Amethyst turned to them both. "Are you guys alright?" she asked.
"Princess, I've told you a lot of times not to jump into matters like this, Marcus is dangerous and I don't want to put you in danger." He warned. Amethyst just rolled her eyes. She held Serena's hands, the gestured took her by surprise.
"It's fine Arthur, I have my brother, you and thousands of guards protection, right now someone needed my protection, it's the least I could do as a princess." She said stroking Serena's hands with her other hand.
"Thank you." Serena managed to say, though she felt sad and little, the princess has managed to make her feel better.
"So Arthur, you were saying something about a governor being sent by the King, Is he here?" Amethyst asked and He nodded.
"Come with me please." Arthur said calmly, he led the way and They both followed behind him. Arthur led them to a series of hallways, the palace was carved Intricately, the floors covered with plush patterned rug.
Amethyst walked by her side in silence, she wanted to say something but right now, she believes it was best to leave her alone. They stopped in front of a large oak door. Arthur opened it and they stepped inside.
A man was leaning close to a book shelf, he turned around when he heard the door open, a smile appeared on his face. He was dressed in simple yet elegant clothings, his brown hair was jelled backwards revealing his full face.
"Dan, it's good to see you." Arthur greeted him with a small smile.
"Arthur, likewise." He replied, his eyes darting to the two girls. "Your highness." he bowed respectfully to Amethyst to which she nodded in return. He stood up straight, fixing his jacket.
"And this is Serena?"
"Serena this is Dan and Dan this is Serena." Arthur introduced her. Serena was quite surprised that he was young, she wasn't expecting a young man to be her governor and he also smiled warmly.
Serena tried to gather her thoughts not knowing what to say. "Um... It's nice to meet you." she said calmly.
"The pleasure is mine." He replied with that same sweet smile. "As appointed by the King, I am here to teach you how to read and write, the ways of Noct and also to assist you with anything you need."
"Thank you, I appreciate that." she responded with a slight bow.
Arthur cleared his throat drawing their attention back to him. "That's good, Lady Serena, I'll leave you in the hands of Dan, I am afraid I can not stay cause I have matters to attend to but I will be back to give you a proper tour of the palace." he said.
"Thanks." She said, her eyes sparkling.
"You're welcome." Arthur replied. Amethyst walked towards Serena holding both her hands in hers.
"Learning can be very boring, I'll be back in a bit, of course with some snacks." She whispered and Serena smiled.
She watched as Arthur and Amethyst walked out of the room closing it door behind them.
"I am quite surprised, you've become close to Serena in such a little time." Arthur said, he placed his hands in the pocket of his coat.
Amethyst clamped her hands together. "Maybe because she's a girl, I've always been surrounded by you, bother and Darrick, and you all are always busy, now I've found someone to fill that gap." She said. Arthur could feel the loneliness in her voice, as a matter of fact he tried to spend some more times with the princess but the kingdom and the king needs it's advisor.
"That's really nice but I have to leave right now, Duty calls, I'll try to make more time." He said before turning around to leave. Amethyst sighed, that's exactly what she was talking about.
--
"Why don't we start by taking a seat." Dan said, he gestured to a plush comfortable chair. "We can get to know each other." he noticed that she was a bit un–comfortable, her shoulders were stiff and her hands clasped together, he figured getting to know each other might ease the tension.
Serena nodded, she followed him to where the chairs were and they both sat down, she took a seat opposite him. Now seated she could examine him more a little bit. He looked like someone kind and someone she could feel at ease with.
She shook the thoughts away when she heard him say. "So lady Serena." he began. "Tell me about yourself, I'd like to know more about the person I'm working with."
Serena bit her lips, she has not entirely been truthful about her real self. And now he wants to know more about her. "I'm just Serena. There's nothing much to know about me." She said, hoping he would just skip the topic.
"I understand, why don't we just start with, Where are you from?" he asked.
Serena pressed her lips in a thin line, her hands fidgeting. "Well... I'm from a small village... A lot happened there and I'd rather not talk about it." she stammered. Dan noticed how tensed she was about the question, a lot must have happened in her village, he decided not to pry into it.
"I'm sorry for prying too much, if you don't want to say anything it's understandable." He said. Phew, she finally got him to skip the topic, she said to herself.
"Don't be sorry." She said.
"We should start off with the basis, how to read and write, do have a familiarity with reading and writing?" he asked.
"I know some letters." Her eyes flickered with a hint of embarrassment. "Though I am not very good at them." she admitted.
It was understandable, Most women were denied education, in fact it was weird to see a girl who's not noble be able to read and write.
"What would you teach me?" Serena asked.
"I'll start with learning how to recognise the alphabet, then we'll move to simple words." He said before opening a book. Serena nodded, though she was super familiar with the alphabet, she had to play along cause in the palace she was a human slave.