“But perhaps I should spend the night practicing for—” “No. Not allowed. This is the cardinal rule: the night before an evaluation, you rest.” “Did you obey that rule?” “No. But I didn’t have a teacher as good as me.” He reached out with his thumb and swiped the tip of my nose, then looked at his fingers and made a face. “I’ve been waiting for that to fall for the last fifteen minutes. Couldn’t resist.” He turned on his heel and began striding back to the cottage, waving me to follow. “Go take a bath. You’re disgusting. And I swear to the Ascended, if I see you sneaking Stratagrams like the
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stinky ti
