Theo stepped into a large classroom where a young woman with bright red hair stood beside a chalkboard. She wore a crisp green dress that reminded Theo of the grass outside that he and Cynthia had played on earlier.

  "Welcome to your first class, Theo," she greeted him. "I’m Miss Talia. I’ll be your communications teacher. Today we’ll be learning the basics of the ___ language."

  Theo blinked a couple of times. There were several words there that he had not understood.. “...what that?”

  “___?” She chuckled. “It’s the language I’m speaking… the language most humans in the kingdom speak.”

  Theo's eyes brightened at the thought. Words were something he knew, but how to say them properly, or even what they meant in human speech, was still a mystery.

  Miss Talia gestured to a pile of flashcards on the table and held up one with a simple word. "Let's start with a simple greeting," she said. "Can you say ‘hello’?"

  Theo blinked and studied the word on the card. "He-llo?”

  "That’s a good start!" Miss Talia clapped her hands gently. "But the trick is to say it clearly, not too fast, and not too slow. Try again!”

  And so Theo tried again. “...hell… oh? …hello? Hello!” He beamed when he finally got it.

  “That’s it!” Miss Talia beamed right back at the goblin. “Now, let’s try a few more phrases. How about, ‘My name is Theo?’ Can you say that?”

  “My name is Theo!” Theo repeated enthusiastically.

  They spent the rest of the lesson learning simple greetings, introductions, and asking "How are you?"

  Theo stumbled over the words at first, but Miss Talia was patient, guiding him with a gentle hand. Slowly, Theo was starting to get the hang of it.

  By the end of the class, Theo was able to say a few simple sentences, and Miss Talia smiled. "You’re learning so quickly, Theo. Next time, we’ll tackle some new words."

  Theo beamed and then hesitated. “...what… comm… commun…”

  “Communication?” She chuckled. “

  Theo nodded. “Yeah!”

  “Communication. It means a way of exchanging and understanding information between people. Like speaking. Right now you know what I’m saying don’t you?”

  Theo nodded again. “Yah.”

  “And I am understanding you. Which means I am communicating. And you are communicating too.”

  “Oh. …ooooh.”

  Miss Talia smiled. “Good luck with the rest of your lessons today, Theo. You’re a very good student.” She bowed her head before taking her leave.

  Theo beamed and waved at her. He felt more confident now than he had earlier. In only a few minutes his next teacher was escorted into the room. The teacher, a kindly looking older woman walked into the classroom with a stack of books in hand.

  “Greetings, my new pupil. I am Mrs. Lila.”

  Theo smiled and waved. “Hello! My name Theo!”

  The teacher smiled. “It's good to meet you Theo. Today we’ll work on your reading,” Mrs. Lila said. “You just had your communications class. And you can speak the language to a degree… so let's practice connecting those words you know into written knowledge.”

  Theo he blinked. “Like… commun… ating?”

  She smiled. “Yes. Consider this a little more advanced form of communicating beyond simply speaking the words. …think of this class like a follow up to your previous class.”

  Theo nodded eagerly, though his hands fidgeted at his sides. Mrs. Lila started with simple words—‘cat,’ ‘dog,’ and ‘house.’ She’d say the word and then show Theo a picture with the word beneath the picture in big bold letters to help him connect it. Some of the words felt easy, others he struggled with, but it kind of began to feel like a game to him.

  After some practice with flashcards and pictures, Mrs. Lila introduced Theo to short, easy sentences. “The cat is on the mat,” she read aloud, pointing at a picture of a cat. Theo tried to follow along, sounding out the words slowly but surely.

  “The cat… is…” he muttered, his tongue tripping over the unfamiliar shapes of the letters. It felt strange to him, but with a little encouragement from Mrs. Lila, he began to read short sentences more confidently.

  Once the lesson ended, Mrs. Lila smiled. "You’re doing wonderfully, Theo. Keep practicing, and soon you’ll be reading books before you know it."

  After Mrs. Lila left it was time for Theo’s etiquette class. A familiar human woman with blue hair and blue eyes stepped into the room. She wore a maid uniform just like all the rest of the maids who worked in the mansion. …it was the maid Theo had seen the most around Cynthia. While there were many maids around the mansion… this one Theo seen the most of.

  “Greetings sir.” She bowed after coming to the front of the class. “I am Amelia. Handmaid of the Albrecht household and personal maid to her grace. And for the duration of our time in this classroom together… your teacher.”

  Theo smiled and waved. “Am Theo! Hello.”

  “Yes… I am aware of your name.”

  Theo slowly lowered his hand and his smile faltered. There was something off about Amelia’s voice compared to the other teachers Theo had. She sounded… cold and disinterested.

  “Today, we’re going to learn how to sit properly at a table.” Her voice was firm and strict much like the posture she held when she straightened herself to look down on him.

  Theo blinked a few times. “...how sit?”

  “Yes. How to sit. What good ears you have,” she said dryly.

  Theo reached up to touch one of his long and pointed ears. “Is goblin ear.” Of course he had good ears.

  “...yes. …you have goblin ears.”

  “...” Theo dropped his hand again and just stared at the maid.

  “Well go on. This isn't staring class. Stand up and take a seat.”

  “...am sitting.” Theo pointed out the obvious.

  “...” Amelia sighed. “...this was on purpose wasn’t it?” She grunted and muttered to herself.

  “Purpose?” Theo tilted his head.

  The maid paused then shook her head. “Nothing. Stand up.”

  Theo stood up.

  “Now take a seat.”

  Theo sat back down in his desk.

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  Amelia grunted. “This won’t do at all. Stand back up.”

  Theo hesitated before standing back up like he was told.

  “Straighten your back. Keep your chin up. Square your shoulders. Stop fidgeting with your fingers. Keep your hands still. Keep your body still.”

  Theo tried to do what she said… he held his breath and tried not to breathe. His chest moved everytime he breathed… after a moment he coughed and breathed in deeply, gasping.

  “...I didn’t tell you to hold your breath. Sir.”

  Theo blinked and breathed in again. “Didn’t?”

  “I said to hold still. To stop fidgeting. Do you understand what I am saying? …perhaps you should be having more lessons with Miss Talia instead.”

  Theo drooped. He didn’t mean to be such a disappointment-

  “What did I just say?” She snapped at him. “ Back straight. Chin up. Shoulders squared.”

  The little goblin jumped.

  “...perhaps this is meant to be a punishment…” She muttered under her breath with a frown.

  Theo just did his best to stand as straight as he could.

  The teacher gave him one glance and sighed. “Passable. Now try taking a seat.”

  Theo blinked and slowly sat back down at his desk, sitting up straight as he tried to mimic the proper posture. He had never been told to sit like this before.

  “...passable.” Amelia nodded. “Now then. When you eat remember to use your utensils properly.” She walked over and laid down some utensils wrapped in a napkin on his desk before brandishing a fork of her own. “Hold your fork like this,” she demonstrated, showing him the right way to hold the utensil. “And always remember to chew with your mouth closed.”

  Theo glanced down and eyed the napkin before trying to rip it open-

  “Stop! This isn’t a place for animals.” She gave him a look with such disdain it made him break his posture to shrink down a little further. “Unwrap it. And fix your posture.”

  Theo did his best to follow along, though it was hard to break old habits. He fidgeted in his seat, trying his best to be proper. As the lesson continued the headmaid Amelia taught Theo how to greet guests properly, how to make polite conversation, and how to excuse himself from a table. A lot of it felt awkward and overly complicated for the goblin… Humans were silly.

  “Remember, Theo,” she said, “when you speak to others, always listen as much as you talk. It’s important to make them feel heard.”

  Theo nodded. “Be good hearer.”

  “Be a good listener.” She corrected him with a grunt.

  “Be a good lisner.”

  “Listener- …no. I’m not either of your language teachers. That’s for them to help you with. Just use your ears sir.”

  At the end of the lesson Theo was glad to see the maid storming away from the classroom. She was… not a very friendly teacher. And she was very good at making him feel bad. The next class was his math class.

  The teacher was a man who wore glasses that sat on the edge of his nose. He carried in his own books and papers and sat them on the front desk before turning to address Theo. Greetings sir, I am Mr. Ollis. I will be your mathematics teacher. We shall start with simple numbers today,” Mr. Ollis said. “Math is important. It helps you measure and calculate. It’s a fundamental learning block for logic and assessment as well as problem solving.” The teacher turned and began to write on the chalkboard.

  Theo frowned at the chalkboard, where numbers and symbols danced in front of him. None of it made any sense to Theo. And this class ended up being his hardest one yet.

  Theo sighed and couldn’t wait to see Cynthia again.

  While Theo was taking his classes, Cynthia and her father went over a lot of information about very prestigious young gentlemen to choose her future spouse. After picking the most promising spouse from the listing her father provided, Cynthia decided to stop by Theo’s class and bring him some snacks.

  “Knock knock.” Cynthia poked her head into the classroom “Sorry for interrupting class.” She smiled towards Theo.

  He blinked out of his lesson, a little dazed from all the boredom. Then his brain caught up with what he was seeing. “Cynthia!” He beamed happily.

  Cynthia chuckled and walked over to his side. “Hey dear, how’s classes going? I’ve brought some snacks so you can take a break.”

  “Thanks! Good, lessons good, learn lots!”

  “So what have you guys been going over?” She sat beside him and passed him the snacks.

  “Lots of words!” Theo laughed. He pointed towards his attempts at writing. Barely legible scribbles, but there were traces of what they were supposed to be. “Not good now. More lessons, better.” Theo smiled, then grabbed something to eat and chewed on it between his fangs. “Numbers too!” He showed her a bunch of lines and marks that were beginning to make sense to Theo.

  Math was easier when he stopped thinking of it like numbers and symbols and when he just imagined people instead.

  This was seven, this was eight, this was ten! He’d get better. But this was easy, numbers were something he’d already somewhat learned in the tribe. This was just putting them down onto paper and theory. He didn’t understand what theory was. He began to talk on and on about his lessons, the fun, the easy, the difficult, and the brain dead boring times that made him want to go to sleep.

  When Theo was finished talking about his lessons, he stopped waving his arms and eating and he looked at her with a curious expression. “Find…hus…husband?”

  “Oh- yes, I’ve decided on a husband already.” She smiled. “And I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself Theo.”

  “Cynthia like husband?” Theo tilted his head curiously. Theo knew that not every goblin couple liked one another. Most of them did. Some of them just did to have babies then they’d growl to each other later and find another. He felt silly for asking her earlier, he owed her so much. He just wanted her to be happy like him.

  And when she had her children… Theo frowned. He had wanted her attention all to himself earlier, but now? If she was going to be a mother, she didn’t need him around. Goblins left their children on their own with no more support once the child could walk. But until they could walk, they were given all the attention they could want. She should spend time with them, not him. Maybe he could ask for one of the knights to train with him. They wouldn’t be as good as Cynthia, nowhere near as good. But at least it would be training.

  “Well he seems promising. But I still have yet to meet him in person.”

  “Get good one,” he advised his mistress. “Know some, goblins. Has babies. Yell lots.” he tried to explain. If she had to get married, marry someone that wasn’t… like those goblins. Marry someone more like the goblins who seemed to be always happy together. Then again, Cynthia was a noble and nobles did stupid things because they were too good at everything else.

  “Don’t worry Theo. He comes from a respectful family and seems like a decent enough guy. It’ll be fine.”

  “Better. Cynthia is great.” He also knew of male and female goblins that would hurt their partner. It was a rare occurrence but it did happen. He bit his tongue trying to think of the words. It was like wanting, but different. A tutor had explained it to him. “Cynthia need happy. Cynthia… best noble, best fighter, best master.”

  Cynthia smiled and petted him. “Thank you Theo.”

  “Climb with Theo?”Theo asked. If she was going to have her attention taken away from him, then he’d make the most out of what he had of her right now.

  “Yes. We will go climbing after dinner.”

  “What Cynthia do now?” He wasn’t quite done with lessons yet and she’d already done her… noble duty? Talking and marrying. No wonder nobles were so good at things, they probably have all the time in the world.

  “Well, I have a couple letters to write in order to inform my fiance and his family that I’ve accepted their marriage offer.”

  “Cynthia get lots? He had been asking to marry her? He’d believe her if she’d said the entire world wanted to marry her.

  She chuckled “Yes, my family’s position is rather craved for.”

  “Best family?” Theo’s eyes widened with curiosity and… pride? Goblins were not typically proud, more often than not, they would refer to themselves in their own tongue, strategic cowards. It’s never stupid to run away from loss or death.

  “I wouldn’t necessarily say the best, however, we are amongst one of the most important families. The Albrecht family is second only to the royal family. Nobles would highly benefit from marriage within our family.”

  When she put that into perspective, Theo wondered how much greater their family was… their family. She kept saying it, that he was a part of it. Like this was his new tribe. Then she was like… and there it fit better. Goblins did not have masters or slaves. But they did have chieftain. So if he thought about master like that? Cynthia is the best chief in the world.

  “What family do?” What made them so special? It couldn’t be Cynthia that made them amazing. A chief was only as good as their tribe.

  “We’re one of the closest aids to the King and queen. There’s quite a handful of families at the top that are trusted by the royals like that. Our family is in charge of the training of the royal knights. But of course, only the men in the house get the privilege to be in charge of those. However, I do like to keep my swordsmanship sharp just in case. I don’t really like leaving my safety entirely in someone else's hands.”

  “Only men?” That seemed like a waste. If the tribe didn’t let the females participate in raids they’d never raid anyone . more often than not, some of the females were much stronger than some of the males. They were valuable.

  “Yes, only the men.”

  “Why?”

  “It’s just been that way for generations. The women manage the internal affairs of the family while the men do the external work.”

  “Sounds stupid. Cynthia good, fighter. Best.” Theo shrugged. This is either a noble or a human custom, either way. “No girl knights?”

  "No, the ladies aren’t really accepted as knights. If a girl wanted to be one, she wouldn’t be allowed to. The closest a lady could do to it is taking up a position as an assassin instead.”

  He nodded and understood nothing. So he moved onto the thought that’s been inside of his head since seeing the men in armor this morning. “I be knight?”

  “You want to be a knight?”

  Theo thought about it. And yes, he did. He didn’t just want to be a pet here forever. And if he ever needed to leave and strike out on his own, being a knight was pretty important from what he’s learned so far. “Yes, want be knight.” What else could he be? He was no noble.

  “...then how about I appoint you as my personal knight once you’ve completed the training for it?”

  As much as he wanted that. To be Cynthia’s very own personal knight… He doesn’t know. It sounded great though. He got to be with Cynthia more often than not.

  “Cynthia’s knight?” He thought about it some more before nodding. “Cyntha’s knight.”

  She smiled and patted his head. “Then you must grow skilled and strong in order to protect me well at all times”

  He owed Cynthia so much. “I promise.” He would try. He would try his best.

  “Very well, then I’ll leave you to the rest of your classes now dear. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  He smiled and waved. He wondered if he could ever live up to the task as he watched her leave. And he wondered if she would ever really need him to keep her safe. She was the best fighter he’d ever seen. She really didn’t need him, but he was here, and he belonged to her. He sighed and looked at his messy papers. Back to learning he supposed. Because he wanted to be useful for as long as he was here.

  Next up was his swimming lessons. Theo was escorted out of the classroom and guided to the mansions swimming pool by a pair of servants. The room was vast, the water a deep blue, and the air smelled… funny. This was different then the bathtub water... and different from the lake water too. Theo frowned and eyed the water with distrust.

  Theo's instructor smiled and clapped his hands together. “Hello there, my name is Mr. Thomas. I'll be your swimming instructor. Now let’s start with the basics.”

  Theo nodded, already familiar with floating on his back thanks to Cynthia.

  “Let’s start by getting comfortable in the water. Just float and relax,” Mr. Thomas instructed.

  Theo never took his eyes off the weird smelling clear water as he approached the edge of the pool. Then he stepped into the water carefully. It felt cool against his skin. Soon enough he was standing in a very shallow portion of the pool designed for young children. Then he tried to float on his back.

  “Very good!” Mr. Thomas cheered. “Now, let’s practice paddling your arms and kicking your feet. You know how to float, but you need to learn how to swim across the pool.”

  Theo was a little nervous at first, but as followed the swimming teacher's instructions he began to learn how to paddle arms and kick his feet while still floating on the water. This wasn't that bad... sure the water smelled. But he was managing easily thanks to Cynthia's own teaching. Theo found himself missing and thinking about the lady while taking his final lessons.