10

Raising you was difficult. The entire town knew about the gods' plans for you and was not very unified in opinion. Some grew suspicious, and your parents had to deal with rotten food and mysteriously slashed nets. Still, others were kind, whether out of fear or respect for you. Mother never had to look far if she wanted help. Father was never without work.

The good and bad consequences of your naming evened each other out until you were about three years old. It was time for you to begin schooling. An important figure such as yourself deserved special tutoring. And you received the very best tutor. Frode volunteered to teach you when you reached four years of age, and his motives for doing so were always a mystery to you.

It was a privilege to receive schooling in your town. Only three people could read and write. Well, two and one half since they found Phyllis. And you were about to join the ranks of the elite. Educated people usually have no place in tiny villages, unless it is accepted that they somehow possess a sort of natural talent that places them above everyone else. People began to accept that you were somehow greater than them in your seventh year.