Page 40 of A Court Bright and Broken

His expression soured. “You know that’ll do me no good. I have no real glamour of my own, so there’s nothing to exalt. And—no offense—but what fun is it to amplify someone else’s gifts?”

Like me, Pharis had been demeaned his whole life for having an “inferior” glamour.

He was a Gleaner, and our father had said on more than one occasion his ability to temporarily appropriate the glamours of others made him “no better than a beggar.”

“Something else then,” I said. “Whatever you want.”

Pharis’ smile returned. “I’ll tell you what… I’ll help you out. And at some point during the evening, I’ll tap you on the shoulder, and you’ll let me cut in and dance with your partner—even if she’s the fairest maiden of them all.”

Relieved, I agreed immediately. “It’s a deal.”

Chapter 12

Fancier

Raewyn

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the gleam of gold.

The next was my two giggling sisters, perched on the edge of my sleeping pad.

“Wake up Raewyn,” Tindra urged. “It’s the day of the ball!”

She could hardly contain her excitement.

Turi got up and began dancing across the floor in her bare feet, singing, “Ball day, ball day, ball day… sweets!”

Lifting the invitation and reading it once again, I had to admit I felt a glimmer of excitement myself. There was something very alluring about the elegant writing and the exotic golden ink.

It seemed to almost call to me, in spite of my nerves over what might happen once I got to the event.

Ready or not, the wait was almost over.

For the past two weeks, I’d attempted to put the impending ball—and the mysterious Fae man—out of my mind. I had things to do, and daydreaming wasn’t going to help me get them done.

But it hadn’t been entirely possible to avoid thinking about it, considering our new circumstances.

Sorcha had come through with her end of the bargain.

An abundant garden had sprung up in our yard nearly overnight. A deer, apparently tempted by the beautiful vegetables, had attempted to jump over the garden fence—and had been caught in it, strangling itself.

As horrifying as the sight had been, the sizable animal had provided my family with a bounty of meat.

Thanks to her own improved diet, our goat Daisy was producing double the quantity of milk, which meant more butter and cheese as well.

The girls were filling out by the day and had healthy color in their cheeks and a new shine to their hair and eyes.

Though we had no mirror, I could tell I was growing more robust as well, just by the drape of my clothes, which now fit properly again after sagging for so long.

And my father’s health had vastly improved. He still couldn’t see of course, but he moved much more freely now, and he swore he had no more pain, which lifted a heavy weight from my heart.

Feeling so much more comfortable, Papa was able to be a more involved father with the girls. He’d also been able to take in far more work, bringing in more money than I could ever remember having in our household stores.

As hesitant as I’d been initially about making the deal with the Earthwife, I had no doubt I’d done the right thing.

Now it was time to pay up.

Kissing the girls and Papa goodbye, I left our cottage that afternoon and walked to Sorcha’s. As usual, she’d anticipated my arrival with uncanny accuracy.

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