"Two sums in a shop do not make you clever."
Olivia bent for the blouse.
The black pants pulled across her hips as she went down.
The seam dug in. The panty line sat under the cloth in a hard ridge, left cheek, right cheek, the thin strip between.
She gathered the blouse against her chest and stood.
"I did not cheat."
"Stop lying. Everyone knows you all cheated. It is cute when you deny it with that straight face." Joren glanced at the clerk behind the counter, then at the woman still touching house linen, then back.
He had them.
"It worked for this week. Written test is done. Next is practical. Real casting. We will wreck Class D there. Keep your little numbers. They will not help when a spell is coming at your face."
A boy in an apprentice vest stopped turning buttons on a card.
The shop went quiet. Cedar. New dye. Someone's coin purse clicking shut.
Olivia's pulse sat in her throat. She kept her voice even anyway.
