The next day he was awoken by Jaufre in a hat that looked like it was made out of the many sacrifices of plumed peahens. It tickled Nikolas's nose and made him sneeze, and the sight of it was enough to shake him out of whatever sleep Nikolas was trying to pursue.

"Good morning, Nikolas, up and at them! You didn't have any girls over, did you? Had a good night, did we?"

Jaufre was smiling too brightly for this time of the day, and he'd somehow managed to open all the windows of the wagon as well, letting all the cold air in. Nikolas shivered, and wished for the other man to trip on his second pair of impractical boots. Then he impulsively reached for his own boots, because the dragon scale was in it and he didn't want anyone looking. He should find a better place for it, maybe in a pouch on his belt. Or no, Prebovna was big enough to have pickpockets that would be a horrible place to hide such a rare item.

"I had no such thing," Nikolas scoffed, and pulled the blankets over himself before deciding to give up and properly get ready for the day. He took a deep breath and dared ask the question he wanted to ask, "What can I do to help?"

"You?" Jaufre blinked, "Helping?" Nikolas was about to frown before the man threw back his head and laughed, "Before breakfast? Don't be too hasty now. You don't want to volunteer your talents for free! How else do you get appreciation and coins?"

This was a bad joke but perhaps it was good to laugh along, so Nikolas did. "I do mean it," Nikolas continued, "What can I do to help?"

"Erl's not up yet," Jaufre pointed out, gesturing towards the men's wagon. "If you listen closely you can hear him snoring away. Hm. What can you do? Well, we're not camping so you don't need to gather firewood. Or maintain the fire. We're not putting a show so there's no rehearsals. What can— Oh! Right! Can you manage a needle and thread?"

"I thought you would go to a seamstress and pay for their time," Nikolas said wryly and added a grin, just so Jaufre knew that Nikolas was not innocent and sweet.

"Very funny," Jaufre agreed, "I suppose you are a jester. Would you like your own hat as well?" Nikolas wrinkled his nose and Jaufre made to clutch at his heart, "Oh, unappreciated! Unloved! Ah well, if you don't know how to sew I'm sure Philipa or Eldis would be happy to teach you. It doesn't take too long once you know, and we've got a sewing needle around here that the women swap around every so often. Makes things so much easier, no one likes doing everything by hand."

"But you use a sewing needle—" Nikolas began and stopped himself. "Right, that sewing needle. I see."

So even the Llandrians knew to skirt around the mention of witches. But surely wizards could create an enchanted needle, it was just a matter of saying the right words was it not? He had to ask Guigo or Diase the next time they met.

"What can I do then?"

"You can get Mae and Anni their breakfast. Possibly Faila as well but I don't know if she's awake yet, she was up nearly half the night rehearsing some song or another."

"You were up as well," Nikolas accused before he could stop himself.

"Ah, yes, I was Nikolas, but you see, I have adoring crowds. I can do such a thing."

Jaufre held himself in such high regard, thought Nikolas, and a part of him wished that he could have such confidence. "Alright, I'll go get them. Where do I get the food?"

"Can you make oatmeal?" Jaufre pointed to the barrels, "You can measure out a portion of oats. I'm sure Owall is already at the fire, that man's up earlier than I am."

"Right," Nikolas said, fumbling into his own clothes. He made to put on his pack but Jaufre stopped him. "Don't hurt your back by carrying that around. Leave it here, who's going to rob you, hm?" Then at Nikolas's stone faced look he said, more seriously, "Thieves aren't welcomed here Nikolas, you're welcomed to leave your things here."

There was a smaller pouch of coins that Nikolas decided to tie under his shirt. Jaufre had looked honest, and well, aside from his mother's locket and the dragon scale, what was there to take from Nikolas? He climbed out of the wagon with Jaufre, who as it turned out, was there to help himself to some dried fruits. He tasked Nikolas with carrying the bag of oats to the fire. There he found Owall, who to Nikolas's relief was wearing clothes suitable for the weather.

"I'll manage," Owall said gruffly, "you go get the girls up."

"Why are you laughing?" Nikolas demanded when Jaufre started to chuckle.

"You are new," Owall said simply. "The girls would probably run you ragged. He's laughing because he thinks it's funny."

"They don't listen to you because you look foolish," Nikolas said brightly and relished in the stunned look on Jaufre's face.

The joke was on Jaufre, Nikolas had grown up with so many siblings that it was impossible to tire him. He knew all the tricks one can try to play to an older sibling, he'd seen it all before. So when Anni pretended not to find her boots and Mae complained that the sun was too bright, he knew precisely what to say. To Anni it was that if her boots did not appear soon then Jaufre would have eaten all the nice dried fruits, and to Mae he said the sun was only celebrating with her, because she was such a nice dancer last night. The latter was a guess on his part he had no idea if the younger girl did dance. More likely Faila sent her back to the wagon with one of the men or women.

Those words did earned him a gap tooth grin from Anni and a shy smile from Mae. She held out both arms to him, and asked, as nicely as one could at that age, for a piggy back ride. He had to swallow back the tide of emotion that threatened to overwhelm him. Nikolas did not remember the last time anyone made such a request of him. Not since Felie and Ada, he thought, no one in Befeld asked him with such wide-eyed cheer.

When he showed up with the two girls he was greeted with an incredulous look from Jaufre.

Owall simply shrugged, "What did I tell you, the boy's not you, Jaufre, he is competent."

Jaufre refused to respond and Nikolas chuckled.

The pot had been bubbling for awhile, so Owall started reaching for bowls and began spooning out portions. He was quite generous with the toppings, Nikolas thought. Or maybe it was that Faila's troupe was well stocked, Nikolas had the choice between honey, dried fruits, and a golden brown syrup.

"Maple syrup!" Mae declared when she saw him look at the bottle. "Maple syrup is good! You want some, Ni—" she frowned. "Ni—Kas?"

"Nikolas," said Nikolas.

"Nikas," she agreed, and held out her bowl to him to pour in the syrup.

He tried it himself, and had to bit back a very impolite moan of appreciation. It was like pure sugar, except not quite. Then it took all of his self-control to not lick the bowl.

"You want some more?"

"I can?" he blinked at Owall. "But you haven't gotten yourself a second portion?"

"Ah, we got ourselves a gentleman, Owall! Look, Nikolas, just eat, it's winter, take the food whenever you see it, that's what I say."

"Stop tormenting the poor boy Jaufre and eat your breakfast." Eldis's hair was hastily tied back and her clothes were rumpled. She yawned, covering her face with a ringed hand and sat down daintily. "Ah, porridge in the morning, what more can one want?"

"Sleep," said Philipa, coming to sit next to her. "How was your first night here, Nikolas? We weren't too loud for you?"

Her jet black hair was in ringlets down her back, and when she sat down he saw that she had several bangles on her arms. They were of animals chasing each other, birds and dogs and horses. Possibly a stag as well, but he didn't want to be rude by gawking.

"No, you weren't. I'm sorry for taking your wagon, I know I should—"

"Aw, so we do have a gentleman," said Eldis, and her smile was fond. "Nikolas, please, you didn't take anything. If you do have guest, or, if you're lucky, guests, let us know and we'll make ourselves," she snapped her fingers, "scarce, just so!"

"I won't be having any guests!" Nikolas said, red-faced.

"You know those who are very quiet are very deep inside," said Philipa and at Jaufre's incredulous cackle she rolled her eyes. "It sounded better in our tongue, you know that!"

"Can I help you with anything?" said Nikolas. "You can teach me how to mend things, I'm sure I can be a quick study, my sister says I'm good when I set my mind on something." The something of course, being anything but letters.

"Why not?" Eldis said. "But wait until we're done eating, hm? No one wants to work on an empty stomach."

Then it took all of his control to wait. He knew there must be some uniforms in there, the chests were big enough, and Faila's troupe had honey and maple syrup and dried fruit. They weren't too concerned about money, and while it had been years since Nikolas visited a proper theater, there were plenty of plays that required a uniform. There were great ballads of heroes, and the story of how the world had ended and then reborn, and the great wars that was fought to form Icfeld. Faila must have some uniforms, he just had to be patient.

"Nikas," said Mae, her very serious look was ruined by the jam and maple syrup on her face. "Where you from, Nikas? Where?"

"Befeld," said Nikolas, deciding he ought to take the opportunity to remake himself. He was from Befled, and that rhymed with Icfeld enough for the normal person that if he acted like someone from Icfeld they would just assume he said Icfeld.

"Very far away?" Mae continued.

"Every thing is very far away!" Anni said suddenly, arms on her hips. "You're so—"

Nikolas decided to interrupt before violence was had, "Where have you been besides Icfeld Anni?"

This caught her attention, "Many places!" she sing-songed.

Anni immediately launched into an incomprehensible song and dance of what Nikolas could only assume were the places Faila had taken them to. But he perked up when he heard the name Skapina. Well, what a coincidence. This day was getting better and better.

His hunch was proven correct when Faila joined them for a late breakfast and he was hustled away by the two women. Eldis showed him how to thread a needle and the correct way to hem and mend the clothes. It was a repetitive motion, and she nodded approvingly when he managed to replicate it to her standards. They had only practiced on a handkerchief, and after much debate, the two women decided Nikolas could fix the underclothes, before going on to the much more delicate fabrics.

"Sometimes we play for the Tsarina's friends," said Eldis, "So we must keep these in top condition.

She had opened the trunk to show Nikolas dresses and tunics. They were pale imitations of the palace clothes, Nikolas knew. The lacework on the dresses were a bit loose, like they were done in a hurry, and the threads on the tunics, on a closer examination, did not glint like gold. Probably because they weren't made of gold like what the Tsarina and her court wore. But what made him grin, privately, was what Eldis uncovered among the clothes. They were the uniforms of the Rystars, all pale blue and with dragons twined around the arms. White dragons, so they were a royal Rytsar's uniform after all.

"Ah, those," Eldis said, upon seeing his look. "We don't wear those."

"Why?" said Nikolas.

"We got our taxes to pay and the royal Rytsars don't take kindly to being mocked," said Philipa.

"I thought they only work for the Tsarina?" And he thought they were paid well, but from the looks the two women gave each other, the royal Rytsars were, as Brytha would put it, drawing water from other wells.

"Money can make a person work for anyone," said Philipa grimly, and this time Nikolas had to agree that whatever the phrase was in her tongue, it translated well enough into Icfeldian.