Westan headed to the library for his session early that morning. He had been pondering over what to do with his new tutors over the last few days, and now he had the perfect plan. He entered into the study room where Mr. Jameson quickly bowed and greeted him.

"Good morning your Majesty! W-Would your Highness wish to sit out in the garden again? The weather is quite nice today as well." The teacher said nervously.

Westan smiled. He had been hoping for this exact opportunity.

"Indeed, I think I would. I quite enjoyed myself yesterday." He replied.

"Very good! Then shall we head there now?" Mr. Jameson asked, looking quite relieved by his approval.

He nodded. Then he got up and followed the teacher to the garden where another prepared table awaited them. He sat down in his chair, looking ready to begin.

"Teacher, I have something to discuss before we start." He announced.

The man looked at him curiously. "Yes, what is it sire?"

Westan motioned to a servant nearby. The person walked away briefly, returning a moment later with Bartholomew and two additional servants following him.

"Good-day your Majesty!" The boy greeted with a deep bow.

Then both men looked at him with confusion. Westan just smiled back, fully proud of his own scheming here.

"I heard from a reliable source that you two have been discussing my private sessions together, despite the fact that I dismissed your assistant. I did not wish to see his face ever again, so surely you must know that I would not want his input in my teaching either!" He stated coldly.

This was more of a guess on Westan’s part than anything. He doubted the father could resist replying on his son, yet even if it was not true the threat of him thinking it was real would be more than enough here.

Mr. Jameson's eyes bulged with a mixture of surprise and fear, and Bartholomew seemed too stunned to even react for a few good seconds. Then the teacher quickly moved in front of his son and bowed as he spoke up nervously.

"My deepest apologies my Lord! We meant no disrespect! My son is my only helper and I deeply rely on him!" He explained.

Oh. So it was true? He had been right then.

Westan gave a long sigh. "Well perhaps I shall overlook it, since you are my teacher."

Mr. Jameson let out a breath of relief and wiped his sweaty brow. Unfortunately for him though, this little game was far from over.

"However, your assistant whom I never wished to see again, perhaps he shall be made to answer for this disrespect." He added with a cruel smile.

The teacher's face fell again and he quickly dropped to the ground with a bow. "No sire, please! I am the one who should be made to answer for this! Leave the boy be!"

Bartholomew quickly came to his father's side. "No your Majesty, do not punish my father! You are correct, it was indeed all my fault!"

"ENOUGH! Silence, both of you!" Westan shouted, more irritated by their groveling than anything else.

Both men froze and gazed up at him with fear as he stood up and came towards them slowly.

"I do not plan on punishing either of you. In fact, I have a better idea in mind." He said with a smirk, finally getting to the part he really wanted.

"If the two of you wish to spare yourself my wrath, all you have to do is as I say. Convince my council man Zaccheus to send you away, and I shall forgive your crude actions."

Both men exchanged confused glances.

"Your Majesty, fear is not a good enough excuse for us to leave. He has already warned us not to try it.” Mr. Jameson whispered.

Westan scoffed. That blasted man was definitely serious this time!

"Then you men will merely tell my council man that I cannot be taught! Perhaps then he will let you leave without any trouble. But I dare say you had better come up with something!”

Both Mr. Jameson and Bartholomew looked at each other with unease, clearly not comfortable with the idea he had presented. However, Westan was not exactly giving them a choice in this matter.

"Do either of you have a problem with what the King has requested? Do as I say!" He snapped, using his authority as a threat like he always did.

Mr. Jameson bowed again anxiously. "If that is what the Kings wishes, then of course! We shall talk to him right away!"

Westan smiled triumphantly. "Very good."

"If you wish us to leave my Lord then we shall, and we will tell this man anything you want us to. But please your Highness, do not give up on your studies." Bartholomew suddenly spoke up.

Westan scowled at the boy with shock. "Excuse me?"

The boy bowed his head as he spoke. "Even though you have been displeased by our actions here, I beg you not to abandon these lessons. Do not let our disrespect discourage you!" He begged.

Westan crossed his arms and glared at the boy angrily.

"You have nothing to do with this, so mind your own business! Why should I keep bothering with skills I will never be able to master? I am sick and tired of wasting my time on such useless pursuits!"

Bartholomew looked up and examined him with warm eyes.

"My King I do not think anyone is truly unable to learn, least of all someone like yourself." He said gently.

Westan huffed loudly and rolled his eyes. Just what did this boy know anyways? How could someone like him understand what such constant failure and embarrassment felt like!?

"Perhaps that is easy for you to say, someone who has been reading for many years! I on the other hand have gone through too many tutors to count, with none of them being able to some much as teach me a single thing!" He said bitterly.

The boy gazed at him with an expression full of sudden understanding. Then he smiled and shook his head. "Well you certainly seem quite clever to me. I do not doubt your ability to succeed in anything that you really wish to."

Westan suddenly blushed, surprised by the boy's bold praise. But before he could decide how to respond, Bartholomew spoke up again.

"Please sire, let us stay and finish our commission. Just give us some more time to prove ourselves to you! We can help you with these lessons, I swear it!" He said earnestly.

Westan folded his arms and examined the boy with scrutiny, completely taken back by his persistence. He wondered why on earth anyone would rather stay here and teach him instead of just running away! Surely though, there was only one cause for such determination.

"I am no fool! It is not as if you really care whether I am taught or not, you just want to take your money from Zaccheus and avoid any disgrace, right?" He hissed.

Bartholomew looked utterly shocked by his words and shook his head quite vigorously.

"No! Never would that be the case my Lord! Both my father and I are very passionate about teaching! We love nothing more than to help our students. I only express my heartfelt desire as my father's assistant to help you improve your abilities. Come now! What would it hurt for you to let us stay?" He challenged.

Westan's stared into the boy's eyes for a moment. He usually did not expected loyalty from any servants, least of all those who were hired in from elsewhere. His whole life's experience taught him that no one truly cared about him personally, only for what they might gain from him. Yet this boy was nearly risking his own life in order to help him! But if he was not motivated to stay by money or fear, what other reason could there be?

Westan stroked his chin thoughtfully. He supposed it would not hurt to let these men stay for a little while longer, just to see if they could improve a bit. Besides, he was starting to have a little fun now. Rarely did servants strike him as interesting like these two men here today.

"Very well then. I shall allow you one more week to convince me of your right to remain here. But if you fail, I will no longer tolerate your presence at all, nor will I give you much time to convince Zaccheus of your need to leave." He said seriously.

"Thank you my Lord, we shall do our utmost to be of assistance to you!" He said with another bow and an unexpected smile.

Westan shook his head again in astonishment. Perhaps this boy was merely too naive to even understand what he was risking at this point. His over eagerness really was quite puzzling!

"Well, you better get started then."