"Who's at what again, Sleeper Gisel?" Noble felt at a loss.
Any number of people could be causing issues. Drama at the Academy ranged from misunderstandings over borrowed hairbrushes to actual causes for concern.
What level of emergency had brought this young lady to find Noble specifically?
Falling to her knees, Gisel grabbed Noble's arm in her ardent supplication. She pulled the professor's sleeve and pointed in the direction of some of the dormitories. "Keth. He won't listen to reason. He is blaming Tamar for some rumor about him. But she didn't do it!"
Gisel believed what she said, and Noble did not think Tamar was the kind of person to spread rumors. She was a lady of few words, but she was also very direct with what she thought. Something strange was going on.
"Where are they?"
Relieved to find help, Gisel regained her strength and took off in a run. Her long strides made her seem more like a gazelle than a person, Noble noted. Speed was certainly part of her Aspect.
The dark-haired girl didn't need to travel far. Nestled behind the nearest dormitory, a group of Sleepers was clustered tightly.
"You won't even own up to what you did? Does Clan Sorrow have no honor?" Keth's cutting words seemed to suck the sunlight from the air.
Tamar's fists were balled at her side. "Do not impugn the honor of my clan, Keth of Aegis Rose. This matter is between you and me."
Keth gritted his teeth at the reproach. "Lady Tamar is skirting the issue. You insulted my family, so how could I not react in kind? Now apologize!"
"I will not," the young woman said, straightening her back. "I made no offense, so no retraction is needed."
Standing behind Tamar, Fleur leaned forward and whispered. "We are attracting quite a crowd, which is what Keth seems to want."
Beside the ladies, Ray nodded. "I think we should disengage before..."
"What's going on here?" Noble allowed some of her aura to leak out momentarily.
The frenzy of excitement was dampened. The crowd quickly parted to get away from the pressure.
Keth bowed to the professor as she neared.
"Professor Noble, there has been an egregious slight that must be remedied. Perhaps you can intervene." Keth's words were calm enough, but the emotion behind them was off.
Noble's eyes swirled. "Tell me what happened."
"Let Lady Tamar tell what she has done," Keth deflected.
"Keth claims that I said the only notable thing to come out of the Aegis Rose clan was unparalleled excellence in snobbery." Tamar crossed her arms.
"How dare anyone defame such a noble clan!"
"The comment could have come from anywhere. There's no proof Lady Tamar said it."
"Keth would not accuse her for no reason!"
"I can think of plenty of reasons, and none of them good!"
Jeers from the crowd were made for both sides of the argument.
Noble herself was perturbed by the claim.
"Did you make this rumor or anything like it?" She asked Tamar.
"I did not. I have barely given Keth here a moment's thought since our last unpleasant meeting. I have better things to do."
Behind Tamar, Fleur and Ray nodded subtly. Not that they needed to: Noble could tell that the young lady was telling the truth. Beyond her emotional sense, the words of the 'rumor' simply didn't sound like something Tamar would say. The girl was aloof, but not pompous.
Keth, on the other hand...
"You deny insulting me by insulting me further? You hear this, don't you, Professor?"
"Indeed, I heard it." Noble folded her hands in front of her. "You are offended that she didn't think about you. We should all be selflessly thinking about each other and humanity as a whole. That is what you meant, correct?"
The young man froze. The professor's response had suddenly put him on the defensive, and he was unprepared.
"Lady Tamar, I am sure you will be more mindful of other people going forward." Noble nodded at the young woman, who bowed.
"Of course."
"What about the initial insult? I demand an apology!" Keth finally found his tongue.
"The Lady has denied it. Unless you have a witness that Tamar spoke these words." Noble felt Keth's emotions spike.
His frustration was overzealous. Keth had nothing to prove. He had defeated Tamar in battle before. If he really wanted to humiliate her, then calling her a sore loser would have done more for his cause. Yet he persisted in this petty argument.
'Why?'
"If you will not get me justice, Professor Noble, I will find a way to get it for myself and my Clan." Keth's words were filled with venom.
"And what way is that?" The teacher knew of many ways that the young man could escalate the situation.
He could appeal to the head of the Academy or even lodge a complaint with the government about his treatment there. However, an investigation would take time, and Noble was confident that it would yield the same conclusion of one student's word against another's.
The absence of a witness, which Keth would have happily paraded out if he had one, would make it so the young man lost his case before he ever began.
And he seemed to know that too. The gleam in his eye suggested only one thing would satisfy him.
Tamar saw the look, too, and her expression darkened.
"You mean to exact blood over a false accusation?"
"Let the sword decide innocence or guilt. Unless you are afraid to lose again." Keth tilted up his chin. Those around them began to murmur.
"You don't have to do that," Fleur whispered.
"What option do I have?" Tamar glanced at her friend before looking at Noble for the answer.
"You can ignore this, and I will find a protective detail to watch over you until the Solstice, you can bring your own grievance against Sleeper Keth and launch an investigation of your own, or…"
"I can fight as he suggested." Tamar finished the thought. "If I battle you, Keth, will you consider this matter settled?"
The man nodded. "I will."
Tamar allowed an almost imperceptible smile.
"Then let us settle this. Professor Noble, do you know where Instructor Rock is?"
"No need. I can handle this right now," Noble nodded. "Each of you select two people to accompany you and follow me."
Tamar and Keth were a bit startled by her words, but each recovered quickly enough to pick two allies from the crowd. Tamar motioned for Ray and Fleur to join her.
"Elric, Beric, you are with me." Keth picked two young men from Valor to complete the group.
The six Sleepers chased after Noble, leaving the rest of the crowd curious and confused.
The pressure from Noble impressed upon the other students one thing clearly: they were not to follow.
Fleur and Ray instinctively placed themselves between Tamar and Keth's cronies.
Noble silently approved. She, too, wanted to protect the young woman from whatever Keth had planned.
That was why Noble pulled out her communicator and sent a quick message. The reply was almost instantaneous.
'Thank you, Bee Two.'
With a smile, Noble veered away from the combat building and headed to its left.
If the Sleepers wanted a duel, a duel they would get!