Chapter 8 - Learning His Letters
From that day onward, Antonius began associating with the monster child—Andri.
For the most part, this meant Antonius finding new errands for Andri and putting him to work whenever the opportunity arose.
Andri already had more than enough duties of his own. With Antonius's constant demands piled on top, he scarcely seemed to have a moment to himself anymore.
Yet not once did he complain.
If anything, he seemed delighted.
"Andri."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"Take this to the training grounds."
"At once, Your Highness!"
"And mend my sword belt. Quickly, Andri."
"Right away, Your Highness!"
"Andri. Come to the back of the officers' quarters when you're finished."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
Antonius made a point of using his name.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Always where knights and servants alike could hear.
Each time, Andri answered eagerly and hurried after him.
"No."
Squatting behind the officers' quarters, Antonius shook his head.
Using a twig, he tapped a letter scratched into the dirt.
"Look at the example more carefully. This stroke bends here."
Andri hastily corrected it.
After discovering that Andri could neither read nor write, Antonius had, on a whim, begun teaching him.
At first, only his name.
Then a few simple words.
Terms commonly used among the knights.
Numbers.
Eventually, entire sentences.
To Antonius's surprise, Andri learned remarkably quickly.
Whenever he found a spare moment between chores, he could be found behind the officers' quarters practicing.
He traced letters in the dirt so often that the ground became covered in grooves.
If time allowed, he would continue even after sunset, scratching line after line into the earth with a stick.
Whenever training permitted, Antonius would stop by to inspect his progress.
If their schedules failed to align, he sometimes left corrections behind.
Later, Andri would return and carefully trace over every mark Antonius had added.
One afternoon, Andri lowered his stick and glanced up nervously.
He gestured toward the letters scratched into the dirt.
"Your Highness... how does it look?"
"Acceptable."
That was usually all Antonius said.
Yet whenever he received even that much praise, Andri would smile with quiet pride.
It was a strange sight.
The crown prince.
And a monster child serving as a menial laborer.
An odd pair by any measure.
The knights often watched them from afar.
"His Highness certainly has strange hobbies."
"What in the world is he thinking?"
Comments like that were not uncommon.
And yet...
Things gradually began to change.
Once it became obvious that the crown prince sought Andri out regularly, the treatment he received slowly improved.
The harassment became less frequent.
The insults grew fewer.
At the very least, no one dared call him a monster while the crown prince was watching.
Even that small change improved Andri's circumstances enormously.
