When they were out of earshot Amschat handed her the tiny silver coins and said: "These are yours. You have earned them. But--" he hunkered down so that his eyes were on a level with hers, "--you must tell me how you knew the stones were false."
He looked worried, but Esk sensed that he wouldn't really like the truth. Magic made people uncomfortable. He wouldn't like it if she said simply: spircles are spircles and ultramarines are ultramarines, and though you may think that they look the same that is because most people don't use their eyes in the right way. Nothing can entirely disguise its true nature.
Instead she said: "The dwarves mine spircles near the village where I was born, and you soon learn to see how they blend the light in a funny way."
Amschat looked into her eyes for some time. Then he shrugged.
"Okay," he said. "Fine."
Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites
