Ringing a bell, Key opened the front door of Gretta's Sewing Shop. The place had been organized somewhat since the last time he had been in there, but it still seemed cluttered with rolls of cloth and stacks of garments. He stood there and waited next to a basket of discarded material when a woman appeared from the back.

"Hello again," the familiar woman said with a smile. "Back for adjustments?"

"Hi," Key greeted. He held up his bundle of coats slightly. "I need my uniforms upgraded to sergeant if you're not too busy."

"You got a promotion!" Gretta exclaimed with excitement. "Congratulations! Bring them over here."

Key stepped over a spool of cloth and set his load on the only clear space she had on her counter.

"These won't take long. I can have them done by tomorrow." She moved around the counter to where he was standing and started unbuttoning his jacket. "If you stick around for a while, I can have this one done, and you can walk out of here looking like a new man." She took the collar of his coat, leaned forward, and pulled it off.

She was as close as a hug. She almost smelled almost as good as Jory. Then, in an instant, she took his coat and was back around to her side of the counter.

"Gretta, are you married?" Key asked her.

"Unfortunately, no, my husband died some years ago. Like you, he was in the guard," she said, cutting a length of thread and aiming it through the head of a needle. She stopped and fixed her eyes on him. "You aren't trying to make a pass, are you?"

"What? No. Of course not," Key protested. "I was just curious."

She gave him a skeptical look. "Just curious if I was married, huh?"

He should have been used to her unabashed way of speaking to him. He quickly regained his composure. "Gretta, if I was going to make a pass at you, you would know. Besides, I can't have you swooning all over the place every time I come in for a uniform adjustment."

She chuckled and shook her head before continuing with her work. "I'll make sure and swoon away from the sharp objects whenever a real gentleman comes in."

Key stared at her. Did she look disappointed? "Unless you wanted me to make a pass…"

She pulled the needle through the fabric and tightened the string. "By all means, take your best shot."

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"Like I said, I was just curious." Key waited around, observing the other things in the shop while Gretta worked.

"That's done," Gretta set his garment down and dug in a box filled with metal objects. "Can I see your hat?"

Key handed her the two-cornered hat, and she used a brush to clear away any specks of dirt. She held a square-shaped emblem up to one of the sides. As soon as she approximated where it should go, she made two slits in the hat's fabric. She then took her needle and began stitching the metal emblem in place.

When she was done, she walked around the counter and placed the hat on Key's head. After a few adjustments, she removed the hat and began fitting the jacket on him. After fastening the brass buttons, she took a gold tasseled shoulder piece with two matching branded cords from off the counter and fixed it through the newly added flap on Key's shoulder. When the buttons were in place, she wrapped one braided lanyard over his head and let the shorter one hang under his left arm.

"There," she said, placing his hat back on his head. "Now you look like a proper gentleman. Though, a real gentleman would have brought me flowers."

Key laughed. "I'll get right on it."

Gretta scribbled down some notes. "Do I need to send a messenger, or can you remember to come in tomorrow?"

"I wouldn't miss an engagement with you for the world, Gretta."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she said. "Don't forget the flowers."

When he arrived at his new office, there was a pile of dust outside his door and a pile of trash on the inside. The room was already looking better. He hadn't noticed before, but there was a hearth in the back middle of the room, which had a roaring fire. Since everything had been moved around, he started liking the place more. It was as if the presence of a fire also warmed up the room visually. Trudie, Lambro, and Jory sat in three chairs in the middle, deep in discussion.

"You're back finally," Trudy said from about fourteen paces away. "Pull up a chair and join us."

He walked over to a neat row of chairs, took one, carried it to the center of the room, and sat. "How's everything going?"

"We need your letter-writing equipment: The seal, the satchel, and all of the accouterments," Trudie said, leaning forward in her chair. "We made a pile of everything that we can't burn, or can't burn easily, next to the door. Tomorrow, I'll arrange for it to be hauled away. We made a pile of everything we can use to decorate the walls; I'll also have to arrange for a mason to come in and hang them. We got a lot done, but there's still a lot more to do. You and I have a full crucible to complete, so we should all head over there soon. Otherwise, we would be here all day."

Key took a deep breath. "Should we do something about the fire before we leave?"

"You worried that this stone building is going to burn down?" Lambro scoffed. "It'll be fine."

"It's your call," Trudie stood up and brushed her uniform off. "Tomorrow, we should be dressed for work."

"Okay," Key said and then addressed everyone else, "Until this place is cleaned up, meet here at the normal time wearing full armor. When you get here, just doff your plates. I still want to be able to send messengers out; otherwise, I wouldn't care what you wore. Anything else?"

When no one had anything else to add, Key dismissed them so they could get changed and meet up at the training grounds. He decided that on his first day as a sergeant, he would send everyone home early.