If her idea of transportation was launching someone from the roof, then what her idea of lethal? She didn't seem to mind falling into the sea, and hard impacts didn't seem to faze her that much; what could it be? Was it a battering ram that took up the entire hallway? Acid bath? Razor wire? Lighting strike?
Gigantic spatula that flattens people?
Had the noble been more aware of herself, she would have realized that these were all off the wall ideas that the lady Dyne would have herself. Some of them even became projects she had to build in the far future.
For today she sat nervously with her class. It was uncertain if the other children understood the danger, they were in. She had the word of the servant, and everyone in the whole castle knew that when Sir Octave Bandersnatch gave his word it was as sure as the rising sun.
Nervously seated with her class, the noble was majorly concerned about what was to come. None of the nearby children seemed to be aware of the impending doom. Instructor Rose didn't even look fierce today due to her nervousness at the Lady Dyne attending her class. It was unlikely she got anymore details than that the lady would be present.
When the lady walked in there was dead silence. It appeared she dressed up today, with medals and other accoutrements on her chest, and a long dark cloak with a fringe. Dark Blue was the ladies color as her eyes and features sparkled.
"Today we will be preforming a few fluid experiments concerning shape." It seemed that she didn't intend to introduce herself but even the strong-willed lady stumbled when one of the innocent girls loudly asked Heir Tiffaney a question.
"Oh wow, is that your mom Tiff?"
Noble child wanted to hide under her desk. Lady wanted to join her as she still hadn't informed the girl of her loss.
"I am Lady Dyne, lord of this castle, and yes Heir Tiffaney Dyne is my newly adopted child."
"Wow…" The entire class responded as one before looking at the two of them like ice cream sundaes on warm day. A table had been set up as the Lady had prepared for the experiments before, the main pieces a large glass box.
Class exploded into chatter, Rose did her best to stand and quiet her unruly mob, until she saw sparks next to her. The noble also reacted staring at the lady with a good deal of concern. Fire blossomed on a small wax ball, as a wick sparked yet did not explode. Considering that a better start the children quitted quickly at the noticed the flame. Dropping it in the tank, she addressed the now quiet children.
"Buoyancy. This a new word for all of you, and it refers to a specific thing that we will explore today. We have two foil boats that I fold earlier." Holding up two matte boxes like foil, the lady took a moment to observe her class before asking a question.
"What will happen when I let these go above the table?"
Tiffaney expected that they would fall to the table, like everything that was dropped. No one seemed to want to speak up. One brave boy blurted out.
"Won't they just fall?" In response the Lady let them go, and they fluttered onto the table.
"That appears to be the case. Can anyone tell me what's in this box I have here. A cottony smog and filled the bottom of the tank, dropping her hand in, the lady stirred the smoke. This time another girl braved her thoughts aloud.
"Isn't that smoke?" Nodding to the child the Lady withdrew her hand, pinching the boat and holding above the tank.
"Any one care to guess what will happen if I drop this in here?" For a moment no one wanted to speak. They knew that smoke wasn't solid, so it wouldn't stop the boat from sinking. This seemed all to obvious and this time the noble spoke up.
"Could it float on the smoke?" Watching the curls roll about in the tank, the noble had heard that ships floated, and the smoke reminded her of water.
"Anyone cares to hazard a different thought." Children may not have known many things, but they could feel a strangeness in her asking. Should they respond or not became moot, as the lady simply released her captive foil.
While no one else knew what the smoke was, the lady had chosen it as a non-harmful heavy gas, one more than dense enough to float the small thin foil.
"Good call. Anyone want to take a stab at the why?" Not even Rose the instructor wanted to answer that.
"Well lets try with these and you can all tell me what you figure out." Large glass beakers were placed at the tables, with several sheets of foil for the children to play with. After allowing them to go wild, she took a few minutes to discuss and conclude what they learned. Tiffaney was incredibly impressed; nothing was dangerous, and she felt like she learned something from all this. While cleaning up after class as she usually did, the noble overheard the two older ladies talking.
"You have a good class here."
"Thank you, milady." For a moment the noble expected her to tell her to lay off, but the Lady Dyne chose not to. Her guided eyes watched as she finished putting the beakers back on the table.
"I need the room Instructor Rose." Glancing at her with a look that said disappear fast, Rose abandoned all hope and ran for it. It became apparent that the upper echelon of the house of Dyne made people want to run fast.
"What a shame, I didn't get a chance to use this for the lesson." Wiggling a pouch out of her sock, even from across the room the noble could smell the flammability. It turned out that while the head butler didn't lie, the lady left a little to be desired in that region.
"I have two things to tell you the first is that we will be leaving for the south. I found the child who saved you. They have been adopted and we are going to visit them." Joy spilled onto the noble's face as she was so relived that her savior was doing well.
"I helped them get into a good family, but I thought you might want to thank them in person." Surprised that the lady went so far for her sake, the noble couldn't even muster a thank you. Her relief that some who saved her freely was doing well meant far more than the girl realized it would.
"Secondly…something happened to your house. I have a newspaper but beyond that there isn't much I can tell you." Placing it in front of her the bold print headline read, 'Count Oakenstaff Attacked, Whole Family Dead'. Holding the newspaper, the noble child didn't speak. Her eyes swept the headline several times before she asked.
"Is the…" It was a hard moment for lady Dyne as she watched the child be unable to find a single person who she was worried about in her former house.
"I'm no good at this, but we have some people If you want to talk about these kinds of matters with, they are there. Not many but a few individuals who focus on taking care of others through difficult times." Waiting to see if the child had anything more to say or ask, the Lady decided to let her rest for the day. She walked to the door and motioned for them to summon maid Emerald.
That night in bed the noble couldn't sleep. Miss Emerald hadn't been informed; however, she could easily tell something was wrong. Sneaking in an extra mug of hot cocoa before she helped the lady brush her teeth, the maid quietly supported the young heir.
"I don't know how to feel." This was the crux of her issue. She had learned enough that not everyone suffered like she had. If someone called the house to account for it, the family could have been demoted, instead they were vaporized. Why did they do those awful things to her?
"I thought when family died you were supposed to cry and be weepy, but I just feel…"
Empty and pointless, that all her suffering ended in a single moment. That none of them could do anything to her. That her father who never cared was gone, that the child who blamed her and had her whipped vanished. Her older sister, who deliberately ignored her when she had asked those who were hurting her to stop.
It didn't matter, what worried her is she wouldn't be able to find out who her mother had been. It seemed she deserved no less given that this was all she was worth, a meaningless orphan. It had been a miracle she had ran away prior, or she would have suffered the same fate.
Nothing felt real now that the nightmare that had been so difficult for her to escape from, was ended on someone else's whim. She couldn't ask why anymore either, what a strange useless thing.
Perhaps this was the purview of the strong. Could she one day wield such power? Today she had learned about how things float, no one else knew that things could float on air and smoke rather than just water. That meant this castle, this family had power.
"I think for the first time, I want to do something more than just survive."