*Lena*
The administrative building on campus was bustling with frantic activity as I stepped inside. The secretary who usually manned the front desk was nowhere to be seen, but her desk was overflowing with paperwork, so of which had fallen to the floor. I looked around, hoping to make eye contact with soone who could help , but no one seed to even notice my presence.
It was midmorning, and I’d slept terribly the night before. My stomach was in knots over the Xander situation and what he’d say to today, whenever that would be.
Finally, the secretary returned, wiping sweat from her brow and looking exceedingly stressed. I stepped toward her desk but a man cut off, speaking harshly to the secretary and pointing a finger in her face.
“Excuse !” I said loudly, clearing my throat as the man and the secretary turned and looked up and down. The man straightened up and adjusted his tie before glaring at and walking briskly away.
“Can I help you?” the secretary drawled, looking annoyed by my presence.
“I need to speak to the uh... the dean, whoever that is now.”
She looked up and down, then sighed, pushing a few papers out of the way and checking a ledger that had been buried under the mountain of paperwork. She tapped her pen on her desk, tilting her head from side to side, then rolled her eyes and pointed to the left.
“Third door on the left,” she said, totally resigned.
I swallowed, nodding my thanks. What the hell was going on around here? It looked as though the entire university was coming apart.
I made my way to the door she’d directed to and knocked. A soft, sowhat flustered voice replied, asking to co in. I opened it, peeking my head inside.
I was surprised by what I saw. It was a younger woman, likely only in her early to mid-thirties. She had curly black hair that was styled in a short bob around her ears and unique, angled facial features that brought out the deepness of her eyes. They were an odd shade, sothing I’d never seen before. They were so dark they were almost black, but as I approached the desk she was standing behind, I noticed the fine dusting of pale gray around her pupils. She looked up from the file she was holding, her expression changing abruptly as her gaze swept over .
“Good Goddess, what are you doing here?” she asked, dropping the file on the desk.
I blinked, unsure if I’d heard her correctly. “I’m sorry?”
“You–” she paused, shaking her head, then looked down at the mountain of files on her desk. “Nothing. I thought you were soone I knew, or knew of.”
“I was just looking for the dean. I need to talk to soone about my status for graduation.”
She looked at for a mont longer, taking in my face. A strange sadness swept over her features, so long-forgotten mory rushing to the surface of her subconscious.
“What’s your na?” she asked as she opened one of the drawers behind the desk.
I told her, but she didn’t need to search long. Her fingers were already resting on my file before I’d even uttered my na, my public na, not the one given to at my birth.
She pulled the file out of the drawer, but it was surprisingly thin. I felt a jolt of shock rock my body as she opened it and gave it a quizzical glance, then sat down in the large, swiveling armchair behind the desk, breathing deeply.
“This is odd,” she said with a soft, knowing smile.
I gripped the back of the leather chairs in front of the desk, ant for the guests of the dean, one of which having been the sa chair I’d been sitting in when the assistant dean told I wouldn’t be going to Red Lakes, but Crimson Creek instead.
“What’s odd?”
“For soone who’s been a student since they were freshn, I would think there would be a lot more information about your courses and grades, but this is... nearly empty.” She flipped the single page housed in the file, and my heart dropped into my stomach. “And redacted, most of it, especially your senior year–”
“Redacted?”
I paled as she held up the paper and handed it to . Black ink blurred the majority of the page, everything but the line at the bottom that showed my credits, GPA, and completion status for my degree program. I had a 4.0 GPA, as perfect as you could possibly achieve. Every credit I needed to graduate was accounted for, and the completion line was 100%.
“Looks like you’re graduating–”
“What the hell is this?” I said, heat and fury turning my cheeks red as I held the paper up. “What is this?”
“You tell .”
I ground my teeth and laid the paper on her desk. Three years. Three grueling, sleepless years of tireless study. My research had been published. I’d had an award bestowed upon by the Alpha King of the West for my contribution to a cure for a blight that was taking out the massive and ancient redwood trees that stretched across the far eastern corner of the continent.
I was fearless, and selfless, in my pursuit of horticulture.
And this flimsy piece of paper was all the university had to show for it.
I could have scread, but the stranger sitting behind the desk was watching with interest, turning side to side in her chair.
“Odd things are happening around here,” she noted, looking down at her fingernails.
I exhaled, trying to get control of my emotions before I threw my weight into one of the chairs, slouching in defeat.
“Not a single record of your field study. Don’t all seniors need to complete one in order to graduate?”
I looked up at her, noticing the sowhat wry smile that flickered across her face. Was she teasing , in so way?
“I completed my field study–”
“I’m sure you did. I’m sure it’s not the reason for all of this... uproar. Or is it?”
I leaned forward, watching her eyes.
“Who are you, exactly?” I asked, and the woman smiled, a real, genuine smile.
“Hm... I don’t really know how to explain this to you,” she replied, tapping her nails on the desk. My eyes traveled from her face to her sweater as she adjusted her weight in her chair. Sothing glead as she tidied the suit jacket she was wearing over her sweater.
A pin, hidden by the jacket until that mont. It was clasped to the right side of her chest, over her heart. A full moon, surrounded by the other phases of the moon, set in a circle. The full moon had been replaced by a gem I didn’t recognize. It was likely clear, maybe a diamond, but against the rich blue of her sweater it had a cobalt hue.
She noticed my gaze and reached up to touch it, smiling softly to herself.
“The Church sent here to oversee things,” she said softly, shrugging one shoulder.
“The Church of the Moon Goddess, or the White Queens?” I asked, my heart beginning to pound. I was beginning to feel uneasy under her gaze.
“I work for the White Queen,” she said, folding her hands in her lap, “as a consultant to the Church. A middle man, you could say. I make sure the priestesses of the Church of the Moon Goddess are staying in their lane.”
The White Queen.
“How is she?” I asked, my mouth going dry. I hadn’t ant to say it out loud.
The woman smiled, her eyes flashing with recognition. “Concerned. Concerned about you.”
I flushed.
“Don’t worry. You’re going to graduate.” She tapped the file, shrugging. “Why not, at this point? Given the hell this university put you through for no reason other than money–”
“What?”
“That’s what this whole thing is about. Money. All the chaos, papers, everything–” she waved her hand around the room, and I saw the upheaval for the first ti. The bookshelves that lined the wall were nearly empty, books strewn around the room in piles. Warriors had been here. They’d pulled everything from the shelves and wall, likely just to make a point. On whose orders, though? The Alpha of Breles? My father? My grandfathers?
My family cared for and wanted protected, but they wouldn’t have gone this far. They wouldn’t have caused aningless destruction and put several thousand college students at risk of having no place to go, and no way to complete their studies.
“Where did they send you?” she asked, point blank.
My blood ran cold.
“?” I said dumbly, trying to make sense of the situation.
“You obviously didn’t go to Red Lakes. That’s where your family believed you were, anyway. The man who went with, Alexander Smith? He doesn’t even have a student file, did you know that? No file, no record of attendance, a portfolio, or grades. He ca to see as well, asking about you and whether or not what is left of administration would be letting you graduate.”
I blinked, gripping the armrests as she leaned forward in her seat. How did she know all of this?
“What happened?” she asked. And her tone wasn’t malicious... no, not in any way. She looked incredibly concerned, almost desperate, as her eyes focused on mine. Why did she look so familiar to ? I’d never seen this woman in my life, yet her eyes... her voice?
“Who are you?” I asked again, my voice sharp and commanding.
She leaned back in her chair, turning side to side again. “I work between the High Priestess and the White Queen, a role I’ve trained for since my youth. I know your family well, Princess Selene.”
I closed my eyes for a mont, my formal na ringing warning bells throughout my mind.
“I’m the only one who knows. Don’t worry. The dean didn’t even know he had royalty on campus. Dimwits, all of them. Your secret is safe, although I find it hard to believe no one knew, not after all this ti. You’re truly striking, you know–”
“What do you want?” I asked, but to my surprise, she laughed.
“Want? Oh, nothing. Nothing. I’m here by chance. I’ll likely be here long after you return to your parents, or wherever you decide to go next.”
All I could do was stare at her.
“Feel better now?” she chuckled, and I blinked, narrowing my eyes at her.
“I don’t understand why you’re here–”
“Well, that makes two of us if I’m being honest. I know nothing about running a university, yet I’m here until a new dean is chosen. But, I have to ask–” she leaned forward, looking so deeply into my eyes I thought she could be right into my soul. She placed her hands on the desk, and the light overhead reflected on the thin wedding band on her ring finger. “What do you know of this Alexander character? Who is he, and what does he have to do with everything that’s happening on campus right now?”
“Xander?” I stamred, tearing my eyes away from her ring. “N-Nothing–”
“He was the one who sent the Alpha of Breles here. No one has information. No one knows what exactly he said to bring the full force of the Alpha’s warriors on campus.”
“I don’t know, truly. He’s just.... We were just on our field study together.”
“Watch your back around him,” she said, her voice suddenly hard and full of concern. “The conversation I had with him was... not what I expected.”
“How so?”
There was a sharp knock on the door and an unfamiliar person stepped in, looking just as frantic as everyone else in the building.
The woman rose from her chair.
“Mara, the librarian is asking for you. Sothing about archives being taken by the warriors.”
Where had I heard that na before?
“I’ll be right there,” she replied, looking a little flushed. I stood, eting her eye before turning to walk out of the room.
“Wait!” she said, and I turned back around. She smiled at , her face nothing but kind. I didn’t know what to think. “Congratulations, Selene, on your upcoming graduation. Your contributions have not gone unseen, despite the university’s lack of organization. I hope you know and rember that.”
I gave her a tight smile, then left the room, my breath catching in my throat.
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