But like these ornaments, the other knives Abi intended to give as Midwinter gifts were not going to be bought at the Fair. She would have very little time for shopping. She and Perry and some of Auntie Minda’s oldest younglings would be doing Mags’ work down along the aisles between the booths and the tents.

She couldn’t tell that to her fellow students, though. Not even Kat.

“Well, I don’t know how you’d manage to resist temptation, with money in your hand and so many pretty things at the Fair,” sighed Fi.

It was a rhetorical statement, obviously, since Fi and the others kept right on with their discussions of what they were looking for.

Abi leaned over the table to the Bardic Trainee. “I’m Abi,” she said. “Is this your first year at the Collegium?”

The girl nodded. “I’m Harlee. You can call me Lee. I got here just this spring as soon as the roads were fit to travel on.”

“So you didn’t know that Bardic Trainees have leave to set up with a hat and play at the Fair?”

“Set up . . . with a hat?” the girl replied, bewildered.

So Abi explained how all the Bardic Trainees had permission to come down to the Fair during the day that they were given off from class, and after classes were finished for the day, set themselves up with a collection basket—or hat—and play for whatever money people would throw into it. “You have to wear your uniform, of course, and don’t set up near anyone who has a performance tent or booth. Or near one of the big food tents; they generally already have musicians engaged for inside. My advice is to set up near a food booth in one of the quieter areas. Ask the booth owner first, but generally you’ll both benefit.”

“Oh, thank you, Abi!” the girl replied, gratefully.

“Oh, you’d have found out when they gathered you all together to tell you about which day off from classes you’d get, and give you the basic rules. All I’ve done was give you advance notice. Most people don’t bother with a hat, because they have regular nights at a tavern or a regular job playing for gatherings up here on the Hill,” Abi continued. “Though that’s usually in duos or larger groups.”

“I haven’t been asked to one of those yet,” Lee said, as the chatter moved on to speculation about what entertainers might be here this year. “I don’t sing, actually, so that might be why.”

Abi was a little surprised by that. Most Bardic students sang as well as playing instruments—usually several. “You don’t sing?”