Chapter 24

Colors of Change

“This one, how do you read this syllable?” Arthur glanced sidewards, looking at Vlanca with hopeful eyes.

The girl bit her lip for a moment. Her cheeks blushed before unsurely opening her mouth. “Ba?”

His eyes squinted as he shook his head ever slowly. “Ah... Ah...”

“No, it’s ta!”

A smile curved his lips upon hearing her second answer. “Very good, how about this one?”

“Sa…”

He nodded, his smile getting wider. “Very good, Azeah… And this one?”

“La!” The girl immediately answered. Her face began to radiate confidence.

Arthur continued to challenge Vlanca, and he couldn’t help himself but smile, seeing that she had more or less already memorized the twenty letter alphabet. She made some mistakes here and there. Still, it appeared that with more drills, she’d be able to recognize the letters effortlessly in no time.

“You’re doing great, Vlanca,” Hula praised in a monotonous tone after going through the alphabet a few more times. “I never thought you’d learn it this fast.”

“I know right?” Arthur agreed. “Hasn’t it been only a week and she already progressed this much?”

“No!” Vlanca blushed. Her head staring unseeingly at the ground. “It’s all thanks to Sir Arthur because he’s such a good teacher.”

The boy briefly chuckled before standing up and ruffled her hair. “C’mon, Azeah. Have more confidence.” He lifted her chin and locked their eyes. “Of course, it’s also because of you. You’re diligent and hardworking.” He smiled. “Please, acknowledge that.”

The girl nodded, her ears also becoming redder. “Yes!”

They then heard suppressed laughter coming overhead. The two hoisted their gazes and gave Hula curious looks.

Hula immediately stopped and cleared his non-existent throat. “Apologies, my lord. However, your actions towards Vlanca can’t help but make me think who’s really older. Shouldn’t you drop the honorifics and make her call you Iseo?”

[Iseo - informal honorific for older brother]

“Master Hula!” Vlanca suddenly stood up in protest; even Arthur was forced to step back. Her chin was raised in confidence, determined not to lose the status quo. “I may be unreliable right now, but I’m working hard to be an excellent older sister that Sir Arthur can depend on in the future.”

“That’s admirable,” Hula said with an amused tone. “However, the lord had been asking you to drop the word ‘Sir’ when referring to him. If you’re his older sister, isn’t it just reasonable to call him by his name or nickname?”

Vlanca thought for a moment while Arthur remained silent as he listened to the conversation. Duliri, on the other hand, who had been silent inside the boy’s head rolled his eyes. “I hate to admit it, but it’s working just as Hula’s planned,” he said through telepathy.

“Yeah, right,” Arthur replied and scratched his hair. “Boost her confidence a little and she’ll do as he says. I can’t believe I’ve been asking her that for a whole week and she’s still stubborn. Yet, Hula will do it in a single conversation.”

Both Arthur and Duliri virtually clicked their tongues as they watched the turn of events before the boy’s eyes.

“I understand,” Vlanca replied. “Then I shall call him Arthur from now on.”

“He did it,” Arthur and Duliri said in unison, in a low and almost mocking tone.

Still, Hula didn’t interject anything even though he could hear their comments as he talked to Vlanca.

“This is why you shouldn’t trust him, Arthur. Hula had mastered the art of manipulation...”

“Nah…” Arthur said as he felt Vlanca’s hand brushing his hair.

“Please continue to call me Azeah, and I’ll call you Arthur from now on.”

He smiled and nodded. “I trust him and I will still do so because he’s my friend. God forbids, but if he ever betrays me in the future, then I’ll deal with that once it happens. The same goes for you and Azeah.” He paused and smiled again at Vlanca before opening his mouth. “Shall we continue the lesson? We still have plenty of time before the afternoon.”

“Yeah!” Vlanca replied with vigor and enthusiasm.

Once they settled again on their seats, Arthur spoke again through telepathy, “Duliri, you shouldn’t put limitations on someone or something because of what they might do. The world is brimming with colors. It isn’t black and white. And sometimes, those colors change; sometimes, they don’t. We aren’t defined by the shade that we’ll take on. We are defined by the colors we have today. For now, you and Hula are my friends, azeah is my azeah, and granny is my granny. I don’t think that’ll change in the foreseeable future.”

Arthur badly wanted to cringe at his own words. Yet, he couldn’t.

Hula and Duliri understood it too - the boy’s strange demeanor and way of thinking, his talents, his childish stubbornness, and his determination. They didn’t say anything, but both of them were glad to see that he grew up just fine. No, he was more than fine. Despite living almost his life in the middle of the forest with no one but Katarina, Arthur held the colors worthy of their loyalty, even without the enchantment of absolution. That morning, a week after Vlanca, they also discreetly swore to serve the boy with their life. Neither behind nor in front of him, but alongside him. They shall be there for the boy, whatever dark or light color he’ll become tomorrow.

Hula Duliri, the enchanted staff, shall be his guide.

***

“Don’t hold it too hard, Arthur,” Katarina said as she took the quill from Arthur's hand. “You have to hold it firmly with your thumb and forefinger. Firmly,” she emphasized while showing how to hold the pen properly. “You’re holding and pressing it too hard, that’s why the nib broke a while ago.”

The boy nodded slowly as he listened diligently to the old woman.

Katarina then pulled another brown parchment under the table. “Grip it steadily. Don’t use too much force. Like this…” After gently dipping the pen in ink, she wrote the letter ‘a’ with two elegant strokes. “Be gentle but firm. Think of the quill like it's a fragile stick, grip it gently as it could break, but hard enough so you wouldn’t drop it.”

He nodded again, not saying anything.

It was later that day, after dinner, that Arthur proceeded in his room with Katarina. After finding out yesterday that he had been teaching Vlanca how to read, Katarina decided that it was time for him to teach the boy how to properly write with the quill as well as teach him history, geography, and arithmetic. It wasn’t that they were keeping it a secret, but Arthur thought that it would be a nice surprise once Vlanca can read words and sentences. However, given that boy had sunburn every day, Katarina became curious and later discovered their lessons in the backyard. It was both a blessing and a step back in disguise.

For the past week, Arthur had the time to meditate after dinner before he went to bed, but now, that was also taken away. Still, Arthur was also glad. These past few days, he had less and less time spent with his grandmother. He was happy just being with her, even if it’s for studies. Well, for someone like Arthur, it wasn’t bad. After all, he had always enjoyed learning. Besides, he picked up a relatively good pace for their now calm days. He’d teach Vlanca how to read in the morning, training in the afternoon, and a race at dusk. Today, he just added studying with his granny before going to bed.

Arthur was thinking things over when Hula popped his bubble. “My lord…” Hula called through telepathy. “Her ladyship is calling out to you.”

His gaze lit up for a second as his mind returned. “Yes?”

Katarina darted a questioning glance at him. “Are you listening, Arthur?”

“Yes!” he abruptly answered, far louder than intended.

Her head slowly shook. “Is there anything bugging your mind?”

“Well…” He pouted, pausing for a moment. “I was trying hard to follow your directions, granny, but it’s hard. There must be something wrong with my hand because my fingers tremble a great deal whenever I loosen my grip a little.”

Her lips curved into a playful grin. “Is that so?”

“Yes,” he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t think it’s Duliri’s fault, but maybe I should use a different pen.”

“Should we?” Katarina let out a laugh as she ruffled his hair. “I also think that Duliri’s just doing fine.”

“Truly?” Duliri’s voice suddenly resounded from the quill before Arthur could say anything.

“Yes...” Katarina briefly looked at the pen, then put it on the table and looked straight into Arthur’s eyes. “You might not believe it, honey, but granny had the same dilemma when my mother began teaching me how to write.”

Arthur tilted his head, wrinkles began to line on his forehead.

“It’s a long story… Let’s continue your lessons tomorrow.” Katarina waved her hand, and Duliri suddenly returned to his original form. Not a second later, the parchments flew back under the table as the ink faded from the paper. She briefly smiled before picking Arthur up and laid him on his bed. “Ready for some bedtime story, honey?”

Arthur nodded, visibly excited. “Is it about you?”

“Well…” Katarina flicked her fingers, followed by faint metal clatterings behind the door. She then looked at Duliri for a moment, prompting the staff to leave the room. She looked back at Arthur and caressed his cheeks. “It’s partly about me… But it’s more of a story about our family, so I guess it’s also about you.”

His forehead crumpled. “Me?”

She nodded after a few more seconds, the door swung open and Garo entered, carrying a book in its hand. He handed it out to Katarina and immediately left the room. She laid the book in front of them and asked, “Can you read the title for me?”

Arthur smiled and nodded. “The Enchantress and the Phoenix.”

“Yes, the enchantress and the phoenix…” She paused for a while as they exchanged several glances before she opened the book. “Once upon a time…”