Thalia woke up to the sun shining in her face. For a moment, she thought she was back on the plains and that everything so far had been a nightmare. Opening her eyes, that thought was quickly snuffed out. She was laying across a fluffy bed with her head on a pillow. She groaned as she picked up another pillow and put it over her head so as to block of the sun and noises.

After a few more minutes, she tossed the pillow aside to stretch her arms and legs. She slid off the bed, righting herself as her hooves touched the floor. She quickly tossed on a dress left for her. It was forest green and rather simple but with a pleasant addition. Her dress had slits on its sides so instead of bunching up as the back hit her equine half, instead it’d flow freely on the front and could be straightened out in the back. She smiled as she straightened her dress out, looking cleaner than she had in her entire life.

Thalia opened the door to the hallway and saw Cato trotting out as well, wearing a blue tunic. He looked at his clothes and said, “It’s strange wearing these. Back on the plains, we wore rather basic clothing.”

Thalia nodded. “It is. Back then, it was simpler as the foals and elderly wore leather or fur wraps across our human halves while the fit stallions and mares went without it to save material for those in need. Here, though, everyone wears a lot of clothes all the time and it’s a necessity.” She dusted her dress and said, “Honestly, it isn’t that bad, it’s just strange. I’m used to wearing something freer.”

She walked down the hall with Cato when they came across a servant wearing a worn tunic and with a smile. He bowed before them and said, “Follow me to the kitchen.” As he turned to leave through the open doors, Thalia and Cato followed behind him.

As they were walking down the halls, the servant asked them, “So, do centaurs ever give humans rides or something? Do they pull carts? Do they sleep standing up?”

Thalia shuffled on her hooves before answering shyly, “We are not horses.” She looked past the servant at the door. “We have dignity and standards. We are not to be demeaned to the position of lowly mounts for humans to ride. We may pull carts, but those are our own. And for sleeping standing up, what do you think we are? We sleep laying down on straw mats. Or at least we did back on the plains.” She looked longingly out the windows, only to see the town ahead instead of the vast expanse.

For all its luxury, the manor was nothing like her true home. The plains called with its endless expanse. The sun rising over the horizon would bathe the world gold while hooves could be heard thundering in the distance. The wind howled over the fields of grass, and everything felt calm. There were the migrations where she’d follow her herd on their journey through the steppes for new hunting and foraging grounds. The game was fresh and there was plenty of time for family. She remembered her father coming home with a bison he hunted while her mother carried a basket of berries to the tent. It was idyllic and peaceful, other than the constant skirmishes with other centaur herds and occasional raids on human villages for supplies.

Thalia is snapped out of her musings by a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Rox standing behind her. Rox bowed and said, “Thalia, you zoned out there for a bit. Perhaps we should continue on our way to the dining room.”

Thalia nodded before trotting off to catch up with Cato and the other servants. She saw the dining room doors open to reveal a table filled with pancakes, syrup, apple juice, bacon, and eggs. Several servants, councilors, and diplomats are seated around the large table. Across from that table is a smaller table with four seats, two normal seats and two with a longer and reinforced frame.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Thalia sat down at one of the reinforced chairs with Cato sitting next to her in the other reinforced chair. Across from them on normal chairs are Ivan and Svetlana. Servants place the plates in front of them before pouring juice in the glasses. Thalia sipped her juice, savoring the sweet taste. She placed the glass down and asked, “How did you get that juice from apples?”

Ivan sipped his juice and explained, “It’s a long process with a lot of money involved. Suffice to say, we’re very fortunate to have it.”

Cato smiled and said, “Back on the plains, we didn’t have juice like this. We only had milk and some special version for the adults.”

Ivan nodded and said, “We’re also better off than most people. Nobility is rare and very few people are nobles. Most people are commoners which can be divided into burghers, craftsmen, soldiers, freemen, and serfs. Burghers typically live well-off as do craftsmen, soldiers are often poor, and serfs are tied to the land they work on. There’s also the clergy who are a whole third faction and is a bit more complex.”

Thalia nodded, not really understanding what was said. She grabbed a pancake and asked, “Why is it so sticky?” Syrup ran down her hands and towards her dress.

Rox quickly ran up and grabbed a napkin to wipe the syrup. She looked at Thalia and explained, “We do not eat with our hands. We use a fork and knife like so.” She grabbed the fork with her left hand and knife with her right hand. She stabbed the pancakes with her fork while cutting off a square for Thalia. She poked the pancakes and said, “Now grab the fork and do as I did with the rest of the pancake.”

Thalia nodded and grabbed the fork awkwardly, putting the piece in her mouth. She bit down and the flavors exploded in her mouth. As she washed it down with juice, she looked at said, “That tastes yummy!” She then poked the bacon to eat it.

Cato kicked his front hooves and smiled as he ate his bacon. “This is great! We had salted pork back on the plains, but this is better!”

As the four of them ate their breakfast, Ivan said, “I’m going to be busy throughout today, so I’ll meet you at sundown.”

Svetlana nodded. “As will I. However, you’ll be with your tutors soon to get started on learning. Due to your background, we’re going to start at the basics. You’ll be learning how to read, how to write, and math skills before you move on to more complex topics.”

Hilda, the dwarf, walked in as Thalia finished her breakfast. The dwarf pulled out a roll of parchment and asked, “Are you ready to learn, Thalia?”

Thalia nodded and cleaned her face with the handkerchief. She got up and followed Hilda through the hallways and up the stairs.

As they entered the classroom, they took their positions as Thalia sat at a modified desk while Hilda sat across from her. The dwarf pulled out a sheet of paper with each letter of the alphabet. “This is an A,” Hilda said, pointing to the character on a sheet of paper. “We use A in words like apple, cat, and blade. The letter makes different sounds in different words so it’s important to learn each sound it makes and how to spell it.”

For the next few hours, Hilda guided Thalia through each letter of the alphabet and taught her how to write the letters. By the end, Thalia had a decent grasp on it, but still struggled to see how it’d be useful.

Hilda then pointed at the parchment and asked, “Could you spell your name, Thalia?”

Thalia frowned and scratched her head. She got that her first name’s last four letters were a-l-i-a, but didn’t quite grasp what letters made the “th” sound. She kicked her hooves and raised her hand. “Ma’am, I don’t know what letter my name starts with!”

Hilda facepalmed and said, “Okay, this is my fault.” She sat up and explained, “Some letters act odd when next to an H. When it’s a C before an H, it makes the ‘ch’ sound such as in chores or chalice. When it’s an S before an H, it makes the ‘sh’ sound such as in shake or shave. And when it’s a T before an H, it makes the ‘th’ sound such as in thunder or thanks.”

Thalia nodded and spelt her name. T-H-A-L-I-A R-E-D-M-A-N-E. She slid her paper forward for Hilda to read. The handwriting was poor, but it was to be expected from a beginning writer. She looked at Thalia and smiled. “Thank you. You’re learning quickly. Soon, you’ll be writing several words and perhaps even become a natural at it.”

Thalia beamed with joy as her work was accepted. She sighed in relief and asked, “Can I play now?”

Hilda nodded. “Go ahead.” Thalia squealed and trotted out of the room. She went down the stairs and out back to the gardens. She took a deep breath and looked around. She survived and she was going to make the best of it.