1. Assignments
Bolt451
Gone Fishin'
Right. Trying something a bit different.
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Saints and Schoolwork
by Bolt451
Ebba was woken by her cat jumping on her bed. Clearly her mother had let her in with the aim of waking Ebba up. She was startled but but soon realised what was going on. “Ashes, get off!” she grumbled. The big tortoiseshell just looked at her and started purring, paddling Ebba’s lap. “Fine, just,” she sighed and tried to get up, finding her legs pinned. She picked up the heavy cat and moved her to one side. She then left her room, leaving Ashes to claim her sleeping spot for the day.
“Morning,” she said sleepily to her mum who was cooking breakfast,
“Morning Ebby, I’ve just cooked some eggs if you want,”
“Thanks for the alarm cat,” Ebba grumbled, taking a seat,
“I figured it was preferably to me waking you,” Ebba smiled politely as she grabbed some eggs and put them in cups, taking some slices of bread, taking them into the sitting room. She turned on the televiser and sat on the longchair opposite it. It was just the news but she figured it was good to know what was going on in the world. A man was stood outside the Royal Palace in Eorforwic and she’d caught it mid report. Behind him stood several of the Cyningchurls, the Royal Guards.
“Palace is buzzing with energy as we await this weekend’s arrival of world leaders including Chancellor Shao Wei of China, First Minister Legrand of Caribea and Chief Minister Rousseau of France there is come controversy over the attendance of this last person in light of recent comments by King Lothaire and French actions in” Ebba was distracted by her mother
“Remember its Aunt Osbur’s going away event tonight,” her mother said through the open kitchen door
“Why are we having a going away party for her given she’s supposed to be leaving to purify herself of sin or whatever!”
“Its not a party!” she said coming to the doorway “Its to mark the occasion and pray that God will grant her mercy and forgiveness,”
“Oh,” Ebba paused, unsure how to react, “Right, yes, of course I’ll be there, where else would I go,” her mother sighed and went back into the kitchen.
The news broadcast was now talking about some movie having its European Premiere, in Eorforwic again of course. She noted it was an adaptation of one of Albrecht Lichfield’s plays albeit with an Asian lead (in this case Nihonese) shoehorned into the lead role. Ebba lost interest and finished her dinner quickly. She dressed for school and headed out, taking the lift down to the ground floor and out into the cold Laudenwic morning.
Ebba walked through the gates of St Aidan’s Senior School on the far side of Hamsted to her home. She made her way to the school’s eastern building for her first lesson, history. She walked briskly, finding the subject interesting but had found she’d read ahead of the teacher by some distance. As such she had to decide between being bored or risk getting caught reading the wrong part of the textbook. She found her seat as per the seating plan that had been in place since the start of the school year last January. She watched as Leofgyd, the girl who usually sat next to her walk past to a seat further back. “Leofgyd?” she called out confused. Leofgyd looked to Ebba with a face of disdain. “Are you not sitting here?”
“I was going to, Ebby but I’m a bit worried you might try and kiss me,” Ebba froze on the spot. She could feel her mouth getting dry and her cheeks flushing
“I’m sorry?” she managed,
“We heard from Cyneberh,” a girl behind her said, “why didn’t you tell anyone you were a Sapphic? What were you trying to hide?” she smirked and they took seats at the back of the class as the teacher walked in,”
“Actually Sappho was polysexu,” Ebba stopped mid word and turned back round with a sigh as Mr Brunlaw, their teacher walked in.
“Good morning everyone,” he said with questionable enthusiasm. “Good Morning Hildred!” he said to the student who had followed him in and was quickly heading to her assigned seat at the back of the room. However she found it occupied by Leofgyd. “Find a seat please!” Brunlaw continued, not knowing or not caring that students had broken the seating plan. Hildred sighed and dropped into the empty seat next to Ebba, who nodded to her politely.
The lesson was the latest part of this season’s main subject, the early days of Angland and the Viking invasion. “When we last left off,” Brunlaw began, then paused. “Can anyone remember where we left off?” he asked the class, who didn’t respond. “Anyone?” he asked again. Eventually Ebba raised her hand. A whistle came from someone in the class. Ebba tried to ignore it. “Yes, Ebba?” Mr Brunlaw said expectantly. “Cuthred of Wessex had just paid off the Vikings of Sveyn the Pale,” she said, mumbling her words slightly. Brunlaw smiled politely,
“Exactly! And this is notable because Wessex and Angland were two very separate nations at this point, in fact Angland had only existed for a century and a half, having formed from the merging Northumbria and,” a pause, “Anyone?” someone else raised their hand. Ebba noted it was Aengeraed and found herself instinctively smiling.
“Mercia?” they offered. Ebba knew this, most people did, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, certainly not today.
“Exactly!” he said again, “And with the Danes paid off Cuthred had redirected them north into Angland.” He pulled down the rolling board to show a drawn on map of the Anglish Isles from Orcadia down to Corno in the Southwest. On it was drawn Angland, as it was at the time. Ebba noted It only went as far south as Glecaster and as far north as Eidinburh and didn’t touch any of Britain or the south east all which was a patchwork of primary colours, all rendered in fibre tip quill. “With this news Aethelred, not yet Aethelred the Great, marched south but not before the city of Glecaster fell to an alliance of Norsemen under Sveyn the Pale and Arthrys Ap Tewdrig the King of Gwent. In exchange for Glecaster, Arthrys had been convinced to ally with the Norse. There was no love lost between the Kingdoms of South Britain and the Kingdom of Angland, it being less than a century since the scouring of Britain by King Aedberht. Who was known as?” Silence. “Anyone?” Ebba figured she should bite the bullet and raised her hand. “Ebba? Yes?”
“The Hammer of the Britons”
“Exactly!” The Teacher continued, “And Arthrys took Glecaster and the Wye Forest for Gwent, securing the Viking’s flank. Now you should remember from the previous lesson, at this point the Viking presence in what is now South East Angland was actually made up of two armies, one under Sveyn the Pale and one under Harkon Blackhart, with Sveyn’s victory at Glecaster, Harkon used this opportunity to declare himself King of the kingdoms under viking control or as they would be known forthwith, Daneland,” a dramatic pause. Ebba could notice the other students getting bored. “Harkon knew Sveyn couldn’t risk challenging him for this title without leaving them open to attack from the forces of the Anglish army and unlike Sveyn his army was well rested and thanks to Sveyn’s losses in Glecaster and Corencaester he outnumber Sveyn as well,”
And so the lesson went on. Ebba had to admit she found Mr Brunlaw’s teaching style rather dry. Certainly she found it interesting but that was why she had read it in a book. She might as well have been reading a book for all Brunlaw varied his style. Towards the end of the lesson he finally stopped his continuous talk. “Now, as part of the curriculum you not only have to demonstrate your knowledge of history but also your teamwork and communication skills!” another pause, Ebba figured he thought it was dramatic, it wasn’t. “As such at the end of next month, in groups of three you will perform a ten minute presentation on a subject related to this season’s subject, the early Kingdom of Angland and the Viking invasions and back it up with a two thousand word essay,” there were collective groans from the class. “If you want to get into groups of,” people began moving, “Wait for it!” they stopped moving again “If you want to get into groups of three, then I will hand out project briefs, understood?” a pause, silence. “Okay now you can move,” the room exploded with movement as people formed into trios. Ebba looked around, noticing Leofgyd and other friends (Although she was starting to question the validity of this term) forming into groups. “So,” she jumped, noticing Hildred was looking at her. “Wanna form into a group? I mean, we’re a person short,”
“Really, I, I mean I don’t want to embarrass you,”
“Why would you embarrass me?” Hildred said raising an eyebrow. Ebba noticed it had marks above and below it in the girls skin. She figured there had been a piercing there not too long before.
“Well I, I’m sapphic, and,”
“So?” Hildred said abruptly
“Well,” Ebba began, Hildred interrupted
“Are you also a rapist? Or have no concept of boundaries?" Ebba blushed
“Of course not!” she spluttered
“And does the fact you are attracted to women affect the way you carry out school work or study history,”
“Well no,” Ebba replied, Hildred interrupted her again
“Well then en I don’t give a rutting goat whether you’re Sapphic!” she sighed
“Oh, okay, then yes, sure. but we need one more,”
“What about her?” Hildred pointed across the room. A girl with long wavy brown hair sat looking around at others, looking a bit annoyed at her lack of success in forming a group. Ebba blushed and began to speak
“I,”
“Aen! Aengaraed!” Hildred shouted across the room, “ We need a third” Aengaraed shrugged and walked over taking a seat next to them, “sure, why not,”
“Wonderful!” Ebba said overenthusiastically, “This’ll be fun!”
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Saints and Schoolwork
by Bolt451
Ebba was woken by her cat jumping on her bed. Clearly her mother had let her in with the aim of waking Ebba up. She was startled but but soon realised what was going on. “Ashes, get off!” she grumbled. The big tortoiseshell just looked at her and started purring, paddling Ebba’s lap. “Fine, just,” she sighed and tried to get up, finding her legs pinned. She picked up the heavy cat and moved her to one side. She then left her room, leaving Ashes to claim her sleeping spot for the day.
“Morning,” she said sleepily to her mum who was cooking breakfast,
“Morning Ebby, I’ve just cooked some eggs if you want,”
“Thanks for the alarm cat,” Ebba grumbled, taking a seat,
“I figured it was preferably to me waking you,” Ebba smiled politely as she grabbed some eggs and put them in cups, taking some slices of bread, taking them into the sitting room. She turned on the televiser and sat on the longchair opposite it. It was just the news but she figured it was good to know what was going on in the world. A man was stood outside the Royal Palace in Eorforwic and she’d caught it mid report. Behind him stood several of the Cyningchurls, the Royal Guards.
“Palace is buzzing with energy as we await this weekend’s arrival of world leaders including Chancellor Shao Wei of China, First Minister Legrand of Caribea and Chief Minister Rousseau of France there is come controversy over the attendance of this last person in light of recent comments by King Lothaire and French actions in” Ebba was distracted by her mother
“Remember its Aunt Osbur’s going away event tonight,” her mother said through the open kitchen door
“Why are we having a going away party for her given she’s supposed to be leaving to purify herself of sin or whatever!”
“Its not a party!” she said coming to the doorway “Its to mark the occasion and pray that God will grant her mercy and forgiveness,”
“Oh,” Ebba paused, unsure how to react, “Right, yes, of course I’ll be there, where else would I go,” her mother sighed and went back into the kitchen.
The news broadcast was now talking about some movie having its European Premiere, in Eorforwic again of course. She noted it was an adaptation of one of Albrecht Lichfield’s plays albeit with an Asian lead (in this case Nihonese) shoehorned into the lead role. Ebba lost interest and finished her dinner quickly. She dressed for school and headed out, taking the lift down to the ground floor and out into the cold Laudenwic morning.
Ebba walked through the gates of St Aidan’s Senior School on the far side of Hamsted to her home. She made her way to the school’s eastern building for her first lesson, history. She walked briskly, finding the subject interesting but had found she’d read ahead of the teacher by some distance. As such she had to decide between being bored or risk getting caught reading the wrong part of the textbook. She found her seat as per the seating plan that had been in place since the start of the school year last January. She watched as Leofgyd, the girl who usually sat next to her walk past to a seat further back. “Leofgyd?” she called out confused. Leofgyd looked to Ebba with a face of disdain. “Are you not sitting here?”
“I was going to, Ebby but I’m a bit worried you might try and kiss me,” Ebba froze on the spot. She could feel her mouth getting dry and her cheeks flushing
“I’m sorry?” she managed,
“We heard from Cyneberh,” a girl behind her said, “why didn’t you tell anyone you were a Sapphic? What were you trying to hide?” she smirked and they took seats at the back of the class as the teacher walked in,”
“Actually Sappho was polysexu,” Ebba stopped mid word and turned back round with a sigh as Mr Brunlaw, their teacher walked in.
“Good morning everyone,” he said with questionable enthusiasm. “Good Morning Hildred!” he said to the student who had followed him in and was quickly heading to her assigned seat at the back of the room. However she found it occupied by Leofgyd. “Find a seat please!” Brunlaw continued, not knowing or not caring that students had broken the seating plan. Hildred sighed and dropped into the empty seat next to Ebba, who nodded to her politely.
The lesson was the latest part of this season’s main subject, the early days of Angland and the Viking invasion. “When we last left off,” Brunlaw began, then paused. “Can anyone remember where we left off?” he asked the class, who didn’t respond. “Anyone?” he asked again. Eventually Ebba raised her hand. A whistle came from someone in the class. Ebba tried to ignore it. “Yes, Ebba?” Mr Brunlaw said expectantly. “Cuthred of Wessex had just paid off the Vikings of Sveyn the Pale,” she said, mumbling her words slightly. Brunlaw smiled politely,
“Exactly! And this is notable because Wessex and Angland were two very separate nations at this point, in fact Angland had only existed for a century and a half, having formed from the merging Northumbria and,” a pause, “Anyone?” someone else raised their hand. Ebba noted it was Aengeraed and found herself instinctively smiling.
“Mercia?” they offered. Ebba knew this, most people did, but she didn’t want to draw attention to herself, certainly not today.
“Exactly!” he said again, “And with the Danes paid off Cuthred had redirected them north into Angland.” He pulled down the rolling board to show a drawn on map of the Anglish Isles from Orcadia down to Corno in the Southwest. On it was drawn Angland, as it was at the time. Ebba noted It only went as far south as Glecaster and as far north as Eidinburh and didn’t touch any of Britain or the south east all which was a patchwork of primary colours, all rendered in fibre tip quill. “With this news Aethelred, not yet Aethelred the Great, marched south but not before the city of Glecaster fell to an alliance of Norsemen under Sveyn the Pale and Arthrys Ap Tewdrig the King of Gwent. In exchange for Glecaster, Arthrys had been convinced to ally with the Norse. There was no love lost between the Kingdoms of South Britain and the Kingdom of Angland, it being less than a century since the scouring of Britain by King Aedberht. Who was known as?” Silence. “Anyone?” Ebba figured she should bite the bullet and raised her hand. “Ebba? Yes?”
“The Hammer of the Britons”
“Exactly!” The Teacher continued, “And Arthrys took Glecaster and the Wye Forest for Gwent, securing the Viking’s flank. Now you should remember from the previous lesson, at this point the Viking presence in what is now South East Angland was actually made up of two armies, one under Sveyn the Pale and one under Harkon Blackhart, with Sveyn’s victory at Glecaster, Harkon used this opportunity to declare himself King of the kingdoms under viking control or as they would be known forthwith, Daneland,” a dramatic pause. Ebba could notice the other students getting bored. “Harkon knew Sveyn couldn’t risk challenging him for this title without leaving them open to attack from the forces of the Anglish army and unlike Sveyn his army was well rested and thanks to Sveyn’s losses in Glecaster and Corencaester he outnumber Sveyn as well,”
And so the lesson went on. Ebba had to admit she found Mr Brunlaw’s teaching style rather dry. Certainly she found it interesting but that was why she had read it in a book. She might as well have been reading a book for all Brunlaw varied his style. Towards the end of the lesson he finally stopped his continuous talk. “Now, as part of the curriculum you not only have to demonstrate your knowledge of history but also your teamwork and communication skills!” another pause, Ebba figured he thought it was dramatic, it wasn’t. “As such at the end of next month, in groups of three you will perform a ten minute presentation on a subject related to this season’s subject, the early Kingdom of Angland and the Viking invasions and back it up with a two thousand word essay,” there were collective groans from the class. “If you want to get into groups of,” people began moving, “Wait for it!” they stopped moving again “If you want to get into groups of three, then I will hand out project briefs, understood?” a pause, silence. “Okay now you can move,” the room exploded with movement as people formed into trios. Ebba looked around, noticing Leofgyd and other friends (Although she was starting to question the validity of this term) forming into groups. “So,” she jumped, noticing Hildred was looking at her. “Wanna form into a group? I mean, we’re a person short,”
“Really, I, I mean I don’t want to embarrass you,”
“Why would you embarrass me?” Hildred said raising an eyebrow. Ebba noticed it had marks above and below it in the girls skin. She figured there had been a piercing there not too long before.
“Well I, I’m sapphic, and,”
“So?” Hildred said abruptly
“Well,” Ebba began, Hildred interrupted
“Are you also a rapist? Or have no concept of boundaries?" Ebba blushed
“Of course not!” she spluttered
“And does the fact you are attracted to women affect the way you carry out school work or study history,”
“Well no,” Ebba replied, Hildred interrupted her again
“Well then en I don’t give a rutting goat whether you’re Sapphic!” she sighed
“Oh, okay, then yes, sure. but we need one more,”
“What about her?” Hildred pointed across the room. A girl with long wavy brown hair sat looking around at others, looking a bit annoyed at her lack of success in forming a group. Ebba blushed and began to speak
“I,”
“Aen! Aengaraed!” Hildred shouted across the room, “ We need a third” Aengaraed shrugged and walked over taking a seat next to them, “sure, why not,”
“Wonderful!” Ebba said overenthusiastically, “This’ll be fun!”
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