ribbon cutting

The grounds were something to be admired. Evening was beginning to fall and the soft light was bathing everything golden, like a good omen. Like something really promising. Theo felt her heart flutter nervously, like a very small bird. Something that was just beginning to learn to fly and hadn't mastered the finer bits. Something frail. It felt like so much hinged on the success of the school. Rhyme and Shaye's memory, Abaven's legacy - her happiness. She had felt so hollow since Thalia's graceless exit and Rhyme's death. An empty vessel, like one of Fable's earthenware bowls. This was meant to fill her up.

A soft bark alerted her to Corvus' presence. Shaking off her reverie, Theo turned to greet him with a warm chuff. "It is," she agreed, perhaps too quickly. For just a second, she felt nothing like her age: she was a child, being sent to Corvus to mentor. She still found herself seeking his approval even though they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder as they surveyed the school yard. There was just the beginnings of grey on her face, more on his. "I hope it's..." she trailed off for a moment, her eyes focusing on something far off the shore, distant and yearning, "I hope it's everything I want it to be." Need it to be. "Do you have any plans for when the first students trickle in?" she added, circling back around to business quickly. Business kept her from crumpling completely.