelings and has a real conversation with Adara instead of just treating her like an unruly child. Adara for her part admits she has been acting like an unruly child but didn't know how else to get what she wanted. They take a while, and Adara asks Ruby for some more time in order to say goodbye to everyone and get ready to go, since she's no longer stealing away in the dead of night.