They picked up plates and place settings and joined a mixed table of all four types of Trainees. “I’ve got a half-finished Festival dress that—oh, heyla, Kat! Did you know Abi’s taken to invading our bathing room?” teased one of the female Trainees, who, now that she wasn’t obscured by steam, Abi recognized as Sofia, a year older than she was.

“It isn’t ‘your’ bathing room, and Abi’s been using it since before you were a Trainee, Fi,” Kat said with a laugh. “And if you weren’t usually the last one in there, you’d know that. What color’s the dress?”

“Non-Healer green. Sort of a really dark blue-green, like longpine needles. I’m planning to try to find trim for it at the Fair.” Sofia was a huge tease, but she didn’t mind being teased back. “It’s a hard color to match. And I don’t want to use red because I’d look like a Midwinter garland.”

“And blue and white would just be too, too Heraldy,” Kat agreed. “Green on green is probably your best bet.”

“Last year I heard there was a vendor that had lovely perfumes,” sighed a Bardic Trainee. “Dione has some. There was a jessamine . . .” She didn’t say anything else, so Abi assumed that she didn’t have any pocket money to buy anything. Heraldic Trainees, because they were basically pledged in service to the Crown for the rest of their lives, got a regular small stipend, and most of them saved it up for the three annual Fairs. Healer Trainees could, and often did, make money concocting creams, lotions, scents, and other beauty products in their spare time from the herbs and flowers they were allowed to grow in the gardens. They had a brisk trade in such things with the ladies of the Court and got practice in making tinctures, salves, distillations, and other techniques without wasting precious medicinal herbs. Bardic Trainees could make money doing performances in the taverns and inns in Haven—but apparently this girl either hadn’t learned that or hadn’t managed to find anywhere that didn’t already have a resident musician.

“Jessamine?” The sole Healer Trainee at the table snorted. “Pish, you don’t need to buy that. I just finished a batch and it’s not all spoken for. Come by my room and bring a bottle, and I’ll decant some from the jug. I’ll bet mine’s as good or better than any trumpery Fair vendor.” She thought a minute. “In fact, his might be mine.”

The girl brightened and thanked her friend effusively. The Healer just grinned. “Oh, you’ll owe me a favor, and I will collect. You can do my next three turns at kitchen duty.”

“What are you going to buy, Abi?” asked Fi.