7:21 am. Still fast asleep, and still with no intention of getting up, ever.

Teresa had always loved watching the sun rise. Often in her youth, she would wake up earlier than most to watch dawn fast approach; watching the flecks of orange, purple and pink give way to a softer sky blue. Sunrises were always beautiful, irrevocable proof that whatever the ways of the world, nature would still be its most beautiful. As it rose, life slowly begins anew, from the gradual chirping of birds to the more human sounds of people awakening to another day.

There were however, times when dawn, early morning, or even late morning, was *not* a beautiful sight to behold, at all. It basically comes down to two main factors: if the person in question is suffering from an illness that requires much needed rest, and if the bed is parallel to and in close proximity to a certain large airy window that just happens to face the east.

These were some of those times.

Teresa only had the strength to groan once; the remainder of whatever failing energy she had stored had to be used to tug the sheets over her head in a final attempt to ward off whatever sunlight that has suceeded in penetrating through the window barrier. Who the hell moved the bed? It only seemed like an hour ago since she had nodded off to sleep. With much moving around, Teresa finally settled for pulling most of the covers and a formidable number of pillows between her head and bright sunlight. Darkness had never looked so good as it did now.

The Fates however, had other plans.

"Rise and shine, Miz Teresa!" Sadie, the Academy's resident and most bubbly-headed chambermaid, burst into the room with a smile that would have quickly blinded Teresa, if she hadn't been already by the godforsaken morning. Normally, Teresa would have always counted on her cheery, though slightly vague, demeanor to brighten up her day, but then, these were not normal times. "Miz`tress Caitlin told me ta see ya up and spoon some of her hot porridge as soon as you're able!" Taking no notice - or choosing not to notice - Teresa's pathetic condition, she swiped the blankets off the bed in one mighty swing of her arm. "Then you gotta getcha medicine!" she called out in her sweet pidgin accent.

She hated porridge. And she could see the darkness -sweet, sweet black darkness - finally slip away. With a muffled cry of protest, Teresa struggled to sit up, eyes almost squinched shut from the glaring light, peering around desperately - something, anything - to provide for some means of protection, scant as they may be, but Sadie would have none of that. Almost immediately, as soon as she'd managed a vertical sitting position, did Sadie happily shove a tray containing fruits, water, and a large bowl of hot porridge onto her lap. "The miztress says to eat em all up, else she's gonna spoon feed em into ya!"

Teresa gaped. "But I hate porri--"

"And as soon as yer done, I'll be headin' back up here fer yer medicine!"

Teresa debated upon either chucking several fluff pillows or the horrid porridge at her, but by the time she came to her decision (she was going to hit her with the pillows *and* the porridge), Sadie had already bustled out of the room as quick as she had entered it.

With a low grimace, Teresa stared miserably at her morning meal, vision slowly clearing and adjusting. She only managed a small, half-hearted bite on a large red apple before abandoning it altogether. She was a lot better than she had been the previous day, but she had no appetite. She wouldn't have an appetite, eve if she *was* hungry, not with porridge. She wished there was a pond right next to the window. As a child, she had a habit of pouring her gruel down her next door neighbor's fish pond from her family's dining room window, to count how many dead fish came floating up. She had never been caught; and the fish, rather than choking on the rancid taste, actually looked quite well-fed.

As it was, she had to settle for pouring the disgusting concoction onto the small plant box hanging just right outside her sill. She was fond of flowers, and hoped it wouldn't cause the plants to wilt. "Better you than me." She told them, even as she did the dirty deed.

Great. Now I'm talking to inanimate objects.

And besides, she wasn't that sick anymore. She could only assume that the work had piled up on her in the two days she had spent in bed, which meant she was going to have to work doubly hard to try to catch up again, plus there was still that unresolved reports regarding the Highland empire and the new road that is to be built just outside Greenhill......

Sadie came back up just as Teresa attempted to climb out her bed and make her way towards the desk at the center of the room. Like a child caught with a hand inside the cookie jar, she quickly sprung back into her original position, hoping that her ears weren't burning.

Sadie looked slightly confused, then apparently seemed to shrug it off. She gazed at Teresa's empty bowl with barely concealed approval. She beamed. "Oh good, ya finished yer porridge!" Unscrewing the small medicine bottle she had brought along with her, she tipped it off to one side, allowing a few multi-colored pills to come tumbling out. "A little medicine, then yer gonna be back ta restin'!"

"I want to know what's going on." Teresa demanded, only it probably didn't seem to be one to the maid, sitting on her bed with only a nightgown for wear. "Where's Emilia? And is there anything I should know of?" Gods, she was the acting mayor, not an invalid.

Sadie frowned slightly, chewing on a fingernail. "I dun think so, ma'am. Ain't seen no hide 'r tail o' those Highland boyos anywhere near here. And I aven't seen Emilia fer some time, anyhoo."

It was Teresa's turn to frown. It was unlike Emilia to just disappear without anyone knowing, unless no one thought to look at the library's medieval romance section. "Well, go get someone to find her, and send her to me when you do." Emilia for all her bookish tendencies, knew more than she would let on.

Once medicine and fruit were aptly consumed and digested, Sadie was only too happy to leave Teresa to her musings, off to report her success to the Mistress Caitlin. Teresa yawned and lay back down on the pillows. She'll be alright in an hour or so, and by then she'll be refreshed enough to tackle the paperwork. As the pills slowly began to do its work, her eyes began to close, thought beginning to swirl away like mist.

Later......

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"Teresa" is (C) Konami This chapter was posted on February, 2000