Trison Estate. That was where she would head first. Clutching Luli's hand a little too tight, Farryn strolled around the town, thinking. She would have to get to the estate, for one. Then she'd somehow need to find a way to speak with the workers.

But how was she going to do that? The chances of her even getting up to the gates were low, especially if she was carting Luli around. She looked down at her. Still sucking her thumb, face sticky with dried tears.

"Luli," she said. "Will you tell me more about your mother's pies?" Luli's brow furrowed, as though she was thinking hard. Then, she said "They were very good. But daddy didn't like them." "He didn't?" she stepped out of the way as a woman pushing a pram came hurrying past, almost crushing her feet. She was rushing out of a bakery, the bag slung over her arm, the child in the pram screaming its head off. No, not child. Three children. 

"Daddy didn't like them because she used the flowers," Luli explained. "Flour." "Flower." she insisted. "Alright." Farryn sighed. "Did your father like how the pies tasted?"

"Yes." was all she said, and then she fell silent. Farryn let her be. Her own thoughts began drifting as they walked, and in a bid to keep those thoughts off her own father, she thought of the woman who had bumped into them.

The pram she'd been pushing looked pretty expensive. Plus, no one else was pushing a pram; they all had their babies resting on their hip, or strapped to their backs. Maybe she was a richer woman? But then why would she be pushing around her own babies?

They stopped walking around after a while; Farryn could feel Luli beginning to lag behind, so they settled down onto a bench. Farryn kept turning the woman about in her mind. A nanny, possibly. Could she be from Trison Estate?

Surely there had to be some way to find out. If those children were Trisons, then maybe she could try to join its nursery. Since the nobility didn't need nurseries for very long, they often employed workers that weren't officially part of a Workers' Guild, since they were cheaper. Plus, she needed the money.

"Luli, let's get something to eat." she said. The two of them wandered until they came across a tavern. The door was thrown open, and Farryn could smell the stench of sweat and cheap spirits before she even entered, but she knew that places like this were the best for gossip.

They stepped in and she immediately had to catch herself as she slipped on a puddle of... something. "Up." she whispered to Luli, and she heaved her in her arms. Thankfully, she didn't protest. All the walking seemed to have tired her out, and she put her head onto Farryn's shoulder and began to doze off. A memory hit her like a locomotive, and her hands became slick with sweat as she remembered an outing she had gone on, long ago. Hauling someone else like this, their head rested on her shoulder as she struggled to keep up with the group.

She shook it off and approached the counter, where a woman was chatting with a man who sat at a table. She turned to her. "No spirits for the kid!" "Oh, I don't want any of that," she said, smiling. "Do you have any good soup?"

"You're lucky her husband isn't here." the man laughed. "He'd blow you over the head for asking that!" "Shut up." the woman snapped, but her smile was wide. "Of course I have good soup. The best this side of the kingdom. Sit down and I'll have two bowls out for you in a moment."

Farryn smiled again and sat at the table nearest to the counter. The man nodded at her before returning to his conversation with the woman. Farryn tapped a rhythm on the table, absentminded as she waited for the meal.

When it arrived, the woman carrying two generously full bowls on a tray, Farryn said "I just got to town. Looking for a job."

"You like wiping up vomit?" the woman asked, gesturing to a puddle on the floor. Farryn fought back a wave of her own. She hoped that wasn't what she had slipped in. "Not particularly. Though I had to do it quite a lot in my... previous line of work." She took a spoonful of soup. Hot. Hot and good.

"And what was that?" the woman asked. Farryn tried not to smile. If there was one reliable thing, it was the nosiness of tavern owners. "I used to work in a nursery, but the little girl grew up, so I'm out of a job again. I need one for her, though." she gestured to Luli, who was somehow asleep.

"You could go down to that big old estate." the man said. "It was twins they had, wasn't it?" "Triplets." the woman corrected. "I think you should check there too. Poor Iris; she's my friend- wrestling with those three brats. She'd love the help."

Farryn took another slurp of soup, pretending she was considering it. "I don't know. I don't want to abandon my sister anywhere." "Oh, don't worry about that." the woman snorted. "People at Trison? They find a way to deal with these ones." she nudged Luli, and Farryn felt the urge to pull her away.

"Thank you," she said instead, placing a hand on Luli. "I think I'll go and ask up there." —-

Farryn finished up her meal, and then nudged Luli awake to have hers. The soup had cooled by then, and Luli spent the meal talking quickly and incoherently, while spilling half the bowl down her dress.

The woman behind the counter only let her pay for one. "If you need someone to leave her with, come see me. Though you might pick her up a little plumper than she is now!" she laughed. Farryn laughed with her, but she had no intention of leaving Luli anywhere. At least, nowhere so far from her. 

She would take her up to Trison and leave her in the kitchens. Back when Serval had servants, there had been a woman who worked there, with her young son. He'd run around doing basic chores, and then play with the other servants in the evening. Farryn hoped she could leave Luli to that. Close enough, but not too close.

She counted her money. Enough for a week, possibly less. Maybe she hadn't been the wisest with her spending. Had those sogis really been necessary?

"Where are we going?" Luli asked as Farryn searched for someone to take her up to the estate. "To work," she said simply. "It's going to be a little game. You can help with dishes, right?" "Work isn't a game." Luli murmured. Farryn paused. "Hmm?" "It's very, very serious." "You used to work in a factory, right Luli?" the little girl frowned. "Did you like it?"

"It was pretty..." she started. "No." Her answer was decisive, and Farryn couldn't help but smile. She didn't think it was funny; she understood her. 

"Pretty things can be ugly sometimes" her mother had whispered to her once upon a time. Hands cold, clutching her daughter's. Her grip had been weak. Farryn could still remember how rosy her cheeks had been. Almost like she was glowing, like a watercolour in a storybook. "Sometimes, pretty is even uglier than ugly."

How right she'd been.