The night before my first day at the guild training program, I didn’t sleep particularly well, not because I was nervous, but because my mind kept running through everything on its own without asking my permission.I think I’ve developed ADHD. It kept going over what I knew about Gerald, what he wanted from me, and where exactly I needed to position myself to get the most out of this arrangement without giving too much away in return.By the time my thoughts finally settled enough to let me rest, it was already late, and the sleep I got wasn’t enough to make me feel refreshed.Grace was already up when I opened my eyes, moving quietly around the kitchen corner, and the smell of whatever she was making on the iron stove had already reached the main room. It was doing a reasonable job of making the place feel warmer than it actually was.Daniel was in the corner getting himself ready, and the three of us fell into the morning without much noise between us, which was something I had come to appreciate about this family, because not every moment needed to be filled with talking.We sat down to eat together at the small table we had pushed against the wall to save space, and somewhere in the middle of it Daniel looked at me over his cup and told me to keep my eyes open today and keep my mouth shut tight.To be honest, I couldn’t fault him for saying it after all the problems I had caused him, so I nodded because he was right, and because there wasn’t much else to say about it.Grace refilled his cup without being asked and then looked at me for a moment before reaching over and straightening my collar, which didn’t particularly need straightening.Then she smoothed my hair down on one side even though it had been fine, and I sat still and let her do it because I understood what it actually was, even if neither of us said so out loud.She checked my appearance one more time at the door before (...)