“Drink it,” Aalis ordered as Judd sniffed the cup she offered him, “all of it…or I will start telling everyone how you sang drunkenly from the manor house to here.”

Judd gulped it down and thrust the cup back at her, forcing himself to swallow. “Sorry…” He winced, blinking away the tears.

“Do not be. It is not a pleasant flavour.”

“I meant, sorry about last night.”

Aalis smiled and shook her head. “It was hardly your fault. Small meal, empty stomach, lots of wine…”

“If it was ale, I could have held my own. Ale is the preferred after work beverage of dock workers and fishermen.” Judd sighed, standing up. “I don’t know what was in that wine…but it was strong.”

“Here.” Aalis handed him a shirt which he took and pulled on gratefully. “Your boots are by the door.”

Judd leaned against the wall with one hand, the other tugging his forlorn boots on. “Where are Verne and Giordi?”

“Casing the town.” Aalis said, using Caste’s exaggerated finger motions. “Verne spied a cobbler yesterday.”

“I don’t think he’ll be able to cobble my boots back together.” Judd sighed, looking at how thin the leather was. “We’re all going to need new shoes.”

“I could get by…”

“Oh no,” Aalis was surprised by the strength of Judd’s protestation, “you put yourself last all the time. You need new shoes just like the rest of us.”

“Shall we see how much the cobbler is going to charge us before we start deciding how much we need to buy?” Aalis opened the door to their room and they walked down the corridor to the stairs, Judd using his hand to guide his feet. “Are you going to be alright?”

“A bit of fresh air and maybe a slap of cold water will do me the world of good.” Judd decided. “I slept in far too late.”

“Soft beds are a hard thing to climb out of.”

“I’d forgotten what one felt like.”

They exited the tavern, which was quiet after the initial rush of the morning’s occupants to get to work or grab a meal. All the men had gone to the quarry but not even their heavy boots and loud chatter, irrespective of the earliness of the hour, had woken Judd from his slumber.

Outside the tavern they were both caught unawares by the chill in the air.

“By Terra and Maul!” Judd exclaimed. “That’s brisk!”

“Oh…” Aalis shivered, arms about herself. “The mountain air is much colder than I thought it would be.”

“This far north, I thought it would at least be a little warmer.” Judd stamped his feet and rubbed his hands together. “I’m awake now!”

“Shall we try the cobbler and see if Verne and Giordi are there?”

They discovered Verne at the cobbler’s, surrounded by shelves of boots, shoes and sheets upon sheets of leather. A little man with spectacles so thick his eyes were alarmingly large in his face until he took them off, was stitching with nimble fingers at the back of the store, no less than three lamps around him, shining brightly on his work.

“Verne,” Judd greeted then shuddered, “oh it’s good to be out of the cold air.”

“You’ll wish you were back in it when you hear the prices.” Verne shook his head. “I think we can get away with two…two and a half pairs of shoes…”

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“With what remains of our Egrette gold?” Judd exclaimed. Verne gestured furiously at him and he lowered his voice. “How can they cost so much?”

“For starters, this gentleman makes all the shoes for the entire city…including the heavy boots for the quarry workers. He doesn’t make flimsy, fall apart the next day, shoes.”

“I have me pride!” The old man muttered, his eyes blinking out of sync, magnified by his spectacles.

“Nothing wrong with his hearing.” Judd whispered. “I still thought we’d be able to purchase shoes for all of us.”

“I confess, I gave Verne a budget as I am holding some of the money in reserve.” Aalis admitted. “We have to pay for our accommodation, which is lovely but compared to the cheapness of camping, pricey and unless Lord LeMewn invites you to dine at the manor house for every meal, we will have to start buying food.”

“When you reserve enough to cover those, even for a few days…”

“I get it.” Judd groaned, rubbing his hands over his face. “Whose shoes are the worst?”

Aalis put her hands on her hips and looked pointedly at Verne.

“Ugh…fine.” Verne lifted his boot and showed off the hole in the bottom. “Damn slate ripped into the thinning leather on the climb up here.

“Mine are about three steps away from being the same.” Judd tapped his teeth together.

“As I said, I can get by.” Aalis insisted.

Judd was starting to wonder whether he was going to have to ask her to.

“Where is Giordi?”

“Oh…” Verne jerked his head towards the back of the store. “Turns out the cobbler has a very pretty granddaughter.”

“Is he trying to get us thrown out?”

“He’s trying to get you a discount!” The old man groused. “Stupid Fleta…”

“I can hear just as well as you, grandfather,” Fleta said, emerging from behind a curtain made of leather strips, lightly adjusting her bodice as Giordi followed her, “I was just showing Mr Gavoli our wares.”

“Your wares, you mean.” Her grandfather grunted then the old man’s steely demeanour softened as she kissed his cheek. “Fine…give them a discount…but he’d better be worth it!”

Fleta turned and smiled at them. “I could get you all a discount…well, maybe not you,” she said, looking at Aalis who flushed red at the implication, “but your friend who arrived so late is certainly worth a few minutes of my time.”

Judd’s clearing of his throat sounded like a donkey dying. “I am afraid I don’t have time to spare.” He said, now sounding like he was choking.

Fleta looked him up and down brazenly. “Pity. Are you in Quarre to work?”

“Passing through.”

“So you will not require my grandfather’s patented steel capped boots.” She waved her hand at one side of the wall then turned to the other. “Occupation?”

“Minstrel.”

“Archer.”

“Healer.”

“Knight in training.” Judd glanced back at the steel capped boots. “Perhaps those boots are a good idea. I could strap the sabatons over the top and when not wearing those, I’d still be relatively protected.”

“Sit down and allow me to fit you.” Judd’s expression went from embarrassed to mortified as she winked at him then took a pair of boots from the wall. “A man of your height probably needs a big pair of boots.”

“I can try them on myself.” Judd insisted before Fleta could bend over, her sizeable bust only just covered by her bodice.

“I like the look of these,” Verne noticed the boots that did not have a thick sole and were laced up to the knees, “supple,” he took a pair down and felt the fawn coloured leather flex, “good for feeling the ground. I spent so many years of my life bare foot that anything too thick makes me feel like I’m walking on stilts.”

“Try them on.” Fleta insisted. She glanced at Giordi. “We can work something out later.”

He bowed and smiled at her.

“Not tonight,” her grandfather looked up, “or have you forgotten that it’s a full moon tonight?”

“I won’t get into any trouble if I’m back before curfew.” She retorted, hands on her waist.

“You’d get into trouble at a monastery…”

Aalis clucked her tongue softly, gazing at the shoes.

“Aalis, try a pair.” Judd looked up. “We won’t know what we’re up for if we don’t make a choice.”

“I do not think…” She stopped when he stood and leaned close to her.

“If we have to leave a day or two earlier than we intended so that we are all well shod, then that is what we will do.” He said firmly then drew back. “Aalis, we can live off the land…we cannot make shoes out of it. We’re not that clever.”

Aalis sighed and nodded. She found a pair not dissimilar to Verne’s that only reached halfway up her calf in dark grey.

Nearly an hour later they left the cobblers, Judd, Verne and Aalis all in new shoes.

“I’ll work out a pay for play deal later.” Giordi smiled confidently.

“Good. While you’re working that out, help me figure out how to tell Caste he’s got to forsake his soft bed at the manor house earlier than he would like so we can afford him boots.” Judd grouched. He immediately felt Aalis turn and knew she was going to go back to the store to try to return her boots. He grasped her arm and drew her back. “No you don’t…”

“Oh but I…”

“What’s going on over there?” Verne nodded to where, past the well, a small stage was being assembled.

“No idea.” Judd craned his neck then shrugged and shivered. “Can we observe this from inside the tavern?”