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Godric wasn't confident to be leaving his friend behind, fearing the other man might do something stupid still, but the morning he left, Salazar had at least left his rooms and was returning to eating normally. His brown hair was still gray and his magic burst out from time to time but the staff seemed to have relaxed and no longer seemed frightened out of their mind when a window or door suddenly flew open.
Since he was no longer worried about his friend, the journey back to the king and queen's abode and the rest of court life took much longer. Godric was willing to let his horse go at its own pace, silently apologizing to the animal for pushing it so hard the previous week.
When he returned to court and made his excuses to their majesties—presenting gifts from Salazar so they wouldn't be put out with the man from remaining away from court—Godric's first priority was to find his three lovely ladies.
If the girls were disappointed that Godric returned to court alone, they didn't show it. Instead, they treated Godric like he had never left.
In a way it was nice. Godric had never had a relationship where he could leave and things would go back to normal when he returned. Usually there would be a few days when he would dance around his friends and relatives before they would forgive him for whatever he had done to anger him and he would feel comfortable around them again.
By the end of the night, Godric found himself back in the sitting room, surrounded by some very different ladies. He was glad that the sitting room was hidden from the general public. It would have looked strange to see the four together. In normal circumstances, they would move in very different circles.
"What is the first step in planning something like this?" Helga asked, drawing Godric back into the conversation. She and the others had been talking about the school once again when the man had announced his return.
Helga glanced at Godric. Men normally took care of such things, right?
The green-eyed man shrugged his broad shoulders and he pulled out Fawkes for cleaning. He normally left such plans to villagers or his relatives. He had always found it to be too tedious.
Rowena resisted a sigh when she spotted Godric's actions and the blank looks of the younger witch. It seemed like she was the only one who knew what to do. She had a feeling she would control most of the plans when it came to building the school.
Inwardly she was thrilled. This could be her masterpiece, the thing she had been looking for to challenge her for the past few years.
"We decide how we want the school to look," she said. "How large the rooms should be and how many there should be. We also need to plan for the amount of floors we want and how many rooms will go on each floor or tower. Then we need to plan for corridors and staircases. Once we know how large or small the building will be, we look for a location and once we find the location, we can find the builders and begin building."
Godric sighed. It sounded like a lot of work to him. Still, he knew that this would be a large and difficult project when he had originally agreed to help. Rowena had said that it would take years before the school would open. They had to be careful with their plans so that they didn't fall into the wrong hands. Because of this, planning would go slower than normal.
Helga's blue eyes had widened when Rowena started to list off all that needed to be done. That was just for planning the building of the school. That didn't include the actual building or furnishing or planning how the school would run. She had always known that it would be a difficult dream to achieve but she hadn't known how impossible it could seem. However, she should not have been surprised. She had always been told that it was a difficult path to make dreams into reality.
Rowena's eyes flickered to Godric and Helga's faces. They were the typical nobles, she realized. They had never fully understood how complicated this could be. They wanted something to be built and expected it to be built overnight. The dark-haired woman wanted Hajna to return. At least the fair-haired girl would understand what it meant to work hard.
Just as she thought about Hajna, the girl bustled in, looking harried.
"I apologize for my lateness," Hajna said quickly. "Another maidservant requested help with mending curtains and kept me until it was finished."
"It is all right," Helga said with a reassuring smile. "We have not been here long. We just started talking about the planning of the school."
Hajna looked surprised.
"What have you decided?" she asked.
"Nothing," Rowena said. "I was just reminding them of the work that will go into this. This is no small project."
The fair-haired girl nodded in understanding.
"We should delegate tasks," she said. "It will make the planning go quicker."
Rowena agreed.
"You and I will start the building plans," she said. "Godric and Helga can start thinking of classes and topics that are necessary for an education in magic."
While playing to their strengths, Rowena also had arranged the pairings so that she could ensure that the planning went according to her. Godric and Helga would agree with whatever she decided since they would feel that she knew best. Helga and Godric would also be more comfortable planning academics. They had studied enough that they would know what would be necessary for learning and with his travels, Godric had a better knowledge of what others valued elsewhere.
"I know nothing of planning how to build a school," Hajna informed the dark-haired witch.
"I suspected as much," Rowena said. "Do not worry. I can take care of most things. However, it is always nice to have a second opinion."
"How does Lady Ravenclaw know so much about building?" Hajna asked. "Is not the lord usually in charge of such matters?"
Rowena smiled bitterly.
"Lord Ravenclaw is often gone to the court in Albania," she said. "In his absence, I as Lady Ravenclaw am put in charge of such matters. I have overseen the building of storage houses and additions to the Ravenclaw manor, as well as a village hall when the old one burned in a fire."
"A woman of many talents," Hajna murmured. Rowena nodded.
"Helga will be expected to learn such things quickly once she marries but for now, people would be surprised if she had such knowledge. It's not normally expected of the youngest child, particularly if that child is a girl."
"It's very different," Hajna mused quietly. Rowena nodded with a small smile. Yes, it could be quite different.
"Shall we begin?" she asked. Hajna nodded and glanced down at the plans. It looked like a mess to her but she trusted the other woman to explain it.
The group of four worked throughout the night, not knowing then that this would become their norm. Planning the school required meeting almost daily if they wanted to start it within the next decade and it was vital that as much planning got done as soon as possible. Things could change overnight, depending on their majesties moods and the expectations of their families. Rowena could be sent to the Ravenclaw lands by her husband at his whim and Helga's parents could change their minds about subjecting their daughter to court life and send her home, only bringing her back when it was time for a marriage. Godric's presence at court largely depended on how well he could keep the queen and her ladies entertained without offending the king.
"Some of this planning is impossible to do without a general location in mind," Godric said one night. "We can plan as much as we want but some of the things we want to do are dependent on where we build this school. The materials we build with and the help we can get all depends on the location."
"Well, the school would have to be in an area that is mostly uninhabited," Rowena said. "On unclaimed land, if possible."
"The only land like that around is to the far north, near Scot territory," Godric said with a frown. "That could be dangerous, seeing as they don't like Englishmen."
"It would be impossible to build there for any length of time," Helga pointed out. "Too many questions would be asked if I or Rowena would make frequent travels to the north when we have no need to be going to the region."
"I've already thought about that," Rowena agreed. "Godric would be the only one who could go and supervise the building. Once the school was up and running, we all would have to make choices—to leave the life we know to run and teach at the school or to pass it into the hands of people who could be there at all times. It won't be an easy decision to make."
Helga frowned, not liking those words. She wouldn't like the idea of leaving her family but the decision seemed easy to her. The school was her idea, her dream. Why would she pass it off to someone else when her dream had just come into being?
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