"So? What do you think?…" Noble awaited her husband's feedback.
It had been three days since the attack, and Noble finally felt that her proposal was ready for review.
Sitting across from her at the table, Fort continued to thumb through the pages. He hummed softly a few times, making Noble even more anxious.
At last, he placed the pages on the table and looked up at her with an unreadable expression. Noble wished he would say something already!
"Well?!"
Fort touched the tips of his fingers on the table. "You know, for someone who said they were helpless, this is quite a lot of help you are providing for the Academy."
"I don't sit still well…" Even now, Noble was fidgeting above her seat.
"Obviously. There are a lot of suggestions, and most are easily implemented, though I think you will get some pushback from Legacies over them having to sign a 'pledge of neutrality' when they enter the Academy as a student." Fort pointed to the item in question on Noble's list.
The woman shrugged. "They are not required to attend the Academy. And it would only be for their time at the Academy, not forever. If this conflict lasts long enough, I know most, or all, will join the war effort."
"We will see, I suppose." Just now, Fort did not like to think about what the future might hold. "One more thing, about the separation of dorms…"
"We will make sure they have equal accommodations, so there should be no complaints of unequal treatment. And before you worry that this will further polarize the Great Clans, everything else will be mixed as normal. We need the students to feel safe while sleeping so they can learn well during the day."
"Seems you've thought of everything." The ambassador smiled at her.
"So…you think it is good?" Noble watched her husband's smile widen.
"I think it is very good. It makes me want to come and see you present it to Provost Alden. Do you have an appointment scheduled to present it?"
No policy at the Awakened Academy would be implemented without the approval of the man in charge. Alden had been serving since the Academy was founded. Noble remembered being deeply afraid of him when she was first hired for her job as a professor.
She had felt small under his gaze, and if not for Julius's encouragement, Noble would have thought that the Provost hated her. Over the years, she had come to respect Alden as a calm force in the chaos of teenage angst. When he walked the grounds, the Sleepers never dared to misbehave.
Even the Legacy Clans revered him, probably because many of them had attended under his watchful eye while at the Academy themselves. Few people had much contact with the enigmatic Provost, Noble included, but all knew they wanted to be on the right side of him.
If anyone could make the Legacy Clans and their progeny behave while on school grounds, it was Alden.
"I don't have an appointment with him, but I will go by his office and make one today now that I have everything in order." Noble gathered her papers. "Thank you for the help."
Noble kissed her husband across the table before floating herself back to the ground.
"You'll be great. The trick will be to make the provost see your point of view. If he doesn't see the writing on the wall that war is coming, then he won't be amenable to changes." Fort advised.
"I know." The professor had already come to this conclusion.
The Academy was both cutting-edge and steeped in tradition simultaneously. Alden would not want to change what was working unless he saw a legitimate need.
"I will do my best." Noble was surprised as her husband swept around the table and drew her into his arms for a second kiss.
The boys had already headed off to school, so nothing was keeping the ambassador from a moment with his wife. "I look forward to celebrating your success."
"Don't count the victory yet. For all I know, Master Alden has his own plan, and all of this was just busy work to ease my conscience." Noble had been paying attention to the propaganda machine around Ravenheart.
New leaflets were being passed around all the time with bits and pieces of the truth mixed in with anger and vitriol.
The first set of pamphlets had been the work of Clan Song, surely, but that was all. Now, every group and organization in the budding civilization had something to say about the attack. Without the convenience of technology to propagate their thoughts, they had resorted to more rudimentary forms of communication.
The messages had started off relatively tame, but Noble could see the disturbing trend toward more vigorous calls to action.
Rumor was that today was when Queen Ki Song would refuse the King of Swords's demand to question Dar and Silent Stalker.
That would add fuel to the powder keg by making the people of the Sword Domain think that the Queen was hiding something. Tensions would only escalate.
So the sooner the protocols were in place, the more prepared the Academy would be when the inevitable happened.
With Bee Two's most recent calculations, that was perhaps a couple of weeks away.
"Don't worry," Fort could see his wife's eyes swirling. "You'll be great. Maybe you can even see him today!"
"I doubt it, but just in case…"
Noble placed her papers into her small storage Memory and then donned her coat.
"I love you. Have a wonderful day!" The professor blew her husband a kiss and headed for the door.
"Love you too! Knock 'em dead. Metaphorically speaking!" Fort's last words earned him an amused groan from his wife. She shook her head and opened the front door. As she did, a gust of wind found its way into the warmth of the cozy home.
The end of winter was quickly approaching, and with it a wind that had a mind of its own. Noble's braid whipped around her face as a paper wrapped around Noble's leg.
"Ugh!" At least she had already dismissed her paperwork, or it would have ended up a wind-blown mess like the page against her knee.
She took hold of it and clicked her tongue.
"It's getting really bad. The litter is out of control. If people insist on passing out flyers, they should be required to clean up after themselves!"
"I agree. In the NQSC, we had street sweepers. Maybe I need to start a litter initiative." Fort shook his head.
"At the very least, we should see if we can start a recycling program. Even the Dream Realm will be overrun with landfills if we aren't careful."
Gripping the page in her hand, Noble shut the door and turned toward the wastebasket to throw the trash away. That is when she noticed movement outside the kitchen window. It was brief, but the presence was undeniable.
'Could it be?'
Noble narrowed her gaze.
She lifted the page and looked at its contents.
Fort noticed her change in demeanor. "What is it?"
Noble stared at the page. Her expression darkened.
'You've got to be kidding me…'