Krem said nothing on the implication, but he did let himself chuff slightly under the compliment. He liked to think, sometimes, that if things hadn't been what they were, he might have managed to become the second in his father's shop, that he might have made apprentice and journeyman and, when he'd made a masterwork, had his own shop some day.

"I don't know much about anything but soldiering and tailoring, honestly," Krem said with a shrug. "Lucky me, both of those are still of use, even here."