A/N: Time to go back in time a bit with this one! The Astra Gets Married Saga shall continue momentarily.

Rough ages are as follows: Johan at 54, Daniel at 37, Clara at 35, Lena at 4, and the twins at 2.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Primaries' Lesson

Waking from his nap, the Marquis smiled to himself as he relished the position he was in. While his wife was not there, his daughters all were, and the three were cuddled against him sleepily. Clutching stuffed animals and snoring softly, the sight of them made his heart swell in joy. He was no longer the last of his line and it felt like nothing he could have ever imagined.

Quietly, the Marchioness crept out of the nursery and over to the bed. She pecked her husband on the forehead and ran a hand over his hair affectionately.

"Time to get up," she whispered.

"Do we have to?"

"I'm afraid so." She picked up Astra, who was nearest to her, and bounced her gently against her shoulder. "Come on sweetie—naptime's over."

The toddler groaned and burrowed her face in her mother's chest, causing both of her parents to chuckle. Once her sisters gently woken, the family went down to the office again so that the adults could return to their work. The girls all scribbled quietly on paper scraps, creating masterpieces to present to their parents later, though their parents were engaged in a quiet conversation on the other side of the room.

"Clara," the Marquis whispered while he stared at a notice in front of him. "We are to open the schools next week."

"We open them every year, Johan."

"Yes, but this should be the year that Lena begins attending." Both allowed their eyes to flick towards their eldest for a moment before returning to the conversation. "You know the people will ask."

"I'm sure they will also suppose we will have the girls tutored, like most members of nobility," the Marchioness replied. "It's not like we've made an effort to outwardly despise anyone under our governance as some others do."

"…which is why we have far fewer problems in that regard compared to some of our peers," he agreed. "I still don't know—Lena would be safer here, and Daniel's been prepar—"

"Would you rather I handle it?" she interrupted.

"Well… I…"

"Lena? Darling?"

"Yes, Mama?"

"Come here, please."

Lena put her crayon down and bounced over towards her parents, tilting her head curiously when she saw the expressions on their faces. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you're not," the Marchioness assured her gently. "I was wondering if you would like to accompany me to the Primary next week when I open it for the new school year."

"Why isn't Papa going? Don't both of you do it?"

"Normally, yes, but this year is a special year, and I'd like to know if you want to be there."

"Okay," the young girl said cheerily. "Will Astra and Tara go next year with Papa?"

"We'll see, starlet," the Marquis said. He allowed her to go back to her artwork and frowned at his wife. "What are you planning?"

"As excellent as you are with our children, this is something that I think would be better for me to do alone," the Marchioness told him. She gently squeezed his hand and pecked his lips with hers, attempting to put his mind at-ease. It did not work as well as she had hoped, though it made him quiet on the matter, which was all she really needed for the moment. They returned to their work and made no more mention of it that day—time would tell how well her plan would work.

It was time to keep their appointment with the Gallifreyan Primary, in which the Marchioness would be the speaker at a school-wide assembly to welcome the students back from the summer heat and months of decent-weather play that was to keep them focused on a goal throughout the school year. Get through this year while earning good marks and one could frolic the days away with their friends during the between-year break; poor marks could mean being in the over-warm, stuffy, insanity-inducing school building while everyone else was enjoying themselves, and the students all knew it.

After the assembly, however, and the Marchioness took her daughter from the guards' sides and they went together to the Year Ones' classroom. The children froze when they saw who was standing in the doorway, mortified at the fact they had a surprise visit from the Marchioness herself.

"Welcome Milady Marchioness, Milady Earlessa," the teacher said with a bow. "Class, what do you say?"

"Good morning Lady Clara, Lady Lena," the class said in unison. Lena stuck close to her mother while she saw all the other kids staring at them, wondering what was going to happen.

"Good morning—it's a pleasure to meet you," the Marchioness replied. She placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder supportively, silently urging her on.

"Good morning—it's good to meet you," the girl mumbled, not knowing whether she should be terrified or not.

"Thank you for taking time to be with us today; it is something I greatly appreciate," the Marchioness continued. The teacher offered her and Lena both chairs, which they graciously took seats in. "My daughter and I have something very important to talk with you about that I think is important to hear in person, so that I am certain that you understand."

That caught their attention if she didn't have it already: what could the Marchioness need to say to them that was so important she had to say it herself? A few children in the back of the room whispered excitedly—none of their siblings talked about visits from the Marquis or Marchioness like this, that was for certain.

"As you might be able to guess, Lady Lena is your age," she said.

"Is Lady Lena going to be our classmate?!" a child gasped.

"Hush! Let Her Ladyship finish!" the teacher scolded.

"That's alright, and no, unfortunately not," the Marchioness answered. "That's what I'm here to explain to you today. Before I begin, does anyone know where I was born?"

"Oh! Blackpoole!" shouted a child towards the back.

"Very good," she nodded. "That was where I was born and raised, where my parents taught me as a little girl that there are very few differences between the basest-born child and one born to the King and Queen. My Lord Husband and I might have been born into positions of power, but there are great costs involved. Yes…?"

"What do you mean?" asked a student, hand raised timidly. "Do you have to pay for the governance chair? How much does it cost?"

"We don't pay for our power with money or things," the Marchioness explained. "We pay in other ways… some so terrible and steep that we wish it was just money. Sometimes it involves dealing with other lords and ladies who might not be that nice, or being responsible when things go bad, or even having little time to spend alone or with one's family because duties lie elsewhere. When I was old enough to be in the Blackpoole College, my mother paid that price by dying. Cruel people attempting to kidnap her in order to gain fame and fortune killed her on accident. She loved Blackpoole and her people, which meant that she never expected it. Neither did Blackpoole, now that I think about it, and the memory of that means that I made my choice about where Lady Lena will go to school long ago, before she was even born."

She paused, making sure she still had the class's attention, before continuing. "You look at my daughter and see a possible classmate, and that makes me very happy to know, but there are people out there who look at her and see a way to get money, or make a protest about a law. It wouldn't matter if the marquisate was broke and the law was made by His Majesty and enforced by his soldiers alone, because that's how those people think, and it's very difficult to find who they are until it is too late. That's why Lady Lena won't be your classmate, and instead she will be tutored within Castle Gallifrey, by someone whom His Lordship and I trust with our lives. He will make sure she learns everything you need to learn while making it so that everyone is safe as possible."

"Are we in danger, milady?"

"I should hope not, but as wonderful as this world is, there are dangers for everyone who live in it," she said. "If Lady Lena attends school here, she would wear a uniform like everyone else, and the only possible way I would feel worse than hearing that my daughter was kidnapped would be to hear that one of you was taken by mistake instead."

The children sat quietly, reflecting on the information. It would be fun to have their future liege lady as their classmate, but sitting through lessons with her made it dangerous for everyone. It wasn't very fair, that was for certain, though it seemed like the Marchioness was very sad to say those words and thought it was even less fair than they did. She even talked about losing her mum to bad people and that made them even sadder because losing their mums would be even worse.

"Does anyone have any questions?" she wondered, pulling them from their thoughts. "Please, now is the time to ask."

"Who is going to be Lady Lena's tutor?" a child asked.

"His name is Lord Rupert Daniel Pink, Baron Coal-on-the-Hill, but for most of his life he was just Daniel Pink the Common Soldier. Some of you might have soldiers in your family who served next to him on the northern borders, defending Kasterborous from invaders. He was born with nothing and has not changed now that he has a title; he has promised to make sure that influences how he trains Lady Lena."

"I've heard about Baron Pink! My uncle told me he has metal on his face because of Cyberans kidnapping him!" a student declared. "No one was captured by Cyberans and came back still themselves before him! He's a hero!"

"I hear he looks really scary!" another child chimed in.

"He's not!" Lena said. "He has metal on his face and hands, but he's one of the nicest people I know. Sir Daniel looks a bit different, but that's because he did his best fighting for Mama and Papa in the Border Forces and knowing that makes him not scary." She paused when she realized the entire class was looking at her, swallowed hard, and continued. "Mama and Papa say that everyone has something or someone they grow up thinking is okay when others say is weird—and Sir Daniel is that for me."

"Lady Lena? Can you at least be our classmate today?" a student asked. The girl in question looked at her mother, stormy eyes wide and pleading.

"Yes, she may, but only until it is time to leave," the Marchioness said. The children cheered happily and Lena was allowed to sit in one of the spare desks while her mother went to the Headmaster's office for a small chat about the upcoming school year. It was a day they talked about for a long time to come, and was one that made their siblings and friends jealous at their fortune. They understood why it was only for the day, and that was alright; wanting to be safe was something all of them could agree on and if that meant they lost a classmate, then so be it.

The following week, Lena made sure to dress nicely as she prepared for the day ahead. She chose her favorite dress and had her mother braid her hair. Instructing her toy lion to watch over the nursery diligently until her return, she made sure all her toys were in order before going down to breakfast. Then, instead of heading with her parents and sister towards the offices, the Baron came at the end of the meal to fetch her.

"Are you ready, Lena?" he asked.

"Uh-huh! Just a moment!"

With a kiss for both parents and her sisters given hugs, the young earlessa followed her family's friend throughout the castle corridors to a room she had never seen before. Maps hung on the walls, above shelves of books that went around the perimeter of the room with exceptions where the bookcases went all the way to the ceiling. A large writing slate like her father sometimes used was sitting in front of a table covered in writing pads, pencils, and crayons, everything all neat and tidy.

"This is the schoolroom?" Lena marveled, looking all around the room.

"That it is," the Baron replied. "This is where most of our lessons will be held, and where Astra and Tara will join us in a couple years, and where we are going to have to spend more and more time as you get older and need to learn more things per day."

"How much will I need to learn?" she wondered. "Will I need to take the same tests as the kids in the Primary? What about the College? The Academy? Are you going to teach me about Gloucester and Coal-on-the-Hill, or just Kasterborous? What…?"

"Whoa, hey, slow down there," he chuckled. The Baron felt it was a good thing they were starting off with morning classes only or else she would wear herself out with questions alone before teatime. "Would you like me to show you my plan for what you're going to learn? It's not wholly complete yet, and won't be until I can gauge at what speed you learn certain subjects, but I can let you see what is there so far."

"Yes!" the girl gasped. She sat down at the table and waited impatiently as her new tutor dug his notes out of his other notes, simply happy to be there.

Later on, as Lena sat down to lunch with her family, she talked excitedly—nearly non-stop—about her time with Sir Daniel and what he said she was going to learn. She said that she would be taking correspondence courses with the Royal University one day, and that she would one day know all that she needed to govern Kasterborous, and more. Her sisters were inspired and her parents encouraging; Lena was on the right track to being a life-long learner, and the more she knew, the better off Gallifrey and Kasterborous would be in the end.