“Well, at least it won’t be any different than usual,” Crow said dryly as he stood up from the table. He seemed to have a talent for angering his tutor. Nearly every lesson they’d had together had begun with the old man chiding him for something or other—usually his tardiness, although the tutor sometimes also took a jab at his peasant background as well. He wondered if it was even worth the effort to try and avoid upsetting him at this point. “See you,” he nodded as she left, returning her smile with one of his own. Even though he was still slightly unsettled by his vivid nightmare, his attention had mostly drifted away from it after speaking with the knight. He found himself in a much better mood as Preston rejoined him by the entrance of the Great Hall and the two made their way back toward his bedchamber for his midday lesson. -- When Crow got back to his room, Udolf was waiting by the table with his arms crossed over his chest. As he’d expected, the tutor looked frustrated. His brows were knitted tightly together, so he nearly looked like he just had one long, fuzzy tuft on his face, and his nose was wrinkled in a scowl. “I’m beginning to think there is no getting through that thick skull of yours, Lockton,” he harrumphed, waving one hand for the viceroy to sit down. “Tell me, do you have no sense of time, or are you just a careless sluggard?” Crow fought the urge to roll his eyes as he made his way across the room and sat at the table. He was growing more used to the old man’s biting remarks, but he still disliked them. Tempted to make a snide comment of his own, he bit his tongue and ignored his tutor’s question altogether. “Am I going to be reading again today?” he asked instead, hoping that Udolf would be more tolerable to be around if they got started right away on his lesson. Luckily, the trick seemed to work. “You will,” the tutor answered him. “But first, we will be starting with your writing.” “Writing?” Crow echoed with interest. He couldn’t help but find it ironic that the old man had planned to teach him how to write on the same day that Penelope had offered to help him compose a letter for Hazel and the thieves. It wasn’t that surprising though. He had already known that Udolf had been planning to incorporate writing into his lessons soon. The tutor had only delayed it so that he could grow familiar with written words by reading them first. “Yes,” Udolf said, laying out a piece of blank parchment on the table. “You seem to be understanding the words in the book I gave you well enough, so I believe you’re ready to begin writing your own.” He gestured for the viceroy to pick up the quill on the table. “To start, I’m going to teach you the basic rules of spelling and forming sentences…” -- Much to Crow’s displeasure, he quickly discovered that there were quite a lot of rules that went along with writing. It was hard to keep up with them all, and Udolf corrected him numerous times as he made mistakes. Fortunately, it seemed like the rules weren’t easy for anyone to pick up, because the tutor never once got impatient with him. He just hoped he would be able to remember them all as he practiced more, because at the moment, he didn’t feel like he could ever memorize so many nuances. The only good thing about it was that his studies took so much of his focus that his mind didn’t have a chance to wander back to his nightmare. By the end of the lesson, he had almost completely forgotten about it. Eventually, Udolf decided that he had learned enough for one day and left him alone to read more of his book, although, like the day before, he remained in the room to make sure his student didn’t slack off before supper. Crow sprawled lazily on his bed as he continued to work through his book. After reading it for a few days now, he was more than halfway through the pages. Even though it was a short book compared to some of the others he had seen on the shelves in his bedchamber library, he felt rather proud of himself for covering so much ground in such a short period of time. Udolf seemed pleased as well—enough that he even made a flattering comment on the vieroy’s progress before he moved to leave for supper. Before he made it do the door, however, Crow stopped him. “I’ve been wondering,” he said thoughtfully, catching the tutor’s attention. The viceroy lounged across the width of his bed with his head lolling over the edge and his book resting open on his stomach as he paused to speak with the old man. “Once I’m literate, what else will you have left to teach me?” Udolf turned to him, taking a moment to think before he answered: “From me, you will learn math, economics, and the history of our kingdom, but I won’t be your only teacher.” Crow thought over his words and then nodded, “John is going to teach me fighting, right?” “Along with whatever other physical skills you lack,” the tutor confirmed. “I take it that you don’t know how to ride a horse, is that correct?” “Well, yes,” Crow frowned. “No one from the outer villages does.” “Of course,” Udolf said. It was obvious that he already knew that. “John will be teaching you things such as that as well. Additionally, His Majesty will also begin tutoring you soon.” “He will?” Crow’s eyes widened in surprise. He hadn’t expected that his father would be personally involved in his lessons. “Why?” “King Mannering was the last to hold your position,” Udolf explained. “Apart from him, there is no one else qualified to teach you the skills you will be needing as the next ambassador.” “What skills are those?” “For one,” the tutor continued patiently. “I can only teach you to read and write in our native tongue. His Majesty will teach you to understand the written forms of languages that you will need to communicate with our foreign neighbors.” Crow groaned inwardly at that. It had been enough of a headache to learn one written language. He wasn’t keen to start on another one until he had enough time to practice the one he was working on now. “Speaking of your other teachers,” Udolf went on. “Vermillion will be conducting your lesson tomorrow afternoon. He will meet you in the Great Hall after breakfast to show you to the training grounds.” “Alright,” the viceroy nodded. Setting his book aside, he sat up on the bed and then hopped down the opposite side to put his boots on in preparation to go to supper. He’d eaten a light breakfast that morning, so his stomach growled in anticipation for the meal. It seemed he had perfect timing too. As soon as Udolf exited the room, Preston replaced him. “Supper is ready,” the attendant announced, lingering by the door when he noticed that Crow was already ready to go. “Great,” he said as he walked over to join the boy. “Let’s get going then. I’m starving.”