An early arrival.

Ralli had a feeling she wouldn't be able to focus on much but the important matter at hand. After carefully depositing Bella's curtains on a stack of books to avoid tearing them, she polished off her dinner and headed to bed. For a human, the thought of her trial the next morning would probably cause some tossing and turning. For a deathspeaker, however, it was as simple as lying down and choosing not to dream. Like a living alarm clock, Ralli sprung awake at exactly the time she'd intended, an hour earlier than usual. The rising of the sun was still little more than a drowsy half-formed thought for the dark outside.

The sergeant threw on yesterday's clothes, showered alone, then stopped back by her quarters to reclaim the curtains. She still had plenty of time to spare and the barracks mostly to herself: even without being an hour ahead, Ralli was ordinarily an early riser. Thankfully, this meant there were no other students or faculty to ask her why she was hauling a set of expensive-looking curtains through the halls.

Ralli made it to class F and lightly opened the door, peering in as if expecting to see someone waiting. Of course, nobody was. Even with Ralli kicking their asses all year, only a few of them had ever taken to rising early.

At the front of this classroom was a podium in before a green chalkboard. The seating was arranged in a stepped fashion, with a lower row and upper row. She observed it today as if seeing it for the first time. The podium felt strange to her: she almost never stood behind it and taught. Even in the case that she decided to teach a lesson, she preferred to do it writing on the chalkboard or moving between the aisles of students.

Today, however, she was thankful for the presence of the podium. It seemed to act as a beacon of safety for her, a suggestion of a stable foundation to begin building a sturdy settlement. She began erecting the four bedposts around it... In the end, they were farther apart than she expected, weighted at each foot to stand freely. Was Bella's bed really that big...? That would lead one to conclude that it was... a bed for two (or more)...

Ralli shook the thought out of her head, unfurling the curtains between the rods. She found, to her relief, that there was even a canopy between them, which would prevent the possibility of her being exposed from above. It had been hard to get a clear picture of all this while the curtains were still bundled up.

Even if they were for a big bed, there wasn't too much free space inside the curtains with the podium included. Still, it was essentially a walking path. Inside was dark, especially with the sun only just rising... Not that it mattered to Ralli, of course. Still, just because Bella had advised it, she lit the oil lantern Bella had given her and hung it on a nail from the podium.

"That should finish it... Except for the most important step..."