Keth lowered his hands, but before they made their way around the sleeping lady's neck, the sheet surrounding her body flew into the air. The white cloth wrapped around Keth's hands, and then proceeded to tie itself around his body.
Keth fought against the entanglement, reaching for the dagger at his waist. Before he could grab it, the cloth tightened. His strength was not enough to break through, even as he clawed at the woven fabric.
His body lifted into the air, floating above the bed. The woman lying there laughed.
She rolled over, her purple eyes dancing with merriment as she called forth a luminous Memory.
"Y-you're not Tamar!"
"Indeed, I am not." The woman's merriment could not be contained. "It's all clear!" She added loudly.
The door opened, and a floating professor entered with an ashen-haired girl and the head of security.
"Are you alright, Lovia?" Noble watched her colleague nod.
"Are you kidding? This is the most fun I've had in a long time. You always keep things lively, don't you, Noble?"
The professor smiled sadly. "I would have liked less excitement today."
"Unhand me! What is going on here?" Keth managed to spin in the air to face Noble.
She raised one eyebrow at him. "I can ask you the same question. You are not going anywhere. You must explain. What are you doing in Tamar's room?"
"This is Tamar's room?" Keth blinked.
Noble crossed her arms.
The young man sighed. "Lady Tamar invited me here. I assumed she wanted to make things right. But now I realized it was just another ploy to trap me and humiliate me."
Noble eyed him carefully.
"You threatened Tamar yesterday, and now you want us to believe that you trusted her enough to enter somewhere that is off limits for you just so you could have a chat?"
Lovia laughed. "He isn't a very good liar, is he?"
"Do you have everything you need, Mori?" Noble regarded the head of security with a nod.
"I do. Thank you."
Keth turned his head to hurl some harsh words when his eyes went wide.
"You are the guard who was outside my dorm!"
Mori chuckled. "In the flesh. I'm rather surprised you took the bait, though. I was sure you could see that the coffee mug was empty."
"I was lured here, I tell you!" Keth insisted.
"Perhaps," Mori shrugged, "but not by Lady Tamar. The guard you coerced has already come clean and been removed from his post."
"I don't know who you are talking about." Keth denied the claim.
Noble rubbed her forehead. "Perhaps I haven't mentioned this before, but I can tell when people are lying. Your emotions are all over the place."
Keth gritted his teeth. "You are in on it, all of you! Wait until I tell my family…"
"Tell them what? About your bad intentions or about the dagger you summoned and tucked in your belt?" Mori broke in. He pointed up to the corner of the room where a camera was covertly placed next to the ceiling. "You might not have seen that device in the dark, but we could certainly see you."
Mori held up a data pad with a smaller image of the room on the display.
"Say hello!"
Keth could hold it in no longer. His anger erupted.
"You all should have stayed out of it! There was no reason to interfere in matters that you fail to comprehend."
"What I comprehend is that you wanted to murder one of my students in cold blood. That is unacceptable behavior." Noble shook her head.
"Lord Anvil himself will hear how you have treated me! You will not get away lightly!" Keth gritted his teeth.
Suddenly, a piece of the cloth unfolded and was stuffed in his mouth, silencing him.
"Thank goodness! I thought we were going to have to listen to him all the way to the brig." Lovia dusted off her hands as she stood.
Noble rubbed the back of her neck.
"I didn't want to mess up your blanket Memory, but I saw no other way."
Tamar watched the scene silently. If she had any thoughts on the matter, she kept them to herself. Mori coughed lightly.
"Will you be alright, Lady Tamar? I can have someone assigned to you for your protection." He offered with a bow.
Tamar shook her head. "I will be fine until this evening."
Mori gave Noble a meaningful glance and nodded. "Very well. Let's head out."
In the hall, the rest of the security detail was waiting.
He motioned for one of them to stay behind and secure the area while the rest surrounded Keth's floating form.
Tamar was left in the room with Noble and Lovia.
"Are you sure you will be alright?" The professor asked.
"I am a Legacy," Tamar spoke as if that were the ultimate answer. To her, it was. Her stoic expression softened. "But I would appreciate it if you would relay to my father that I am unharmed and will return to him soon."
"I can do that," Noble promised.
"Thank you." With nothing left to say, Tamar followed the two teachers into the hall. There, they found another couple of familiar faces.
"Tamar!" Fleur cried. She tilted her head toward the lady she was escorting."Gisel said someone attacked her. I helped her as much as I could, but I am about to take her to the infirmary. What happened?"
The prisoner at the end of the hall floated so that the redhead could see his gagged face. She gasped.
"Keth?"
Tamar shrugged. "It's fine. He won't be bothering me again any time soon."
"If he does, he'll have me to contend with!" Fluer puffed up her chest. "…Right after I make sure Gisel gets to the infirmary."
Tamar gave a small smile. "I'll go with you both. We can pick up your idiot boyfriend on the way."
"Then we can both protect you!" Fleur nodded.
They each looped one of Gisel's arms over their shoulders and escorted her toward the exit of the building.
"They will be fine." Noble extended her care toward them, feeling her connection to the ladies strengthen.
Lovia whistled softly. "I'm impressed. You foiled a revenge plot without a single drop of blood spilled. How did you know he was going to do that?"
Noble smiled at the other woman. Her silvery hair had made her the perfect substitute for Tamar's ashen locks. And Lovia had put her life on the line without a second thought.
That alone deserved an explanation.
"It wasn't revenge."
Noble told her as they took up the rear of the unorthodox parade behind the prisoner.
"Keth was sent by someone, though I'm not sure who yet. The boy was hiding his Aspect. He was hoping to make Tamar's death look like an overzealous accident by challenging her in my class. When that didn't work, Keth tried to hide her assassination during another fight using a red arrow."
Noble had connected those dots earlier that morning. Her son's words that morning had helped her to figure out why neither boy in that altercation seemed to know about the errant projectile. Fleur hadn't been the target back then. Tamar was.
"Finally, Keth tried to accuse the young woman of insulting his family so he could force another duel. Only he hadn't predicted I would move that battle to the Dreamscape. When I figured out what he was up to, I realized that he would certainly try once more before the Solstice. Mori gave him that opportunity by allowing him to sneak out of his room. Now we have all the proof we need to…"
Stopping short of the exit, Noble paused.
Lovia glanced at her. "What is it?"
Noble furrowed her brow. "Trouble."