“Oh!” Raisa said, surprised. “I’m not here for that reason, but thank you, sir.”

“Why are you here, then?”

Raisa explained her idea and the reasons for it.

Askell frowned. “It has never been done before, and yet we’ve managed to scrape along for more than a thousand years.”

“Applications to Wien House are dramatically down,” Raisa said.

Askell raised an eyebrow. “Who told you that?”

“Arden has always sent more cadets to Oden’s Ford than the rest of the Seven Realms,” Raisa said. “But they’ve been at war for a decade, so the young people who would have come here are already fighting. To get enough quality students, you’ve been accepting older, less traditional ones. And many of those have families.”

Askell sat back. “I can’t imagine this affects many of our students,” he said.

“One in five,” Raisa said. “One in three proficients and masters students.”

“How do you know this?” Askell asked. “That sounds like more than a guess.”

“I surveyed all six classes of cadets,” Raisa said. “Of course, I couldn’t survey those who never came here because they couldn’t risk leaving their families behind.” She leaned forward. “The Wien House dormitories are half empty. There would be room for some families, at least. We could start with Wien House and expand to the other schools if it’s successful.”

“You have been busy, Morley,” Askell said. “Clearly your workload is too light this term.” Dipping his pen into a bottle of ink, he scratched a few notes. “I cannot promise anything,” he said. “The military is the most conservative of organizations, particularly my countrymen within it. But you make a solid case for investigating this.”

“That is all I can ask,” Raisa said, but couldn’t resist adding, “I would hope that this investigation does not take too long.”

“I have a question,” Askell said, looking at her over the rim of his teacup. “Proficient Tourant’s behavior was abysmal all term, and yet you never complained,” he said. “Why not?”

Raisa shrugged. “If I can’t manage the Tourants of the world, I’m unlikely to succeed as queen of the Fells. Some days it seems like I’m surrounded by Tourants.”

“I thought you might return to the Fells at solstice,” Askell said.

“I’m waiting for word from home,” Raisa said. “I’ll likely leave as soon as I receive assurances that it’s safe to do so.” If that ever happens, she thought.

“Is there any chance you’ll return next year?” Askell asked, tapping his pen on his blotter.

Raisa shook her head. “I can’t imagine that I would. I’ve learned so much, but I’ve been away too long as it is.”