Fortunately for everyone involved, the landen orphanage didn't live up (or possibly down) to their worse fears. It was no Briarwood, for one, no little girls in lingerie being posed for special clients. It wasn't even terribly Dickensian--no rats, no large spiders, no crying emaciated children in corners.
That wasn't to say that it was a terribly bright, cheerful place, either. It was scrupulously clean, at least, but also very poor, which contrasted sharply with Ferric's wardrobe and well-rounded gut.
Mostly, though, it was bleak. Gray stone walls with nothing to brighten them up. A few toys, old and bedraggled, and several books that were yellowed with age. They passed a school room filled with hard-looking desks and slates, chalk dust thick in the air. All the windows were high up, enough to let in a little light, but no air.
Ferric led Warren to the girl's dormitory, which he unlocked with a large brass key. Inside were long rows of small beds, covered with thin blankets and even thinner mattresses. The littlest girls slept closest to the door, several girls around three or four who clung to dolls made of rags. "Younger than three sleep in the nursery," Ferric explained in a whisper.
Another landen women dressed in dark clothes with a pale apron and cap made her way over to them. "This is the night nurse," Ferric continued as she curtsied to them. "She stays with the girls all night in case they need something. She also has a key, to make sure that if something happens, the girls can get out." Turning back to the nurse, Ferric instructed her to escort Lord Worthington to 'Cara Huburt.'
The nurse led Warren way to the back the the large room--closer to an enclosed hall than an actual room--to where the older girls were sleeping. There, face tight even in sleep, with dark circles under her eyes to match the dark curls on her head, was Cora.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2014-07-28 06:55 pm (UTC)That wasn't to say that it was a terribly bright, cheerful place, either. It was scrupulously clean, at least, but also very poor, which contrasted sharply with Ferric's wardrobe and well-rounded gut.
Mostly, though, it was bleak. Gray stone walls with nothing to brighten them up. A few toys, old and bedraggled, and several books that were yellowed with age. They passed a school room filled with hard-looking desks and slates, chalk dust thick in the air. All the windows were high up, enough to let in a little light, but no air.
Ferric led Warren to the girl's dormitory, which he unlocked with a large brass key. Inside were long rows of small beds, covered with thin blankets and even thinner mattresses. The littlest girls slept closest to the door, several girls around three or four who clung to dolls made of rags. "Younger than three sleep in the nursery," Ferric explained in a whisper.
Another landen women dressed in dark clothes with a pale apron and cap made her way over to them. "This is the night nurse," Ferric continued as she curtsied to them. "She stays with the girls all night in case they need something. She also has a key, to make sure that if something happens, the girls can get out." Turning back to the nurse, Ferric instructed her to escort Lord Worthington to 'Cara Huburt.'
The nurse led Warren way to the back the the large room--closer to an enclosed hall than an actual room--to where the older girls were sleeping. There, face tight even in sleep, with dark circles under her eyes to match the dark curls on her head, was Cora.