Seoyeon was surprised to have her first good night’s sleep at Ximo Judian that night.  She woke up refreshed and ready to find the library, only for her father to dash that idea into the ground just as she was finishing her breakfast.

“Sweetie,” he said, looking up from his cup of tea, “you might want to, ah, make your hair a little more presentable.”

She frowned.  “Why?”

“Your tutor is coming in today.”  He picked up another lump of sugar with the silver tongs on the table and stirred it into his tea.

“My tutor?” echoed Seoyeon, her heart sinking.

“Yes, dear.  I can’t let your education just fall by the wayside because you’re out here.  It wasn’t very easy to find somebody local, you know, and I would have had to pay a fortune to get somebody in from the capital for you.  Commander Hwang recommended him.”

“Him?” Seoyeon repeated in horror.  The idea of a male tutor was inconceivable.  How on earth would high society react to such an affront if they found out?

Her father grimaced.  “I know, it’s not ideal, but they do things differently out here and I’ve been assured by numerous people that Kim Jongdae is more than capable.”

“Yes, but does he know how to host dinner parties?  Or cook?  Or sew?  He can’t possibly teach me how to dance — that would be thoroughly inappropriate without a chaperone—”

“Sweetie,” sighed her father.  “I’ll get you extra lessons when we’re back in the city, okay?”

Kim Jongdae was a slight man with upturned lips and not all that much taller than Seoyeon, and it turned out that he did know how to sew.  In fact, the very first thing he did on waltzing into the large room on the first floor that had been designated Seoyeon’s classroom was pull out a brand new sewing kit and ask her to thread some needles.  After putting her through her paces with a variety of different stitches and quizzing her on what situations each one would be most useful for, he produced a few rather oddly shaped needles.  They were sharp and curved, and Seoyeon stared at the ones he’d placed in her palm for several long moments, trying to figure out what on earth anybody would want such a needle for.

Then he handed her the thread.  It was a little thicker than the ones she’d been using before, and as she ran it over her fingers in preparation to thread it through the eye of one of the needles, she realised that it had a completely different texture to any thread she was used to.

She looked up at Kim Jongdae, who was sitting across from her and watching her with a keen eye.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Catgut.”

She shrieked and dropped everything on the floor.  Jongdae frowned at her.

“Was that really necessary?” he asked.  “Those needles and catgut are extremely expensive.”

“It’s animal intestine!” Seoyeon protested hotly.

Muttering something that sounded like such a pansy under his breath, Jongdae got off his chair to pick them up, but he gave the needles back to Seoyeon.

“Keep these.  I’ll hang onto your catgut for you until you’re mature enough to handle it.”

Seoyeon decided she hated him.

By the end of the day, Seoyeon was willing to concede that there was one thing to be said in favour of her new tutor: he didn’t like being confined to the classroom.  However, that also had its downsides, since “outside the classroom” more or less meant “outside”, and outside was incredibly cold.  The ground was hard from a frost overnight and a biting winter wind was beginning to make itself known.  During the brief hours of daylight in the afternoon, he’d taken her round to the back of the fortress, very close to the kitchen, so that they could look at the kitchen garden, and asked her to identify the leaves of the various plants that were visible growing there.  He seemed a bit alarmed that the only one she knew was the carrot, but he took her through the rest of them, making her write them down and sketch them (“your drawing could do with a little work, but not to worry, we have all year”), and told her to come up with a recipe that used as many of the vegetables as possible for him to look over the next day.  Seoyeon was very glad when he left as the sun was beginning to sink below the horizon.

She saw him off from the stables, in part because it was polite and in part because she wanted to go on a ride to get rid of the stress her new tutor had caused.  Once he was out of sight, she turned to go and find her mare.

The stable yard was mostly empty.  Jongin the hostler was busy grooming a large pony, and an overflowing bucket of feed stood not that far away from him, but it appeared he was packing up for the day.  Intending not to disrupt him, Seoyeon wandered along the stalls, peering into the gathering gloom in each one for her horse.  Normally, Jongin got the mare ready for her and so she wasn’t entirely sure where in the yard it was stabled.

Unfortunately, Jongin spotted her before she had found what she was looking for.

“Bit late for a ride now, ma’am, surely?” he called.  Seoyeon turned.  He’d paused midway through picking the pony’s hooves, and its hind leg was resting on his knee.

“I just want to relieve some stress,” she told him.  “I won’t be long.  You don’t need to come with me if