He could not have been more pleased when Lian expressed an interest, for clearly she had the skill and the drive, given what she knew already. With more instruction and time spent on her stances, he knew she would be one high flying dinosaur in no time. And why not? A dinosaur was not all that different from a dragon.
When Dinah suggested that Lian go work with his other students, he immediately nodded his assent, though he wondered at the reason. He was going to ask about her mother and other potential guardians before they left so he knew whom to release her into custody of at the end of each day, and this gave him the impression that something had to be off as he rose. Especially given the little exchange between Dinah and Roy.
For his part, his face remained neutral and his thoughts hopeful in the respect that he did not want to be right about his immediate suspicion. Especially since it was the girls mother in question.