Deeper into the market, and a new set of stalls surround them.

A winged witch is standing and shuffling Tarot cards outside a circular tent. A sign reads "Auguries, Statuses, and Identifies, pricing by rank." On the other side of her tent there's an advertisement for Amaryllis Tutors, and another one for "Aubrey Nicolas - Rank 5 Wandwork - Genesis Folds, Contingencies and Permanencies - Accept No Substitutes."  

To the tarot witch's left, there's a bookstore, with a fiction section and a magical theory section and a section of Witches' memoirs. A small glass case containing five wands makes up the counter; the wands are labelled with ranks and prices. Four of them are rank 3, marked with prices between five thousand Kisses and ten thousand; the lone rank 4 wand is simply marked as "inquire." The proprietor is a human witch with glasses and a snooty look.

Across the way, there's a witch with a prosthetic arm sitting at a desk with a printer and a laptop. The sign above her shop reads "Contracts drafted and sealed." She seems to be deep into paperwork with a pair of customers. There's also a couple of familiar rune-scribed black cubes on her desk - HexVPNs, priced at 499₭ each. "Network unlocked custom builds sold - 3500₭" says a small sign.

A stall down from her there's a wide desk with a recessed space and a curtain that can be brought around to hide the area behind. The curtain is closed at the moment, but there's a book of runic tattoo designs on display. Contraception, luck and basic warding cost 25₭ each for a tattoo, while disease resistance is priced at 249₭ and learning speed is priced at 2,999₭. More extensive warding tattoos are on offer as well, but there's no listed price. A zombie is standing at the desk, looking bored.

At the next junction, a skeleton is sitting in a chair off from the main concourse, having a broken foot spelled back together by a witch in a black coat with a skull and crossbones on the shoulder. Another one with a cracked humerus is waiting somewhat impatiently, tapping its bony toes against the flagstones.  

There sure are a lot of skeletons here, and also words she doesn't know.

It does makes sense for a couple of fields of magic to rise ascendant. The natural result perhaps, if no higher powers were working against it, like a video game balance team. Some magic only has a specific use case in one step of one industrial process, others double world GDP. Necromancy with secondary divination or consortation seems to be the metagame — but she's guessing off observed eyesight frequency, there'll be other things going on.

Bookstore!! Hnngh. She doesn't nudge Lillian towards it because she said she would follow, but it's obvious what she wants. And she might actually be able to afford something there? She's not even clear on the mysteries of mortal book pricing: like why textbooks cost $249 when they're all lined up on libgen. So she expects witch book pricing to be entirely beyond her comprehending and she shouldn't even try. If Lillian gets the hint, she will sift through magic theory, skimming titles and brushing covers.

Jesus fuck, HexVPNs are expen — no, she needs to adjust that part of her mind. Under no lights is Marianne Belor poor; she is a temporarily embarrassed witch and she is to comport herself exactly as though she believes that.

How is Lillian handling herself?

Lily is looking around at the stalls with a calculating expression.

Tattoos with the same effects are cheaper than leather goods with them? Weird. 

That witch they met just casually tossed five thousand dollars at them? Like it was nothing to her, "hey, you get one of these free" -

She pulls her thoughts away. There is a bookstore. She is going to browse the bookstore, because books. Obviously.

The fiction and memoirs are priced at three Kisses per book; the theory books are a bit more expensive, ranging from ten to fifteen kisses. It's not immediately clear what's basic and what's more advanced - "Fragments of the High Language", "Cooking with Potions", "The Laws of the Fae", "Imposing Reality", "Know Your Story", "Seeing Far"... Probably these would be more expensive if what was in them wasn't general knowledge, right? But still, a couple of these could be helpful...

Lily finds her fingers lingering on "Cooking with Potions" - but she hasn't twelve Kisses to her name. She reluctantly sets the book back onto the shelf. 

If your child shows interest in a book, you must get it for them.

This is such an important rule of parenting that it overrides even the fact that Lily is not her child (nor a minor at all).

Marianne has plenty of mana, but twelve Kisses is seventy-two minutes, an abysmally long time to sit still. Thirty-six if they do it in parallel: though that is obscene, to make a child pay for reading material. They could possibly find it online — or possibly not, the witch population is rather smaller than seven billion and that means piratical troves will have less. Even so Isabel finds paper more compelling, she is considerably more liable to read and retain in that form.

Theft is out of the question when there's so much unknown witchery afoot. She could borrow Lily's phone and try to PayPal the poor book vendor. She could consort with demons. She really ought to ask Hawthorne about student loans and housing anyways, now that she is thinking of it.

"Go ahead and start minting, six each. I'll bother miss doll again and come back, you can stay here or tag along."

She draws a crisp loop with her wand through the empty air. The mental motions are straightforward: you dispense mana in a circle, then condense it into a coin. She doesn't have to figure out the structure or composition or markings, the mana is happy to just snap into the exact form once she substantiates it most of the way (which is weird, but it's not like it's the first globally imposed witchwork she's seen).

She walks briskly back towards the castle, trying not to slam into any physical objects.

There's no time to consider, so she just nods. 

"I'll wait here for you and read a little. If the shopkeeper kicks me out I'll see you in the square."

Have the doors closed in the last thirty minutes? No?

Marianne puts on her bureauhat, for dealing with bureaucrats. It keeps her from beaming or bouncing or (heaven forbid) flouncing.

"—I'm sorry ma'am, I had a few more questions," she appears genuinely upset about bothering the doll a second time, "could you walk me through Hawthorne's financial aid and housing options? If that is at all in your department."

Mint mint mint.

Make the circle smaller, the mana more metallic, get close enough for it to snap to form. It can't be sped along by doing the work faster: you either hold it in place for six minutes and wait for the snap or mint the coin without its benefit.

Hopefully the marionette won't be offended by her multitasking. Most mortals would feel affronted by this sort of thing, but maybe witches are different. Or maybe she left the optimism dial a bit high.

The doll doesn't seem to react to Marianne's kiss minting. She taps her fingertips together, then speaks.

"Students receive a stipend of five hundred Kisses a month, with the ability to requisition mortal materials from the academy for educational projects that require them. The Academy provides meals or equivalents for those students who need them, as well as housing in dorms in the Student Tower. Quarters are comparable to a mortal apartment or hotel suite. It is relevant to note that the Student Tower's time is sped by fifty percent compared to Earth time.

As for loans, your current placement would entitle you to a loan against your eventual earnings of up to one hundred thousand Kisses, at two percent interest yearly, payable in installments or as a lump sum. Any loan would, of course, be conditional on admission to the Academy."

"Are there other admissions tests, besides simple potential—"

"Potential is deemed sufficient."

"Okay. Do you use semesters, when does the semester start—"

"Classes for witches of your potential are largely independent tutoring in small groups of less than a dozen. We admit at the beginnings of semesters seasonally for most witches - every three months - but you are high-potential enough that you're worth spending instructor time on individually. A direct mentor would be arranged for you and you would study at an accelerated pace until you caught up with the current class, which is currently three weeks in. Or you could wait a week and two months and join in the new quarter."

"What do I need to do to get a mentor, and when is financial aid disbursed?"

She catches a kiss before it clinks on the desk and palms it.

"A mentor would be assigned to you from our staff based on what fields of magic you showed potential in and interest in studying. Initial testing and orientation can be done by a functionary Doll and would be scheduled within 48 hours of admission. 

Once admitted, we would give you a month's stipend immediately, and we would be able to arrange a meeting with a loan advisor within the week should you desire. Funds could be disbursed at that meeting."

"Am I admitted."

"Not without your consent, no. There's intake paperwork. But you could be admitted now if you wished to be."

"I would like that, yes."

She sends Lily: Did you do your intake paperwork if not you may want to come here sorry.

On my way.

The doll produces a small leatherbound book. 

"This is the handbook of student policy. It covers dress code, respect for staff, attendance and truancy obligations, academic regulations such as plagiarism and misuse of student materials, and lays out a schedule of disciplinary measures. This doll notes that Hawthorne Academy allows the use of minor curses in discipline - nothing that would cause lasting harm, but enough to make one thoroughly regret their actions. This doll also notes that by accepting admission you are comitting to live and study here for a period of no less than one year. Hawthorne is not interested in non-serious applicants, and should you attempt to depart early or without notice you will be subject to discipline for truancy should you ever return to Hawthorne."

...hm. She stops minting to focus and skims the handbook.

Does anything stick out to her?

It's misuse of student materials to sell items made from student materials. You are free to leave the cavern whenever you wish but if you miss classes without getting leave first you will be subject to truancy regulations. Sundays are free, but not Saturdays. Uniforms are mandatory.

The schedule of punishments includes some mundane punishments, like detention or writing lines, and then proceeds to include uses of Sting or Sickness. Apparently Sting produces intense pain but no actual harm, while Sickness debilitates but allows guaranteed recovery.

...it's surprisingly regressive for a country this rich. Marianne doesn't particularly care, but Lillian might be anxious about it.

She hands it back and looks expectant for paperwork.

The doll produces a contract. It's quite short; it simply states that she will live and study at Hawthorne Academy for a period no shorter than a year, starting today, and that she will make reasonable efforts to comply with the regulations set out in the student handbook and will accept discipline handed down by the academy as in line with the handbook. There's a border of inscribed runes around the edge of the page.

"You make a Covenant with the House of Hawthorne with your acceptance. The Covenant automatically enforces certain disciplinary measures; it may, for instance, Sting you if you are truant without leave. It will also automatically report serious rule breaches, as a safeguard against academic misconduct, theft, etcetera. Your signature binds you to the terms listed."

She glances over her shoulder to see if Lily is here yet.

Lily is waiting patiently at the line in the floor. She waves to Marianne when she looks over at her.