Doctor Flax insisted the group take a rest on the Road to Famine. They had driven through the night and the horses were exhausted, let alone the Doctor who had taken up most of the driving. There was no cover, but the weather was pleasant and the daylight brought with it a sense of safety. 

Adalina had been reclining on one of the benches inside the carriage with her injured leg stretched out, while Dao and Kaio occupied the other bench, often whispering questions to one another when they weren't falling in and out of sleep. During the chaos, Doctor Flax had been focused on escape, and hadn't checked in on his patient throughout the journey. 

For the last two hours, Adalina had been awake, and was trying to summon the courage to ask for help. When the carriage stopped and the door opened, Adalina felt a sense of relief, until she saw it was Dal and not the Doctor that appeared in the doorway. 

"Doctor Flax?" she enquired of the woman. 

"Already passed out asleep" said Dal.

Dao stretched her limbs and cupped Dal's cheeks in her hands. 

"Isn't it cold up there?" she asked. 

Dal knocked her hands away, "Come on out and stretch your legs, you too, Kaio." 

The two young women popped their heads out of the doorway and jumped down to explore the barren landscape around them, giving Dal the opportunity to hand Adalina a small chamber pot with a cloth. 

"I'll close the door and let you...er... take care of things. Just shout when you're done." 

Adalina accepted it with some embarassment and infinite gratitude. After a while she called out awkwardly. 

"Um... Hello? Are you there?" 

Dal opened the carriage door and discreetly removed the pot. 

"Thank you... Miss Dal" said Adalina with sincerity. 

"Just 'Dal' is fine" she replied, "and you're welcome."

Outside the carriage, Dao was watching the Doctor sleep, and Kaio was crouched, drawing in the dust on the ground. 

"Oh Dal!" she cried, "Anything to eat?" 

Dal threw over some cotton apples, "Go share them with the mistress" she said, motioning towards the carriage. "And don't forget, she's still injured. Try and remember to ask if she needs anything from time to time." 

Kaio nodded thoughtfully and went inside to eat with Adalina. Dal turned her attention to Dao, sneaking up behind her and grabbing hold of her shoulders. Dao cried out then silenced herself, fearful that she'd wake the sleeping doctor. 

"Dal!" she hissed in a whisper, "Let the poor man sleep, no silly pranks!" 

Dal ignored her outrage and pulled her away from spying on the Doctor any longer, "Come help me with something" she said.

Pulling a trunk from the carriage, Dal sat herself down on it and handed a pair of scissors to Dao. 

"Cut my hair" she commanded. 

Dao looked at her as though she'd gone insane.

"Cut your hair? Here? In the middle of running away from Mr Thatch? You want a haircut? Do you want me to do your make up while I'm at it?"

Dal extended her arm and rapped her on the head with her knuckles, "Look at how I'm dressed" she said to Dao, "do you think red lips would go well with breeches? I want you to cut my hair short. It'll look less suspicious when I'm riding with Doctor Flax." 

Dao took the scissors and bit her lip. 

"But... you won't be pretty" she lamented. 

Dal laughed, "Who are you talking to? I'd be pretty with any length of hair. Besides, I always wanted it short." 

Dao reluctantly complied, and started cutting away Dal's chesnut waves, stopping when the hair reached her shoulders. 

Dal was dissatisfied, "Shorter" she said, "no longer than my chin." 

Despite her whining, Dao continued on until her friend was happy. 

"Ah!" said Dal, running her fingers through it, "Now I really feel like we're free of that place." 

She flashed a huge smile, and even Dao had to admit she didn't look as ugly as she'd thought she would. Happiness suited her better.

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Kaio was peeling cotton apples and sharing the pieces with Mrs Straw. 

"Is your uncle a kind man?" Adalina asked. 

"Don't worry, Mrs Straw," she replied with a gentle smile, "he won't be mean to Seren. He doesn't like nobles very much but... but he won't know that Seren isn't commonfolk. I'm sure they're getting along well with one another. Seren makes friends easily." 

Adalina was surprised. "He does? Has he... made any friends amongst those people that came and visited the inn..?" 

It was obvious what she was asking. The only people who visited the inn were the customers, but Kaio couldn't think why he would make friends with any of them. 

"No, not them" she said, "but he's been a good friend to us, and the traveling merchants always gave him a fair price. He's never fallen in with a bad crowd if that's what you were thinking." 

Adalina realized that being vague was getting her nowhere. "I mean..." Adalina whispered, "does Seren have a boyfriend..?"

The penny finally dropped for Kaio. She'd always thought of Seren like a little brother; there'd never been anything romantic between them, but she assumed it was because he saw her as a sister. Not that his interests might lie in a completely different direction. 

"I've never heard him mention one" she told Adalina. 

Mrs Straw had always thought that Seren had become very close with the women downstairs, that he must have shared with them even more than he had done with her. She suddenly had the feeling that she might have guessed incorrectly, and inadvertently exposed his secret. Kaio could sense Adalina's guilt, and reassured her with a touch of her hand. 

"Whether he's noble or commonfolk, whether he likes girls or boys, he's still our Seren. We won't love him any less, I can promise you that." 

Adalina wiped the tear that had welled in her eye. 

"But, can I ask you one thing...?" said Kaio, leaning closer, "How did a noble such as yourself end up in the Cinder Vale without a spark? And why is Seren..."

Kaio stopped herself. She had barely spoken to Mrs Straw before, it surely wasn't her place to ask such personal questions, but she couldn't hide her curiosity. 

"I'm sorry Mrs Straw. I've over-stepped..." 

Adalina shook her head. 

"I understand. I'd want to know too... but it's a very long and very sad story. I think Seren should be the one to hear it first. I've hidden things from him that he should have been told, things about himself that he should have known... and now he's alone and there's no-one to explain it. I'm so worried about him. I'm worried what that bastard will do if he finds him..." 

Adalina started to cry and Kaio felt terrible. 

The somber atmosphere didn't last long, as Dao threw open the carriage door. 

"Kaio, look what she made me do!" she cried. 

When she saw the tearful Mrs Straw, she shrunk back and threw an inquisitive glance at Kaio. 

Adalina sniffed and forced a smile, "What happened, Dao?" she asked, deflecting the sour mood. 

Dao pouted, unsure of what to say, and so Dal pushed her aside and poked her head into the carriage. 

"What do you think?" she asked the occupants. 

Kaio gasped and reached out to run her fingers through Dal's haircut. 

"I like it!" she said, "Reminds me of Mr Oat, but in a good way." 

Adalina simply nodded her approval.

Dao climbed inside and took her seat next to Kaio, while Dal leaned in the doorway. The mood was a little strained, and Dao softly leaned her head on Kaio's shoulder, tapped her hand and mouthed 'What happened? ' in much too obvious a manner. 

"I got upset thinking about Seren, that's all" Adalina admitted. 

"Who were those people looking for him? Do you have any idea?" Dao asked her.

Adalina looked at the curious faces of Seren's friends and decided to meet them halfway with an explanation. 

"From what you told me about them" she said, "I think I can guess who it was that came. Why they were looking for him now, I don't know. There's no such thing as an unregistered noble like Seren, he's a special case... so I'm worried what they want from him." 

Dao squeezed Kaio's hand, and the younger girl continued the questioning as tactfully as possible, "How did they know about him being special, Mrs Straw?"

"They saw him once when he was little" Adalina replied, "Before the inn became... more than just an inn. There was a huge storm, and the two nobles came to the Skin & Chalice for shelter. They ended up staying for a few days, and caught sight of Seren without his eyepatch... I became a lot more careful after that." 

Dao was shocked, "Nobles stayed at the inn? Our inn? Oh but the noble with the scar down his face, he didn't seem too scary. And didn't he ask Doctor Flax to take care of you? I'm sure he wouldn't hurt Seren." 

Dal rested her hand on the doorframe, "You didn't see the other one, Dao. He was vicious. If the noble with the scar hadn't spared us, we'd have been done for." 

Adalina nodded, "He is vicious, indeed. I only hope he won't try to follow Seren north. Count Mercurac and the Northern Faction have more control up there, so royalists wouldn't easily risk being caught so far away from the Empire's base. At least... that's how it used to be."

Dao was awed by Adalina's noble knowledge. 

"When I was there too" said Kaio, "the Northern Faction nobles were all over the Plains. My father used to supply vegetables to their soldiers when he was alive, indirectly of course, the nobles would never come to the farm themselves. I don't know how things got so bad that they came and ransacked the place...  Uncle Moss was quite shaken up I think. He'll be glad to have Seren with him." 

Dao turned her open mouth to fall on Kaio, she had forgotten that her close sister was also so familiar with the nobles, and felt a strange and exciting world was revealing itself. 

"Will we see the soldiers at the farm when we go? Will they come back do you think?" the prospect of seeing even more nobles was thrilling. 

"Let's hope they won't come back" said Kaio, flattening Dao's rising anticipation, "Uncle Moss wouldn't be happy about it. What about Seren, Mrs Straw? If he wears his eyepatch the nobles won't realize, right? I mean, we didn't know, and we lived alongside him for so long." 

Adalina hung her head, "Seren didn't even know about himself, but he must have figured things out by now" she lamented, "The sooner we get to him the better... I have so much to explain."

After a while, Doctor Flax woke up with a stiff neck and came to check on his patient. He gave Adalina some medicine to help her sleep through the rest of the journey, and manage the pain of traveling over the rough road. Having just become accustomed to Miss Dal in menswear, he was quite taken aback at her further transformation. 

"She made me do it, Doctor Flax!" Dao protested, "even though I said it wouldn't be pretty like mine anymore." 

Dal gave her a shove and handed out some more of the cotton apples. 

"Quite practical" was the Doctor's simple response. 

Dao wondered for a second if she should cut her hair too, if Doctor Flax thought it was such a good idea, but quickly abandoned the hideous thought and twirled one of her curls reassuringly around her finger. 

"Why don't I sit with the Doctor for the next part of the drive?" she asked, "Then Dal, you can get some sleep and I can help keep Doctor Flax awake." 

Dal pushed her friend inside the carriage. 

"Don't be silly" she told her, "it's safer if people think there's two men driving." She leaned in close, "Save your flirting for when we arrive at the farm" she whispered in Dao's ear, blowing hard and laughing at Dao's startled reaction. 

When Dal took her seat outside, Doctor Flax cleared his throat and straightened his back. 

"Thank you" he said to her, "I'll feel better knowing Miss Dao is out of harm's way." 

Dal gave a wry smile and combed her fingers through her hair, "No problem, friend" she said with a wink, "we've got to look out for the pretty ones, right?" 

The Doctor blushed deeply before tightening his grip on the reins and urging the horses onwards. Ah my dearest Dao, thought Dal, it seems you might have picked a decent one at last.