06-25-2022, 02:30 PM
Gwen had been awake for most of the night. It hadn't been her intention, at all. She'd planned on a long night of sleep to prepare for her first class today, held right after breakfast. While she had never planned on having the first class of the year, it was necessary for her to assess the students and their abilities to read and write and since that was her area of expertise...
So of course, Lora decided that last night was the perfect night to spend the night screaming. Both Gwen and the house elf who had been helping her had been at their wits end. The house elf had offered to take the child so that Gwen might sleep but it hadn't felt right, just abandoning her baby to someone else's care when there was something wrong. It wasn't until a half hour ago that Lora had followed into a fitful sleep. Another elf had arrived to take over the baby's care while Gwen had breakfast and class.
She had wanted to refuse breakfast, wanting to stay that little bit longer in case her child woke but the house elf insisted she go. Had even threatened to send for her brother to drag her down, which would be a very good image for her first day as a teacher that these students needed to respect. She needed to accept that things like this was going to come up and sometimes, she was just going to have to keep going and trust others to take care of Lora in her place.
Still broke her heart to think about it.
Dressing quickly in a dark green dress, one not quite as elegant as she usually preferred but certainly nice enough to set a good example, Gwen checked in once more on Lora before heading downstairs to join the other staff members at the head table to break her fast. A few were already there, including her brother who shot her a look of concern. She gave the slightest shake of her head at him before heading towards one of the remaining empty seats. It just happened to be next to the new healer.
Forcing a pleasant smile on her face, she may have looked a little strained but she greeted Astrid with what she hoped was a cheerful, "Good morning," before reaching for a nearby pitcher of cider, hoping the bite of the apples would do something to wake her up a little more. Once her goblet was filled nearly to the brim, she looked around the table to see what the house elfs had prepared for this first morning.
She tried not to grimace at the parritch on the table. Despite having lived here for a few months, she'd yet to adjust to the typical Scottish breakfast. Rowena had explained a number of times the nutritional value of what Gwen had equated to mortar. Fortunately, there was honey as well as an array of local fruits to go with it. At least that would give it a bit of taste, even if the Scottish who saw her adding anything more than salt to it would be horrified.
Another forced smile as she filled her bowl half-full and then added plenty of the juicy strawberries. No reason to give the students the suspicion that they had room to complain if they didn't like the food. Maybe this was a little lacking in comparison to the previous evening but they were going to need all the fuel they could get today to get them through to lunch.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her neighbor watching the ceiling for the longest time while drinking from her cup. This smile was more sincere. It seemed Merrick's addition to the castle had been a massive success, which was good. He'd been so nervous but as she'd assured him, it had been perfect and the random glances up by various occupants in the room all night and then again today just proved it.
"A masterpiece, is it not?" Gwen asked, prolonging the inevitable before she had to take a bite of the parritch.
So of course, Lora decided that last night was the perfect night to spend the night screaming. Both Gwen and the house elf who had been helping her had been at their wits end. The house elf had offered to take the child so that Gwen might sleep but it hadn't felt right, just abandoning her baby to someone else's care when there was something wrong. It wasn't until a half hour ago that Lora had followed into a fitful sleep. Another elf had arrived to take over the baby's care while Gwen had breakfast and class.
She had wanted to refuse breakfast, wanting to stay that little bit longer in case her child woke but the house elf insisted she go. Had even threatened to send for her brother to drag her down, which would be a very good image for her first day as a teacher that these students needed to respect. She needed to accept that things like this was going to come up and sometimes, she was just going to have to keep going and trust others to take care of Lora in her place.
Still broke her heart to think about it.
Dressing quickly in a dark green dress, one not quite as elegant as she usually preferred but certainly nice enough to set a good example, Gwen checked in once more on Lora before heading downstairs to join the other staff members at the head table to break her fast. A few were already there, including her brother who shot her a look of concern. She gave the slightest shake of her head at him before heading towards one of the remaining empty seats. It just happened to be next to the new healer.
Forcing a pleasant smile on her face, she may have looked a little strained but she greeted Astrid with what she hoped was a cheerful, "Good morning," before reaching for a nearby pitcher of cider, hoping the bite of the apples would do something to wake her up a little more. Once her goblet was filled nearly to the brim, she looked around the table to see what the house elfs had prepared for this first morning.
She tried not to grimace at the parritch on the table. Despite having lived here for a few months, she'd yet to adjust to the typical Scottish breakfast. Rowena had explained a number of times the nutritional value of what Gwen had equated to mortar. Fortunately, there was honey as well as an array of local fruits to go with it. At least that would give it a bit of taste, even if the Scottish who saw her adding anything more than salt to it would be horrified.
Another forced smile as she filled her bowl half-full and then added plenty of the juicy strawberries. No reason to give the students the suspicion that they had room to complain if they didn't like the food. Maybe this was a little lacking in comparison to the previous evening but they were going to need all the fuel they could get today to get them through to lunch.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her neighbor watching the ceiling for the longest time while drinking from her cup. This smile was more sincere. It seemed Merrick's addition to the castle had been a massive success, which was good. He'd been so nervous but as she'd assured him, it had been perfect and the random glances up by various occupants in the room all night and then again today just proved it.
"A masterpiece, is it not?" Gwen asked, prolonging the inevitable before she had to take a bite of the parritch.
