Chapter 1
Caius braided his long silver hair over his shoulder a task he had become efficient with doing for himself over the past few years. He sighed heavily as he bent to pull his boots on, they were old but he kept them well polished like his outfit it had a few stiches, but you would need to look closely to see the age. Once a upon a time, he was a top student at the Stella Kingdom College in the capital city of Stella, Solagent. Now he was a teacher in the lower end of the city, with his previous education and standing in society the city lord had taken pity on him and started to pay him a small salary as well as given him an apartment in to lower city so that he could educate children with their letters and numbers. It wasn't compulsory learning so most of his classes were small and scattered some of his students were only able to come once a week when they weren't expected to help with their family business.
It was a simple job and at first he resented the task feeling humiliated by his former peers who would sometimes come to visit his small school. They never really harassed him but he didn't care to be seen in this low state but soon even they left him alone and he had started to relax and learn about the children he was teaching. It had taken a year but he had began to enjoy teaching the smaller children as he began to see hope that some of these children may make a better life for themselves by earning a far better apprenticeship when they reached the age of 12 than the many students whose parents who refused to let their children come.
After he pulled his boots up he straighten himself up as he tugged on his vest to complete the look. He looked completely different to how he used to three years ago. His demeanor was relaxed now and he had long stopped wearing his cravat, the cloth now felt too stuffy to wear. The top button of his shirt was left undo as the heat of the lower city could kill and during the spring and summer. He now left his coat on its hanger against the wall but looking at the patch a sweet older mother of a student had done for him late last winter he knew he should save up for a new coat before the next winter. His white linen shirt was now tanned by the dust and sweat but strangely as he looked over himself, he actually liked this look better on himself. He smiled once more his opalescent eyes were shining again after being a dull grey for so long he was finally becoming happy again.
As he stepped out of his small apartment a young lady greeted him smiley prettily as she gave him a clumsy curtsy than held out a covered basket. "Mr. Sutton, I wanted to bring you a lunch today. My family had extra this morning when we packed lunches. Please accept it as a small thanks for teaching my little brother."
He smiled with a smooth grace that had the young lady blushing heavily. This had started happening more often when the mothers had realized that he was going to be staying in the area. Being strong, healthy, good-looking among other points was just the start many mothers hoped that he may still have ties with the aristocracy or that if he was brought back into his family maybe their daughters could rise even a little within society. He bowed his head toward her as he accepted the basket from her hand. He knew what the families had hoped for but even if he did marry his family would never except the bride he would be forced to leave her or soon expect to be burying her. His mother would never except any of them even as a lover so he never planned to marry because he didn't know just how much control his family still held over him today. His was afraid that if he fell in love he would find the girl dead because his family feared their rich blood being mixed with masses.
"Thank you, Miss Selene. I'll except this gift today but you and your family do not need to do this anymore. I am paid fairly by the lord to teach your brother. I don't want to make your family suffer more because of me." As he answer to her request he smiled pleasantly. "You don't need to worry about me please and I will still take good care of your brother at school."
She blushed again as she nodded and turned before quickly strolling away. He sighed as he watched her leave. He knew that the commoners were beginning to believe that he was being condescending towards them and maybe he was over thinking it, but he couldn't be sure of what could happen. It maybe be better if he explained himself to a friend, he would need a good excuse because if he was to be honest how would believe him and if they did it could mean even more trouble if the lower populace became restless. The last thing he needed was to upset the neighborhood he was living in.
He started toward the small school feeling the warmth of the early morning sun on his back as well as the chill of the night still clinging to the shadows each time he stepped into the shade which made him smile. Such a bright morning could make someone forget their troubles and so giving a glance to the basket he nodded to himself, and he conformed inwardly that he would need to confide in Jonathan after he let out school. He knew talking to the tavern keeper would be the fastest way to discreetly explain the situation to everyone, and once that was cleared he wouldn't need to worry about these hopeful young ladies at his door step.
He felt the chill of the shade as he entered the school three children had already set down on their stools facing the back of the room where he would normally stand to teach while facing the door. Only on truly lucky days would he need to put stools on both sides of the long table that stood in the middle of the room, while he taught at the head of the table. Today it seemed he was going to be short and would be helping each child with one-on-one study unless a few more came in later.
Moving to a bookshelf that had quite a few books for the lower end of town all donated from old friends before he lost contact with them. It was a kind gesture and the more he thought on how he had treated his old friends he had began to regret it a little, but he couldn't stay friends with them not for long and that would have hurt more when they pulled away instead. Grabbing a book meant for a young child he passed it over to the oldest of the three a child who was going to be turning eleven this year and he hoped that he could polish him before the next year the child was smart, clever, and sweet and he hoped to get him into a better part of the city.
"Read this for now, Dereck. If you need help I'll correct you as you read, but I'm going to be focusing on slates since both Conner and Marcus here are both at about the same level with their letters. Understand?" He waited for Dereck to give him a quick nod as he grabbed the book gently all the students knew to treat the books here with respect it was the first lesson for any student and even first-time offenders that damaged a book on purpose or because they were being reckless were sent home for awhile until the could in their own way prove they had learned to respect the books.
Giving the child a smile he turned back to the shelf and set the basket down on the top to keep the pests away at least for a time while he taught. Stooping than he pulled two slates meant for small children and a small tin of chalk off the lowest shelf and set a slate each in front of the other two children. "Alright Conner," turning his head toward Marcus, "Marcus lets get started. Write for me what you remember from the last lesson starting with the first letter of the alphabet."