Before breakfast the next morning, Jhan introduces the prince to his younger students who were currently living at the Warden's House. Sira Aona was the oldest, being a year or two younger than His Highness. Next were Jhia Yixi and Jhia Wanan, who were siblings. Yixi was fifteen, and her brother Wanan was twelve. All three of them were Tosa or Tosa with some Joa in their lineage. His Joa students were Nior Fana, ten, and Tsian Akoi, eight. There were also two adult students who did not live in Jhan' home and would not be present until later in the morning: Namir Daro and Sola Tsefin

"Did you really stab Old Uncle?" Akoi asks the prince immediately. She looks extremely skeptical about this possibility. "Elder Sister said you did because you thought he was a demon. He's not."

"He didn't just stab me, little niece," Jhan says before the prince can say anything. He widens his eyes in mock fear. "He stabbed me dead. And then I woke up again and we fought some more."

"I am standing right here," The prince mutters as his ears turned pink.

"Shouldn't he be locked up?" Wanan asks, looking worried.

"I thought you were supposed to marry a princess, not a prince," Fana says, frowning.

"I was supposed to marry His Highness' sister," Jhan says. "She did not want to marry me and they were scared I was a demon, so His Highness disguised himself as his sister, and killed me."

"Old Uncle is not a demon," Akoi says, glaring daggers at His Highness. "In Weishun lore, demons are the spiritual or physical forms of mishaps, disasters, blights, or diseases. A demon with a physical form is more dangerous than one with only spiritual form," she says in the tone of someone reciting from memory. "Old Uncle is human, and his spiritual and physical forms are both human."

"He's maybe a demon in Chejhun lore," Wanan says. "Human ghosts who don't receive offerings or aren't buried properly become wandering spirits and lose their human form and memories. After this, they are properly called demons and slowly become more powerful and regain a human form."

Akoi switches her glare from the prince to Wanan. Before she can say anything Jhan says, "I'm not a demon, it was a misunderstanding. Breakfast is getting cold." He ignores the mutter of, “How is being stabbed a misunderstanding?" from Aona, and points toward the dining room and his students enter ahead of him and the prince.

The breakfast laid out is rice porridge, steamed buns, poached eggs, and noodles (because Akoi wanted noodles with every meal). His students continue their conversation and pester the prince with questions. Jhan manages to coax them into keeping the questions polite. After breakfast, he sends them off to study or do their household duties.

"Did you arrange all of that to embarrass me?" the prince asks in an undertone as the servants clear away the dishes.

"It's funny you think I would be able to arrange something like that on such short notice. It would take at least a week of argument and coaching beforehand, and even then, it would be like herding cats," Jhan says. "They were simply curious, and understandably worried."

"He didn't just stab me," the prince quotes, sounding irritated, and embarrassed. "He stabbed me dead." His impression of Jhan' voice was extremely sarcastic. He radiated offense like a soaked cat.

"If it sounds silly, they won't be afraid of you. Do you want them to be afraid of you, Prince Kelfin?" Jhan asks. He wants to laugh at the prince’s discomfort, but he also wants to explain his reasoning, so he doesn't laugh. Unfortunately, it still comes out in his voice. Prince Kelfin's ears redden, and his mouth thins into an angry line.

"I expect to be treated as my rank dictates," the prince says sourly. He continues with, "isn't etiquette part of their training?" He asks snidely.

"I'm not their etiquette teacher," Jhan says, and now, he does laugh this time. It was clear to him that the prince had very little interaction with children in their native state of brash curiosity and uncontrolled mayhem. "This was an informal family breakfast, not a breakfast banquet with the Archon and Assembly."

"Family," the prince echoes. "Are they related to you, in some way? Or adopted?"

"Not related, or adopted," Jhan says. "The relationship between teacher and student is considered to be a familial one. Friends, acquaintances, or strangers might also be addressed using familial terms."

The prince nodded. "You said that the...necromancer-coroners consulted with your students, but except for Lady Sira, they are all children. Do you have other students?"

"I have two adult students who also teach the children. Aona Sira is beginning advanced studies. That mostly means that she's studying old investigations and assisting in the Archives," Jhan says.

"And they're all training to become 'wardens,'?" The prince asks.

"Not necessarily," Jhan says. "They might join the city watch, either here or in another city. They might become full-time scholars. They might become magistrates. There's no telling what direction their interests might take them." The prince seems curious and interested and Jhan finds that he's struck by an urge to expand on the topic "I find that's one of the best parts of being a teacher. I watch my students discover how they want to use the knowledge I give them."

"This seems closer to the way mages are taught in Sewen," the prince says. "This direct apprenticeship."

"Not quite," Jhan says. "Sewen apprenticeships involve a contract of indenture which isn't the case in the Assembly. Assembly apprenticeships are paid for by the apprentice's family to the guild. I accept a token fee from my students’ families since I'm paid for teaching at Tuan and receive a stipend as the Lord Warden."

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"It seems that your mages are all learning magic in addition to something else," The prince says slowly. "Are there none who simply sell their services or charms and potions?"

"Something like that was done during the Great Land period, up until the rise of the Plague Demon," Jhan says. "You'll learn more about the history when you attend Tuan, but there was a patronage system where mages served priests and the nobles, who were also priests. Tosa mages during the Reclaiming period belonged to various Societies associated with their gods, and they were ritual organizers and leaders. Modern Weishun and Chejhun beliefs and practices are complimentary to each other, and borrowed several concepts within their worldview."

The prince frowns, clearly thinking about it. "You were...there. During that," he says, in a testing tone. It was not quite a challenge. It was more as if he were trying to wrap his mind around it.

"I was," Jhan says. "Ah, but don't expect me to help you cheat on your tests."

----------------------------------------

After breakfast, Caris is turned over to Lord Nemar's steward, a stout older-looking man with a trim beard, graying hair, and shrewd dark eyes. The steward's office is a small room made even smaller by a large desk. The walls are lined with shelves full of books and ledgers. Two chairs are in front of the desk, and Caris finds himself getting sat in one of them. "Master Steward, this is my husband, His Highness Prince Caris Kelfin. Your Highness, this is Master Steward Seki Ajirha," the Lord Warden says. "I'll let you get acquainted." With that, the Lord Warden leaves the room.

Still feeling caught off-guard from his encounter with the Lord Warden's students, and the conversation after breakfast, Caris is momentarily speechless. He feels both embarrassed and grateful for the reassuring smile he gets from the older man, and the momentary polite silence that falls between them.

After that moment passes, the steward says, "Lord Nemar gave you a tour of the public and private areas of the House, I'll be giving you a tour of the service and storage areas. The Lord Warden has indicated to me that you will primarily be a student at Tuan, so it would be best if you were given different assignments, to learn how the household is run."

"Of course," Caris says. It's hard not to show relief. Household management was not one of the areas he's been trained in. (Could there be some crossover from military logistics? Teren seemed to think so, and frequently stole his notes on the subject when they were being tutored as children. They probably wouldn't let him have anything to do with the household security--but perhaps they might have him track the household inventory?)

"Do you have any experience with household management, or administering an estate?" the man asks next.

Caris shakes his head. "Only my household, which was very small," he says. "My former tutor, who is currently my secretary, four servants of all work, a valet, and my spiritual conductor. I've been responsible for their pay, room, and board since I was sixteen."

"Did you manage your household accounts, or did your secretary?" Steward Seki asks.

“My secretary. He would however insist that I go over them with him," Caris says. Master Grandin had been his favorite tutor as a child. Kind, patient, and bluntly honest when Caris made mistakes. (The man was probably frantic now if Teren had managed her escape. It would be a good three weeks before they found out about his attempt to murder the Lord Warden otherwise.) "The Lord Warden...my husband...mentioned that I might be able to bring my servants from home here," Caris says.

"They would have to be questioned," Steward Seki says. "But yes, any of your servants who wished to continue service with you could join you here. Your secretary is one such?"

Caris nodded. "And my spiritual conductor, and my valet." He thought he might be overreaching to ask for his priest, but the steward made no objection. (Which didn't necessarily mean Caris would be allowed his spiritual conductor.)

"I will make note of it, and send the requests with a courier," the steward said.

Steward Seki asks more questions about what sort of tutoring Caris had received and his areas of expertise. Caris felt as if he were being given some kind of verbal examination, and half expected a written one. After the "interview," the steward showed him around the service corridors, and the storage rooms and introduced him to the staff that ran the House. At the end of this, the steward introduces him to the head housekeeper and tells him he'll be helping with the duty logs.

"I'm not very familiar with writing in your script," Caris says. "I don't read it very well at all."

Mistress Avis gives him an amused look. "Then this will give you practice, my lord, won't it? It's simple, anyway." The housekeeper shows him a blank log sheet, which has sections for who was assigned to clean an area of the house and when they cleaned it, and if they had traded the job with anyone else. Other sections were if there had been any accidents or unexpected messes. "You'll also be keeping track of sick days, personal absences, and so on. The Lord Warden compensates for situations like that. You'll be doing this two days a week, and you're part of a team of three people assigned to this."

"When you get used to this, we'll have you learn a different aspect of household management," the steward says. "We use a similar duty log for the kitchens, the stables, and the secretaries and clerks, so this will assist you with learning the absolute basics."

"When do I start?" Caris asks. The steward and head housekeeper were both acting as if it were a given that he was staying. That he would be a part of the household and that his marriage to the Lord Warden was legitimate. That the marriage was not some strange kind of diplomatic fiction. Should he be insulted to be given such a task? (An inner voice that sounds a bit like Master Grandin suggests they could have him scrubbing floors instead.)

"Next week," the steward says. "Lord Nemar will want to have you take the entry tests for Tuan and select classes. In addition to your classes, you'll be expected to attend meetings with Lord Nemar--you'll be acting as his advisor and assistant. Any questions?"

Caris hesitates a moment before asking, "Would my sister also have been given a job like this?"

"She would have been working directly with me," the steward says. "Until she became accustomed to how households are run here. She would also have been acting as Lord Nemar's advisor and assistant."

The Lord Warden makes another appearance around lunchtime. "You've had a busy morning," he says. "Would you like to take a break for the day, or go on to see the school and take the entrance examinations?"

"I'd like to see the school but not today, I'd like to wait on the examinations," Caris says. "I'd like a chance to study for it, if possible. What subjects are being tested?"

They talk some more, and Caris is able to make an argument for being given three days to study for the examinations. He ends up having lunch in the manor's main library; boiled, marinated eggs, pickled vegetables, steamed fish, and rice. While Caris ate, the Lord Warden explained the organization system (which was the same as that for Tuan's library) while setting down a growing pile of books by Caris' elbow to study. The examination would cover mathematics, writing, grammar, literature, and history. There was also a guidebook for taking the test, including a practice test.

"I don't know anything about Assembly literature," Caris says. "And my written Tosa isn't very good."

"Then you're probably taking remedial classes in those subjects," the Lord Warden says, looking amused. He leaves Caris to study and finish his lunch.