The King's Guard (BL)

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"Good morning, Sir Nathan." Presley greeted.

We entered a room with two desks and Presley had strolled in a chalkboard.

"Presley, here, will be your teacher." I explained to Nathan.
He nodded.
"I will be back later to check in on you."
"You are not staying?" he asked and looked at me.
"Oh? Umm...well, I suppose if Presley says it is okay then..."
"Of course, your highness." Presley accepted.
"I will stay then."

We both sat at the larger desk as Presley wrote down the alphabet and the numbers underneath up to 26.

"Now, Nathan, I would like to see how well your reading and writing is. Is that alright?" Presley asked.
Nathan nodded.
Presley went to the second desk that was behind his chalkboard and grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen.
"I am going to call words out to you and I want you to attempt to spell them. Each word will gradually become bigger than the last. Do you think you can do that?"
Nathan nodded.
"Great. It is okay if you do not spell every word correctly. I just want to see how far along you are. There will be no shame or punishment if any of them are incorrect."
Nathan nodded.
"First, write your name at the top."

I didn't want to make him feel pressured so I didn't look.

"Are you finished?" Presley asked.
Nathan nodded.
"Great. Your first word is 'cat'."
He began writing.
"Your second word is 'why'."
He began writing.
"Your third word is 'bowl'."
He began writing.
"Your fourth word is 'clasp'."
He began writing.
"Your fifth word is 'window'."
Nathan looked at the chalk board for the alphabet.
He began writing.
"Your sixth word is 'eloquent'."
That word made Nathan frustrated and I heard it from the deep breath he took. He stared at his paper then looked back up at the chalkboard.
He scratched his head as he began writing.
"Your seventh and final word is 'mediocre'."

He tapped his pen on the desk and his foot on the floor as his other hand held his head up and he stared at the paper.
He thought hard on the spelling and finally put his pen to the paper.

"Are you finished?" Presley asked gently with his hands behind his back.
Nathan nodded softer like he was saddened or disappointed in himself.
"Can I see it?" Presley asked.
Nathan looked up at Presley and shook his head.
"I can't help you if you don't let me read them." Presley insisted. I appreciated his sweetness about it. Nathan didn't deserve to feel bad that he wasn't given an education.

"Nathan." I called.
He looked at me.
"Can I please see what you wrote?"
He lifted his head and slid me the paper.
I looked at Presley to see if it were okay and he nodded.

'Nathen' He was close.

'Cat'
'Why'
'Bole'
'Clasp'
'Wendo'
'Elo' he didn't finish writing eloquent.
'Medeoker'

"This is good." I encouraged. He stared down at the desk. "Can I show Presley?"
He nodded.
I handed the sheet to Presley.

"This isn't terrible. I'll write your corrections onto the board." Presley grinned.
Nathan looked up.

'Bole-bowl'
'Wendo-window'
'Eloquent'
'Medeoker-mediocre'

Presley wrote.

I wondered why he didn't correct the spelling of his name.

"Now, I am going to write a few words on the board and I want you to sound them out for me, okay?"
Nathan nodded.

'Butterfly' Presley wrote.
"Butterfly." Nathan repeated.
'Advance'
"Advance."
"Very nice." Presley encouraged.
'Recipe'
"Ree-sipe"
"You're close. It is ress-uh-pee."
'Tolerable'
"Tew-...ler-...able."
"Tah-lerable."
'Taught'
"Tah-uht."
"Tawht." Presley corrected.
'Laughter'
"Lawter."
"Laff-ter." Presley assisted.
'Daughter'
"Daff-ter." Nathan stated.
"Um...no...but I can see how that would be confusing. This is daw-ter."

"I do not like this." Nathan told me.
"Do you not like it because it is hard or because you are frustrated that you are incorrect?" I asked.
He looked at the table.
"Nathan, if we expected you to get everything right, you would not be here. There is no shame in being incorrect. This is why we are here to teach. You are doing fine." I encouraged.
Presley checked his pocket watch.

"Your highness, I am greatly sorry but I must take off. I have to go to the market for more food and to get more plant nourishment." Presley intervened.
"That is fine, Presley. I will take over in your absence."

Presley bowed and went on his way, shutting the door behind himself.

"Nathan, would you like to change subjects?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Do you like math?"
He perked up. "Yes."
"Really? Would you like for us to do math instead and finish language later?"
"Yes." he nodded.
"Okay!" I said happily.

I stood up and erased the words from Presley's board but left the alphabet and the numbers.

"We'll start off simple." I told him and grabbed a piece of chalk.

'2+2'
"4." he answered.
'5+5'
"10."
'6+6?'
"12"

"You're doing very well." I encouraged. "I'm going to make it harder now."

'5x5'
"25."
'6x6'
"36."
'7x7"
"49"

I looked at him.
I put the chalk down.

"9x7." I called.
"63."
This was making me excited. "11x12?"
"132."
A smile grew on my face.
"14x27" I said to trick him.
He stared at me.
"It's okay if you do not get it corre-..."
"378." he interrupted.

I stared at him.

"143x86?" I asked and crossed my arms.
He stared at me again. Then looked up at the ceiling.
"12 thousand..." he began.
I leaned in.
"12,290...8."

I was in disbelief.

I turned back to the chalkboard and began working the problem out.

'12,298.'
He was right.
I laughed to myself.

"Nathan, you're a genius, my friend!"
He looked confused.
"How did you guess this so easily?"
"I like math." he answered.
"Wow. Where did you learn to do math?" I asked.
"I worked for a market when I was younger. I enjoyed the math portion. I can also spell every fruit and vegetable because I used to study the signs."
"Nathan, how old are you?"
"I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?"
"No...I stopped counting after 19, when people stopped telling me it was my birthday."
"Do you not know your birthday?"
He shook his head.
"I will give you a birthday. How long ago was it when you stopped counting?"
"I think between 5 and 7 years ago."

"So, at the eldest you're 26. You're three years older than I am."
"You are 23?"
"Yes."
"You are very small."
"Did you think I was younger?"
"I knew you were adult but I did think younger than 23."
"I'm pretty tall. You are just taller." I argued.
"Short for a boy."
I rolled my eyes and heard him chuckle.
"You laughed!" I stated excitedly.
"Yes." he replied.
"That's the first time I've heard it."

"Can I ask you a question?" Nathan wondered.
"Of course."
"Can you be my teacher?"
"Oh? Hm...well, I am not quite as qualified as Presley, but perhaps I can tutor you in his absence once you two are finished?"
He nodded.
"Good. You can spend two hours with Presley and one hour with me whenever you aren't working around the castle."
He nodded.
"Is there any job you would prefer over anything else?"
"I would like to work with the horses. I am also good with farm work whenever I do not have to protect you."
"You will only be needed to guard me if I am out on the town. Until then you can work in the stables with Lucas and Mary or chop wood." I instructed.
He nodded.