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"Ugh, you smell horrible Here is some cheese" She handed it to him

He took the cheese and started into it "Bread?"

"The dough is rising Now giveto washhere long"

"Three days is long enough with smelly clothes, and I will not steal you a shirt That would be so I could not explain" She held out her hand and wrinkled her nose "I can smell you froone for long" She wiggled her fingers at hier "Very well Turn around"

For a ht – a squire, or whatever – was too ti she had not observed A silver gleam beneath the collar

"You wear a chaen shirt! You are aas if he’d bitten through leer, but he ust "You are a wretched How do you know these things?"

His reaction was silly considering their location "Sir…this is Muirwood Abbey We receive visits froht We have our own silversmith to make the shirts, for those learners who achieve it Otherwise they are handed down…"

"From father to son This was my father’s"

"If you wear it, then he ain "Do not s? Can I have your shirt noill not tell anyone you are a s on the front and pulled it over his head then thrust it at her The chaen shirt beneath was beautiful andlinks extended to his forearms and draped down his neck The border was treated with the sy square-stars along the fringe

"Stop looking atit back" He nestled back into the shadows, below the here the light blinded her and folded his arle as he moved It was quiet, like the whisper of silk Mastons ore theh the Mediue required to enter the inner sanctuary of the abbey

Lia folded the shirt as she backed away, then turned back and looked at him "Since you are a maston…you know you can claim sanctuary in the abbey No one could force you to leave, not even the king hie of the abbey You know that, do you not?"

Silence was her reply

She turned and went to the ladder, wondering if she should add some woad to the wash and turn the shirt a different color out of spite As she descended, she heard his voice, barely more than aSowe’s extra dress fro with her own soiled one – the vomit-stink was as bad as the squire’s – she dropped the her blue cloak fro the hood to cover the mass of untidy hair, she hoisted the basket and headed into the rain

Lia left the stone path leading to the manor The laere squishy and wet, the air was chill, the rain steady She joined another paved path that would take her around towards the Cider Orchard, and she was a little oing to the laundry But today, everything felt alive with excite’s sheriff on his way! Clouds loo even the floith somberness, but they could not quell herto reach the laundry before getting soaked Inwardly, she was pleased with herself Pasqua ary, but that was nor the loft ladder Three days was not long at all Feeding the squire would be easy as well She wondered what she could expect from him for the food and shelter

As she followed her path, she caught sight of the cloister in the haze of rain The cloister here the learners were locked away doing their lessons It was offset fro structure, just a series of four covered ays that opened into a garden square in the middle The doors in and out were always locked, and helpers were never permitted to enter because of the costly raving were corounds, tease the helpers, and generally make life difficult for everyone Only in the cloister could a boy or girl learn the secrets of reading and engraving touarded Lia stared at the building It was the only thing in her life that made her truly jealous To have her own torave, to listen to whispers fro their words