Chapter 26: Apologize
At some point late in the night, Irene stirred to hear the knights settling into their beds across the room from the apprentices. They wore a bit of plate armor—though not full suits—and what woke her up was the clattering of the metal as they removed it.
Her feet seemed to move on their own as she quickly got up and began aiding Sir Gunnar because his grieves were about to fall to the floor and she was doing what she could to prevent the others from waking up as well.
The knight quietly laughed at the sight of the tired apprentice but he gently pushed her back towards her bed. He appreciated her gumption, but it was unnecessary.
"Go back to sleep," he gently guided. "Your work starts when the sun rises."
The girl rubbed her eyes and nodded, not objecting to a few more hours of shut-eye. She was the most tired she had ever been after being subjected to such an exciting day.
The second time Irene woke up, she was welcomed by rays of sun filtering through the half closed curtains and hitting her in the face. She tried to roll over to avoid it but she was met with apprentices already getting up and getting into their clothing for the day.
It really was time to start getting ready and she decided to climb out of bed.
However, her escape was mostly due to witnessing Louis stand up and unashamedly start taking off his pants. The others who were dressed seemed to have probably done the same thing and her embarrassment was driving her to the bathroom.
The bathroom wasn't occupied and Irene quickly escaped with one of her bags, relieved to find a bit of water left from the night before in one of the clay pitchers. She wetted a cloth and cleaned her face, her teeth, and made sure her wavy hair was tamed.