After waking and doing the normal morning routine, training and Tai Chi and eating a filling breakfast, Emi, Sophia, Eliza, Aden, Kalvin and Rufina descend the hill to the town hall. There is already a multitude of people waiting, parents with their children, young men and women on their own and a few craftsmen. I am stopped by Jason, who asks if he can request a certain applicant. I tell him to give his applicant a note, saying that this applicant is acceptable to you, signing it. He thanks me then goes over to a youth and an older women, his mother I assume, speaking with them then leaves.

Aden unlocks the door of the town hall, letting us in. He has six tables with two chairs each set around the room. Emi, Sophia and Eliza each sit behind a table while Aden and I prepare the forms then talk to Kalvin explaining what we wanted him to do. Then the three of us go out to speak to the people.

"Good morning citizens of Haven. Those of you that are here to apply for apprenticeships please form a line. We have five people to help you fill out the paper work. We will be handing out numbered tokens to those in line, you will be called by your number, so please be patient. If you are not called today, return tomorrow. Please keep your number, as we will continue from where we left off. Thank you."

They jockey for position as they line up. Aden and I return to the hall, handing the stack of numbers to Kalvin. The girls have passed out piles of forms, making sure we each have a ink stone and pens. When the queue settles down, Kalvin goes down the line passing out numbers, asking each person in line if they are applying. He passes out ninety three numbers. Once we are ready he announces, "Numbers one through five." The first eleven people in line enter, three children and their parents plus two older young people. Kalvin directed each number holder to one of the tables.

Rufina's first applicant is a young man, who appeared to be in his mid teens. "Your majesty," he greets her as he sits at the table.

"Good morning, young man. First what is your name?" He tells her. She writes his name on the form. "Christopher, are you applying for a specific craft or will you take an apprenticeship in any of the crafts?" He lists three he would like to apply for, all wood crafts. She writes them down. She asks his age and date of birth if known. When he replies she writes the answers down. Names of his father and his occupation. His reply is written. She hands him a sheet of paper, asking him to read the top paragraph, which he does. Then she asks him to read the bottom paragraph, which contains series of math problems. She then asks what the answers are. When he replies, she nods. She hands him the pen asking him to write the following, "This is a test of you abilities to write." He writes every word. She accepts the pen back, marking his form, indicating he can read, write and do math. "Finally, are you asking for a full grant of the apprenticeship fee or a partial one?" He replies, "Partial, your majesty. I have been saving for several years." She writes partial in the appropriate place. She has him sign the bottom of the form. "Thank you, Christopher. If we get finished taking applications today, we will announce the people accepted on 21 summer if not on 22 summer." She stands, shaking his hand, "You have a pleasant remainder to your day."

She returns to her seat, placing Christopher's form inside the table to dry. As she is placing a new form in front of her, she looks around. The others are finishing their applicants also. In a voice loud enough for Kalvin to hear she says, "Next."

The next three hours fly by. Some of the applicants can't read, write or do math. These young people are reassured that their abilities at this time don't matter, as they can be taught these skills later. The parents are reassured that the children will be treated well, fed good meals and have a secure place to sleep.

By noon over half the line has been seen. A few minutes to noon, Rufina and Kalvin step outside, "Good people, as it is now noon, we are taking a break for dinner. We will return in an hour. Those of you with numbers that have not been seen yet, please return to your place in line by 1100. We will start with number 53 at that time. If you came late and don't have a number and wish one please come talk to Minister Aden now. Thank you for your patience."

A few parents come to talk to Aden, having arrived late this morning. After checking the progress of the others, I go around and collect the completed forms, placing them on the large main desk. I also collect the tokens that had been reclaimed from the applicants. As the applicants finish and leave the others join me. Aden reappears at last. Taking the filled out forms off the desk I place them in the basket. We then return to the palace for dinner, It feels good to be moving.

Once at the palace we disperse, going to wash up. Tilly and Abbey have the table set and all but the main course on the table ready for us. As we come to the table, we sit and sip tea, waiting for the slow ones. Once everyone is seated Tilly brings in the main course, a large pot of stew, which I ladle up. As we eat I ask about every ones day. Tobias has been working on the bathhouse, Helen has her order near completion and the maids have been cleaning. I tell them we have completed applications for 52 people so far, if possible I hope to complete them today.

When we finish eating, the dirty dishes are washed, restroom breaks are taken and several people are seen doing Tai Chi. I remove the completed forms, laying them on Aden's desk in the domain office. Gathering in the garden, we prepare to return to town.

Upon returning to the town square, we find the line reformed, most of the people standing in the shade of the buildings. Once Aden has unlocked the door we return to our tables. When we are all ready, I tell Kalvin to call numbers 53 through 58. Again the next three hours fly by as we process the applicants. At a quarter to 1500 Kalvin says there are still nine people in line. I ask for volunteers to stay a while to finish up. They'll all stay. It's twenty past when we are finished. A total of 97 young people applied.

Gathering all the forms and the tokens, which are placed in a bag to use later if needed. The forms are placed in the basket. The shutters on the windows are closed and secured and the back door checked before we head out. As we are waiting for Aden to lock the door, Helen comes up,"Did you just get finished?"

"Yes, just a few minutes ago. Is Tilly wondering when we will return?"

"That is right. She is pacing the floor."

"I should have sent someone to tell her we would be late but I didn't think it would take so long."

Once we were at the palace I apologized to Tilly for be late and not telling her we would be. She gave me a hug, kissing me on the cheek, telling me to go wash up, supper is getting cold.

During supper I thank everyone for their help saying we signed up 97 people. Now comes the fun part, matching them to the openings for apprentices. But that will be tomorrow. Let's relax tonight.

Emi and I do the dishes, while the rest of them break out the Go boards and the cards. Once we finish the dishes I place the afternoons forms with the others while Emi fills pitchers with water. We take them to my rooms, stopping by her room to pickup some clean clothes for her. We prepared the water then undressed each other, washing each others backs. We didn't get too sexual bathing each other. We dressed in panties and chemise, crawling onto the bed, snuggling together. We talked about this and that. I asked her about her life before we met. She spoke of her childhood, of her parents and siblings and finally of her early days as a maid. I told her of my early life, my parents, grand parents and sister, taking care of my nieces, going to school and the activities I did.

The candle is extinguished but that doesn't stop the stories. Her nibbling on my nipples does, it's hard to concentrate when you are getting fondled and probed. Soon I am returning her administrations. Our panties were pulled to the side to allow access to our folds then removed totally. After several orgasms each we lay holding each other. We sleep.

Later in the night I am awoken by someone draping themselves over me, "uhmm, who?" I mumble.

"Sorry, dear one." Sophia murmurs in my ear, kissing my cheek. I return to sleep.