A month has passed since Henry’s birthday and today he received an unexpected letter.

“My lord Henry, you have a personal letter. It was sent by Lady Sophia, the daughter of count Barker.”

Henry nodded while receiving his first personal mail. “Thank you, Gerald.” He then turned towards his parents and asked for help. “Mommy , I can’t read, can you help me?”

Eleonora looked over at her husband with a victorious smirk on her face and proceeded to open the letter from which a dried flower fell out. She handed the flower to Henry and then read out the content.

“Dear Henry,

I would like to apologize to you for missing your celebration. Please accept my late congratulations and a small present. My father had important business in the capital and I had to accompany him. I hope you had a lot of fun with his highness Rufus. Do come and visit us when you move to the capital.

Sincerely,

Sophia Barker”

Wanting to tease his son a bit for not asking for his help Alfred went on a small scale offensive. “Hou Henry, you have yourself a fan. I knew you would be popular.”

Henry stared at the pressed flower he received and ignored his father's taunting. Then out of nowhere he made a request to his parents.

“Can you teach me how to write?”

Eleonora was quick to accept as she wanted to get an excuse to spend more time with her son, and getting away from entertaining boring guests would be an added bonus. “Henry, if you wish to learn then of course we will oblige. We would have had you start learning soon anyway.”

“Son, we will speed up the process then, as all of your teachers are here anyway and you want to learn. Starting tomorrow you will begin receiving lessons in the afternoon. But reading and writing is going to be only one of the subjects you will start working on fully.” Alfred was worried about his son’s health and motivation so he made sure to set some ground rules.

“Aside from language studies you will take introductory lessons in geography and history, also you will learn about war and governance .” Anna quickly chimed in.

“Yes!” Henry surprised everyone as he was quite excited to learn.

‘Finally I can start getting more information about this world.’

So began Henry’s new daily routine.

***

The next day, after some family time, Henry was taken into his father’s study, which would double as a classroom for today. Inside the room, waiting for him, stood four people the boy knew quite well.

Eleonora took a step forward and began her introduction speech. “Henry honey, I will teach you our writing system and the language of Alba, though it might seem pointless it can be quite useful when fighting those people. Anna will teach you various social skills, as always. Stephen here will teach you history and geography and last but not least your father will teach you about warfare and general knowledge you will find useful one day, when you become the duke.”

“Remember to do your best with Alban, a fake order can do wonders on the battlefield. You should see the confusion untrained levies show when they are faced with conflicting orders.” Alfred said while wearing a wide grin.

Anna was quick to chime in. She wanted to stop Alfred from babbling about pointless things and taking time from Henry’s studies. “Today we will all be present during your classes so that you can learn in a more relaxed atmosphere, but starting tomorrow do your best.”

Lessons were not difficult as they were just basic introductions to the subject. Eleonora taught him a letter and a few Alban words, which resulted in his father booing. That in turn led to Eleonora flinging the chalk she was using to write down letters straight into his head. After Alfred pretended to be hurt for a few seconds the incident was put behind them and the lesson continued.

Eleonora let out a sigh and did her best to introduce her son to the complex subject at hand. “Henry, our two languages are quite different now, but we know that in the distant past we spoke the same language throughout the continent. As time went on and our peoples drifted apart the same happened to our languages.”

As Eleonora finished her lesson Anna stood up and took over. “It is my turn now, lord Henry. As a young noble you must master some skills that will help you shine in any environment. The first one we will work on is quite important if you wish to impress the people in the capital. It is dancing. Since you are only beginning to learn, I will ask your parents to help us with a little demonstration.”

The two quickly got up and started dancing, it was a simple dance and Eleonora was the one doing most of the fancy moves, while Alfred was more like a pole doing his best to keep up with his wife. Still in Henry’s eyes it looked like a fairy tale prince dancing with his princess so his eyes started sparkling.

‘They never dance at the parties, so this is my first time seeing them like this. I’ve seen others dance at my parties and at Mathew’s but my parents are the coolest after all.’ Henry thought so to himself as he continued on watching.

Unbeknownst to him Eleonora noticed his gaze and was quick to suggest something to her husband. “Honey, our little boy seemed to like our dance. Let's keep going for some more, can you go on?”

“Of course, if it’s for a chance to look good for him I’ll do my best.” Alfred said while starting to sweat.

This continued on for ten more minutes before they got interrupted by Anna who had had enough of Alfred’s mistakes.

“That is enough you two! We still have a lot of ground to cover. If you like to dance so much my lord Alfred, why not do so at Henry’s party in the capital?”

“Yes, yes, we will stop, don’t threaten me like that nanny.” Alfred surrendered without putting up any resistance.

“Well I guess it is my turn. As you know my lord, I am Stephen Miller and I will teach you all you need to know about history and geography. After I am done with you, no lesson in The Academy will seem too hard to you.” Stephen said with his usual confident voice.

He gave Henry basic introductions to the two subjects and handed him a few books.

“These books contain the coats of arms of various noble houses in the realm. Do look them over for our next class.”

It was Alfred’s turn next and so he loudly proclaimed while walking over to the blackboard. “Finally, it is my time to shine!”

Alfred used his class to brag about various feats he had performed on the battlefield and about different ways one can taunt an opponent to make them attack you.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

After the final lesson Henry was not tired, so he took a bath and had dinner with his parents. He hoped to learn much more today, but at the same time he knew that he must take his time.

Later that evening he asked his mother to help him write a letter to thank Sophia for her present. Eleonora immediately agreed and the two spent some time together composing the best letter they could. When the letter was done Henry was tucked into his bed and shared his opinions on the day he had with his parents.

***

After they made sure Henry was asleep Alfred and Eleonora went to their bedroom and started talking about the letter their son received.

“Al, that letter is fishy. Why would that child miss Henry’s birthday and then write him a letter specifically mentioning the prince?” Eleonora pointed out what she saw as a future problem.

Alfred took a moment before starting to speak. “Her father is a slimy character. He is probably trying to use his daughter’s connection to Henry and the fact that he is close to the central government to further establish his position. There are rumors that a gold mine has been discovered in his territory and that he is getting ready to announce it to the world.”

“Using your own child for small gains? I can understand that when it is coming from those people, but why not bring her to the party, she could do much more in person.” Eleonora was left with more questions than answers at this point.

“The decision to send Rufus over was sudden, he might not be that high in the prince’s camp, so he did not get that information on time. He decided that it was best to distance himself from us, because of the incident, in order to prove his loyalty.” Alfred did his best to come up with a theory about the situation in order to calm his wife down.

“There have been many people starting to move behind the scenes. For whatever reason they wish to stand behind the second prince and push him as the better choice for future king.” Eleonora was confused by this as the first prince was skilled and had the natural charisma of a ruler.

Alfred decided to share his darkest thoughts with Eleonora. “They are starting to understand the fact that Prince Alexei already has a strong backing. They know that with two dukes and an archduke standing behind him, lesser nobles can not gain much favor from Alexei. So they are throwing their lot in with Rufus. Western dukedom is always doing whatever it can to destabilize the kingdom and this situation is a great opportunity for that. The ones who are weak would usually just wait for the king to pass on and for his son to succeed, but now they are getting behind Rufus because of the westerners. Those in the south, including the marquess, are still on the fence, but there is little hope for people like them to pick Alexei, gold from the West and a promise of power will attract them like a flame attracts moths.”

“What end game could they have? Weakening the kingdom will only open us for attacks from the south and the east. The enemy will show no mercy to our people…” Eleonora paused for a moment and then looked her husband in the eyes.

Alfred nodded, “Treason it is. They will sell the kingdom out and use Alba to knock us out of the picture, that will make the center open for attacks.”

Eleonora continued based on what she understood from Alfred’s theory. “Once there is no East, there will be less food and the power of a trade oriented region like the West will increase many fold. They will be the de facto kings, while whoever sits on the throne will only be a puppet.”

“And given that prince Rufus is hopeless, it will take a while for the central power to regain control, if they can ever do so.” As always Alfred was impressed with Eleonora’s ability to catch on quickly no matter the situation and gave her his final point.

“So, this is why Nicolas wanted us to make peace with that man.” Eleonora bit her lip. She threw away a useful ally because of her feelings.

Alfred saw this and was quick to sooth his wife. “Honey, we will not make peace with him, I do not care who it is, no one insults my wife.”

“Still we might need his help to stabilize the realm.” Eleonora knew quite well that her husband meant what he said, but still felt obliged to try and see if he might be open to some sort of short-term ceasefire with the lord of the South.

As expected her husband was quick to refute her. “Honey, do not doubt my ability to squash any bugs that might come after the kingdom. We also have Nicolas and Benjamin, as long as we stand no army will pose a threat to our homeland.”

***

As the family was enjoying some leisure time together, Alfred started talking to his son. “Henry, soon we will be moving once more. This move is not permanent, only for four months.”

“Where will we be going, daddy?” Henry was excited to hear this. He wanted to see as much of the world as possible before he had to start preparations for the future. In that not so distant future he would be responsible for the land and its people.

The answer to this question did not come from his father, but rather from Anna. “To the capital. Your sixth birthday is just around the corner and children from upper and middle nobility celebrate it in the capital. It is used to build connections and to introduce the child to his future peers in The Academy and life.”

Eleonora was now feeling left out, so she decided to add some information about what was to come. “We will be with you, of course, and the celebration will be pretty similar to the ones you already had. The big difference will be the people attending.”

“When will we leave?” Henry was now very excited to travel with his parents and see the capital he heard so much about in the past.

“Well, in a month's time the preparations will be completed. We will leave soon after that. We will leave the capital and head home after we give our farewell to the king in the grand hall.” Alfred said this as if he was talking about a small thing but to Henry it was a huge shock.

“Daddy, will we go and greet the king?” Henry was quick to remember the incident he had with the king’s son.

Alfred was surprised by this question as it was not a small event for the capital to see a Sigurdson of this generation grace it with his presence. “Well of course, he will attend your birthday party with his wife and both prince Alexei and prince Rufus. So it is only polite to say goodbye when we leave.”

Anna gave Alfred the reason for Henry’s question as she understood the boy’s worries. “My lord, it would appear Henry is still not over the whole incident with the young prince.”

Understanding his son’s fear Alfred did his best to reassure him, “Henry, do not worry, the king is not a fool to start a fight with us or a bully to attack a child.”

“Al, you would have attacked them if it was Henry in Rufus’s place.” Eleonora said while giggling.

“Honey, I am special, not every man is like me..” Alfred said while puffing his chest out proudly.

‘I do not think that was a compliment.’ Henry looked at the scene but could not do much as his parents were now discussing ways they were different from other nobles in the capital and how they disliked the rats infesting the city. That particular discussion was ended by Anna. She did not want them to be a bad influence on Henry and give him any wrong ideas about the people he would be meeting soon.

After scolding the two, Anna took Henry to the main hall where she tried to teach him how to dance. About an hour later she was ready to admit defeat.

“Henry, not that foot, the other one.” Anna was at her wits ends and had to give up. “That would be enough for today.”

“Yes, nanny.” Henry did his best to learn how to dance, but to say he had two left feet would be an insult to those who have two left feet.

“We will practice more tomorrow, make sure to work on your steps.” With hope in her voice Anna decided to give Henry the time to practice alone today.

***

Later in the living room.

Eleonora was looking at her nanny anxiously. Unable to wait any longer she inquired, “Anna, I have been meaning to ask you, how is Henry doing with your lessons?”

Anna let out a sigh and then started talking. “Lord Henry is splendid when it comes to every aspect of my lessons, unfortunately it would appear that he was not blessed with any dancing skills.”

“Is it that bad? With hard work anyone can learn at least the basic steps.” Eleonora had her fears but could not believe that her son did not inherit any of her skills when it came to dancing.

Anna spoke with a heavy voice, “Lord Henry is not anyone. How can that child be so good with the sword and so bad at dancing? Not once have I seen him make a misstep when he trains with the knights.”

“He is his father’s son.” The two women sighed after saying that line at the same time.

“Al will be ecstatic when he hears this…” Eleonora said this with a voice full of sadness.

“Yeah, but his son is even worse than him, I have no words to say how sorry I am, my lady.” Anna nodded while giving her conclusion about Henry’s future prospects as a dancer.

Eleonora walked over to Anna and placed her hand on her nanny’s shoulder. After a brief moment of silence she spoke words of comfort. “Don’t beat yourself up Anna, just like Al he will have to learn the basics, I just hope his future bride does not enjoy dancing too much.”