After staring at this strange knight's careful work for a moment, Princess Serena does in fact apply herself to the task. She's never been expected to help with menial tasks, even as they'd traveled from her home toward Narnia. But she has done several things in the past day that she never would have expected. And besides, how hard could it be to pour water into a waterskin?
Unfortunately, she doesn't consider the temperature of the pan— despite having seen it in the fire only minutes ago. Serena yanks her hand back, and Edmund snatches it, startling her with his speed, and inspects her fingers. He decides it's only a minor burn and returns to his own project, but he does advise her to wrap her cloak around her hand before touching the pan.
Serena feels her neck burning and quickly turns her face away, feeling foolish for not thinking of something so simple. When she glances at Sir Edmund, though, he seems more concerned with his own task than what she's supposed to be doing— except when he glances over at the cave entrance.
Alright, Serena steels herself, there's no reason I can't do this. She wraps her thin purple cloak several times around her hand and slowly tips the water— which she's realized is likely hot as well— into the waterskin, filling it almost completely. With a slight smile of satisfaction, Serena sets the empty pan on the cave floor before sealing the waterskin and setting it aside.
"Do you know how to sew?" Edmund asks as soon as she's finished. He appears to be done poking holes in the rough leather ovals and slides the small, sharp knife back into his boot when Serena turns toward him.
"I can embroider," she answers slowly. Edmund's jaw clenches slightly as he surveys the project in his lap, then with a resolute nod he motions for Serena to come closer. He sets one of the ovals between them and pats it once before grabbing up a length of leather cord. Serena sets one foot on the leather, understanding the basics of what he's working on if not the specifics.
"Just weave it through to pull the edges together," he instructs, folding the front over her toes and poking the leather through the two sides to start it. Serena nods and takes the ends of the cord, lacing them through the holes easily enough.
With another nod, Edmund turns away, grabs the pan from beside the fire, and walks outside. By the time he returns and settles the pan near the fire again– dumping in some of the water Serena had worked so hard to get into the waterskin– Serena has the front of both leather shoes laced. She flounders then, though, not sure what she's supposed to do with the back part.
"Here," Edmund says, taking the laces of the left shoe from her. He removes them from the last two holes she'd laced and pulls the heel part snug against the back of her foot before lacing the cord through the holes of the front and back parts. Serena watches as he continues lacing around her leg and ties it snugly at the front of her shin. "Just do that," he says, indicating her other foot before moving to the back of the cave.
As she carefully repeats the lacing process, Edmund sorts through the saddle bags that the Horse– Phillip, she reminds herself– had left behind. He empties packages of preserved foods and stuffs them into the larger pack that had held his spare clothing. Serena smooths the wool socks she's still wearing as she crosses the laces, and she's sure the oversized wool shirt looks as ridiculous over her dress as the pants do underneath her skirt, but she's grateful for the warmth. Still, she feels guilty to be keeping them since she hasn't seen him unpack any other clothing.
As she finishes securing the right shoe, she hears a low howl from outside. Her head jerks toward the opening of the cave as her heart stutters. She sucks in a shaky breath, but realizes it's only the man's other companion, Adan. The Wolf nods to Edmund as he enters, and the two share a look Serena can't decipher.
"We need to leave shortly," Edmund says, checking on the water pan. He shifts it out of the fire. "If you need to…" he trails off and waves to the cave entrance without meeting her eyes. "Just don't go far," he finishes, turning back to his repacking. Serena figures out what he's hinting at after a moment, and the insistence of her bladder forces her to heed his suggestion.
With careful steps, she picks her way down from the cave entrance. If the Wolf was just out here, surely the area must be safe? Still, she eyes the woods warily as she carefully picks her way down from the cave. The leather shoes are more slick than she's expected, but she's surprised at how well the fur lining and wool socks insulate her feet from the snow. Much better than yesterday, she decides, but then she shakes her head, not wanting to delve too deeply into the memories of her terrifying trek. Instead she focuses on moving carefully into the woods, until she can no longer feel the watchful eyes of the Wolf stationed next to the entrance of the cave on her back.