Chapter 19

  Hektor arrived at his cottage to find two ladies waiting upon his return. They introduced themselves as Wendy and Hazel. They were the maids assigned to clean his rooms and prepare his meals in the morning.

  They didn’t linger beyond asking for permission to enter the cottage in his absence to complete their tasks. While Hektor was reluctant to allow strangers in his private space, he knew that his misgivings were unreasonable and that he was just being difficult.

  With forethought, the maids had prepared a basket of food anticipating that Hektor would be rushing through on his first day back. They left with the promise of returning the next day while he was at training with Captain Ferdinand. They explained that they would most likely be done with their chores before his return and would leave his meals in the kitchen.

  Hektor found the arrangement very sensible and thanked the ladies for their service.

  After a quick cold bath to help with the soreness, Hektor dressed more formally, packed his stationary, and quickly had breakfast, before rushing for his lessons. The castle grounds had livened up with the passing hour and people were out and about their routine, working towards their jobs and tasks.

  The castle library was very much a part of the castle proper and with it came the inevitable hurdle. Nothing to be done about it, Hektor braved the entry and endured the anxiety that always hunted for him in the castle hallways.

  A few kind souls quietly observed from a distance should Hektor need help, but Hektor recovered and made his way to the library.

  Traversing the winding pathway, he came upon the library wing. He observed a moment of respect, before pushing the gates ajar and slipping through.

  Hektor always felt that libraries were hallowed grounds. The air with its incense of ink and parchment and leather always bestowed a sense of higher significance like a place of worship. The silence was reverent, almost lending its absent quality to visiting pilgrims, helping them find clarity, to hear themselves think away from the noise and meditate in their quest for answers.

  Then there were the towering shelves stacked with books. Repositories of knowledge huddled together, waiting to bestow their knowledge upon anyone willing to put in the effort. And if they were clever enough, to learn beyond the pages of a single book.

  It was a different world inside the library and Hektor took a moment to let the ambience wash over him. For his senses to become accustomed to the absence of sound and the stillness.

  Ribbons of walkways flowed the length of the rectangular hall. On either side were rows of bookshelves of exquisite mahogany and silver filigree. Plush carpets the color of royal purple and wine-red muffled footsteps between decorative marble tiling at intersections.

  The walls of the ground floor had enormous stained windows while the two upper balconies had wall to wall shelving with small desks and chairs spread tastefully in shaded and secluded areas.

  At the center of the library was a massive frescoed dome of abstract patterns. Lighting fixtures hung around its circumference to make the patters ripple.

  Th Grand Public Library in the city was certainly larger and more extensive in its collection, but the castle library was more exclusive and prestigious.

  At such a time in the morning, the east side of the library was a riotous splash of color from the rays passing through the stained-glass. Hektor was spellbound by the effect.

  “Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat to let Hektor know of their presence.

  Hektor turned to find one of the librarians standing near him.

  “Forgive me for interrupting, Young Master,” the librarian apologized, looking truly sorry for ruining Hektor’s enjoyment. “But I believe you will be late otherwise.”

  Hektor looked to one of the many mounted clocks to realize that was perilously close to being tardy.

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure,” the scholarly man gave a shallow nod. “I believe they are awaiting you on the first floor. Take these,” he gestured to a spiraling staircase nearby, “and take the second door on the right.”

  “Thank you?” Hektor prompted for a name.

  “Simms, Young Master.”

  “Thank you, Mister Simms,” Hektor bowed and reached the stairs. His thighs protested slightly at the climb.

  Hektor knocked and entered. The room was a private recess with a few desks facing a blackboard in front of a lecturer’s table. Lit lamps on the walls eliminated any shadows within.

  Spotting the person in the room, Hektor heralded, “Morning, Master Morris.”

  “Morning, Hektor. It’s nice to see you again. Please, come in and have a seat,” Morris spoke softly, indicating to the closest desk to the blackboard.

  Stanley Morris looked an affable man with his soft features and a rotund belly curving slightly over his scholarly robes of matte black. Small glasses perched on the very tip of his nose, held on by a thin wire frame.

  Hektor took his seat and noticed the stationary on the teacher’s larger desk. The parchment, pens, inkwells and chalk were standard fare, but Hektor spied the stack of books to be personalized for his lessons.

  Morris was Hektor’s tutor of science and mathematics.

  Morris seemed to weigh his words. “Would you like to share anything, Hektor? Or shall we start with the lesson?”

  Hektor appreciated what Morris was offering. His teacher was giving him the opportunity to speak up on what’s happened and share his thought and worries. Or, to overlook it all and forge ahead with their lesson.

  “The lesson, Master Morris,” Hektor selected.

  “Good man,” Morris complimented. “Now we have had a talk, Mister Upson, Mistress Blackwell and myself, and decided for the next week that we will mostly focus on revision. We need you properly grounded before expanding your scope.

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  “Additionally, it is prudent we focus on topics that have become more relevant to your situation. More recent and to a smaller scale, as it were. Make the best use of our time.”

  “That seems wise,” Hektor agreed along.

  “Affirmative. Good,” said Morris as he fetched a bundle of parchment while flipping through the top with his fingers. Selecting a few sheets, he laid them on the desk.

  It was apparent at a glance that Hektor had been handed a test of arithmetic.

  “For today, I want you to start with some calculus. We’ll start simple and build up the difficulty,” Morris explained. “When you finish, we will account for your mistakes and then move on to the next test if we have the time. Begin.”

  Hektor started his test. Morris sat to his side, occasionally glancing over to see whether Hektor was not wasting too much time in pursuing the wrong answer.

  Though challenging, Hektor found the solutions readily. Still, it took him more than an hour.

  Morris gently lifted the papers and gave it a quick check. “Consistent work,” he reviewed. “Two errors made in a hurry, but your method was correct.

  “Do you think you can do a few more? You finished earlier than expected,” Morris placed a sheet with fewer questions on it, but of greater difficulty.

  Hektor silently took to solving the mathematical problems. It took round forty minutes this time.

  “Acceptable,” Morris uttered just as Hektor finished, following along as he made his calculations. “You may rest awhile as Mister Upson would be arriving on the hour,” Morris informed while pushing a book titled ‘Vassal Economics’ on the desk. His intent apparent that he wanted Hektor to read the book.

  Hektor obliged.

  On the fourth chime of ten o’clock, Ted Upson knocked and entered the room.

  “Ah, Stanley, Hektor, good morning.” the smart man in the suit greeted. His scholar robes were folded over his briefcase that he placed on the table before shaking Morris’ hand. “I am not interrupting, am I?”

  “No, no. It is time and we were finished,” Marris informed while handing over Hektor’s answer sheet as evidence, sharing his progress.

  “Wonderful,” said Upson, as Morris collected his things.

  “Same time tomorrow,” Morris indicated at Hektor. “Ted,” he nodded a farewell and left.

  “Well, how are you Hektor?” Upson asked as he opened his briefcase and took out two books, a few scrolls and a stack of papers.

  “Fine, thank you, Master Upson.”

  Organizing his effects, Upson raised his eyes to stare at Hektor. “Is that so? Are you ready to start our lessons?”

  Hektor saw the same concern shown by Morris replicated by Upson. He smiled and nodded. “Very much so.”

  Upson clapped his hands, exuberant and at immediately at ease. “All right. No time to waste.”

  He came to the front of the desk and leaned against it, half sitting, half standing.

  “I’m afraid that our lessons on administration will be different from the usual. We will focus mostly on Roheim. Unfortunately, I am still in the process of compiling information and reports. As you can imagine, public records and bureaucracy are not the most efficient when it comes to personal demands.

  “Nonetheless, soon enough I will have you know all there is to know about Roheim. From its people to their inclinations, beliefs, habits and occupations. We will cover the current leadership, trade, architecture, roads, natural resources, all the way to sewers even! You will have all the theoretical knowledge of the place before you even set foot there.

  “For today,” Upson picked up a scroll and unfurled it onto his table, nodding for Hektor to stand by him, “I found this map of the area only dated a few years. How about we start with a bit of geography?” Upson proposed.

  Hektor couldn’t remove his eyes from the scroll. It was a map of Roheim and its surrounding territory. It was the first piece of hard proof of his future county.

  Upson smiled at Hektor’s fascination and started decoding the map in front of him. He spent the better part of two hours talking about Roheim geographically, elaborating on the roads and rivers, the cliffs before the sea and the Lehen Forest to the west and south. Upson had brought along a few books and copied relevant exerts pertaining to the territory. There were historical anecdotes pertaining to the terrain as well.

  Time flew by and soon it was time for Upson to leave and his next teacher to arrive.

  “You can keep the map and the books with you, if you like,” Upson offered as he packed his briefcase. “Just be sure to bring them tomorrow.”

  “I will. Thank you, Master Upson,” said Hektor with a deep sense of gratitude.

  Upson smiled. “I thought it would be best for you to know about your future home. The unknown always seems so much more frightful than it is. I hope you realize that Roheim is not a far-off place. It is a neighboring territory to the east of Faymoren, full of our countrymen who live, talk, and behave very much like us.

  “Most importantly, it is a peaceful and beautiful place that you could easily govern in due time.”

  “Have you been?” Hektor asked eagerly.

  Upson chuckled. “I wish I had. I have talked to many people about Roheim in the past few days that I feel like I have actually been there. I have not heard a bad word said of the place.”

  Hektor couldn’t hide his disappointment.

  “You may benefit from the same,” Upson considered. “I can easily set a meeting with someone who has lived or visited Roheim. They could share their experiences and give you a feel for the place that I frankly can’t. Would you consider it?”

  “Not now,” Hektor hedged timidly, “but soon.”

  “Suit yourself,” Upson said without any judgment.

  Hektor’s next lesson was with Mistress Emily Blackwell. She came from a prominent family of merchants, but had stepped aside from the family trade for making a personal business of investments and owning a few apartment buildings that she rented. She was a handsome woman in her mid thirties, well off and with a steady stream of income that would see her through the rest of her life in relative comfort.

  The enterprising Blackwell took a seat behind the teacher’s desk and asked Hektor to sit across.

  “So, quite the situation you find yourself in,” she spoke in a rich voice used to persuasion.

  “Yes, Mistress Blackwell,” Hektor admitted with a helpless shrug.

  “They missed a trick with you,” she implied. She looked to Hektor, demanding that he ask her.

  “What trick would that be, Mistress Blackwell?”

  Blackwell smiled devilishly. “If it were up to me, I would have sent you to Roheim tomorrow.”

  Hektor went still.

  “Wouldn’t matter if you went quietly, or kicking and screaming, I would have sent you at the earliest ,” Emily said with amusement.

  “Why?” was all Hektor could ask.

  “There is no substitute for experience. Learning about something and doing it are very different things. I believe you would have fared much better if you were immediately bestowed your countship. You would have struggled, sure, but you would have learnt by doing what you needed to.

  “Survival and need are powerful motivators. And you are a survivor, Hektor. You adapt when forced to.

  “Rather than learning all there is to about Roheim through maps, books and teachers, you could have done it all while actually being there and learning on the job.

  “That leads me to my second point,” Emily held up two fingers. “Behind any successful venture is delegation. Having the right people in the right places makes everything so much better and easier. I barely have to do anything in my business, because I delegate to trusted and capable subordinates. Same with governance, really. Have the right people at the right places and it all functions on itself.

  “That is not all that there is to it. You need to put in the work at the start. You have to set up the network and hierarchy. It doesn’t exist on its own. You have to maintain it. And one day you wake up, and it becomes just another routine.”

  After a silence, Hektor spoke, “Mother has promised me that I will be amongst trusted people who will help me.”

  “Yes. That is a massive advantage. It is more important than anything that we get you working alongside your subordinates. Everything else will fall into place.”

  Emily Blackwell leaned back in her chair.

  “But it is not the time for it now. The Duchess is still building your retinue.”

  She produced her pocket watch to note the time.

  “I was to teach you commerce and legislation, but I think it would be better if I focus on more personal topics. Let me tell you about the businesses of your in-laws.”