Nick waved as the caravan steadily turned the corner at the end of the street. It had gotten dark quickly as the afternoon turned to dusk.

“What now? What does the apprentice of a blacksmith do?” Nick asked jokingly as he turned to Zach.

“You do the housework,” Zach said cheerfully. 

Nick’s jaw fell open as Zach passed through the door to the blacksmith.

“Wait what?” Nick asked as he followed Zach inside.

“You heard me, the apprentice does the house work while I make the dinner.” Zach said.

Nick sighed and looked around, he had entered a small living room. The sparse furnishing did nothing to accentuate the plain walls, which had various smudges that contrasted with the eggshell color. The hearth separated the kitchen from the tiny dining table which had only room for two and there were three other doors, one on one side and the other two on the other. Nick guessed that the single door led to the workshop and the other two were the bedrooms.

“Your room is on the right,” Zach said, gesturing to the two doors. “I need you to fill the water barrel from the pump, sweep the floors, and chop the fire wood.”

“Can’t I unpack and get situated first?” Nick asked, mildly irritated.

“Yes but make it quick, we don’t have all night.” Zach said, lighting a fire in the hearth.

Nick was surprised as he shuffled into his room. No one had talked to him like that, yes Zach and Nick were on a first name basis but he was still a noble. Nick ran a hand through his hair as he sat down on his bed for a moment. He’d let this slip by because he still felt guilty for the prison mishap. He quickly unpacked his belongings and hurriedly completed the tasks Zach had given him. Nick was no stranger to chores because his step father Morgan didn’t want his son to grow up a complete useless spoiled brat who had all the maids do everything.

By the time Nick had swept all the dust off the floors and out into the street Zach had a pot of stew boiling in the hearth.

“Dang Zach that smells wonderful.” Nick said, as he caught a whiff of the delectable scent wafting from the cauldron.

“Thank you, I picked the recipe up from a traveling merchant. I gave a few of my own tweeks to make it taste better.” Zach said as he sprinkled in some herbs.