Page 42 of A Court Bright and Broken

She grinned. “There’s still one small detail to take care of. You still look human.”

“But how will you–”

The cottage door opened, and a woman I’d never seen walked inside. She had hair the same color as Sorcha’s but hers was unbound, hanging down to her waist and her skin was a deep brown. She looked like she might have been a bit younger, but it was hard to guess her exact age.

Like our village mother, she wore a long, red gown with a silver chain at her waist.

“Hello, Caitriona,” Sorcha said without a hint of surprise. “This is Raewyn. Raewyn, meet my sister. She’s come from Hill Town to help.”

Help how?

“Hello,” I said, starting to rise from my chair.

“Keep your seat, love,” Caitriona said. “I’ll come to you.”

Crossing the room to us, Sorcha’s sister placed her hands on my shoulders.

“This won’t take long.”

Our village’s Earthwife stood behind me and rested her hands on my head, wrapping her fingers around the crown. The two sisters began to hum in the way Sorcha had the day we’d made our bargain and she’d somehow known about the invitation to the royal ball.

Caitriona’s eyes were closed. I could guess that Sorcha’s were as well. Their hums combined and grew louder, and my shoulders and scalp beneath their hands grew warm.

Unnaturally warm, as if I were sitting directly beside the fireplace instead of all the way across the room from it.

After a minute the rest of me became warm—uncomfortably so. And I felt strange in other ways… tingly, sore, a little nauseous.

“I think you might need to stop,” I said to the sisters. “I think I might be getting sick.”

“Close your eyes, child, and go to sleep,” Sorcha ordered.

“But I’m not slee—”

The next thing I knew, Caitriona was at the door, waving goodbye.

I blinked several times, trying to understand what had happened. Had I actually fallen asleep and missed… whatever it was they’d been doing?

The door closed behind Caitriona, and Sorcha stepped around in front of me, grinning widely as she studied my appearance.

“My sister is brilliant, and so am I,” she said, more to herself than to me. “You are ready.”

“Am I? What happened?”

I rose from my chair, feeling a bit unsteady.

“We made sure you’ll fit in with the others at the ball,” Sorcha explained. “Take a look.”

Guiding me back to the wardrobe, she once again opened its doors. There was a large mirror lining its back wall.

I gasped at what I saw there then literally turned around to make sure the woman I saw reflected in the glass was not standing behind me.

There was no one in the cottage but Sorcha and me.

My head whipped back to face the mirror, and my eyes roamed over my reflection in disbelief. And itwasmy reflection.

Its hands moved when mine did. Its head turned to one side then the other in tandem with my own actions. It wore an expression of astonishment that represented the exact feeling I had inside.

But that was where the similarities ended. The woman in the mirror was flawless.

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