Page 76 of A Court Bright and Broken

My uninjured foot dropped a few inches and met the cold earth. And then the rest of me was suddenly cold as the beautiful gown dissolved before my eyes, leaving me standing in only the thin white linen shift Sorcha had laid out on the bed for me.

Thank the gods her capricious magic had left methatmuch.

Midnight.

The spell had expired. I looked down at myself, taking in the new picture the guards at the gate would see.

I wore only a skimpy underdress, my feet were bare. I stood lower to the ground now, restored to my previous height.

Whatever beauty Sorcha had imparted to my face and hair and skin had no doubt vanished as completely as my evening wear. I looked human again.

Maybe the guards would take me for a servant making her way home after a long day and night of work?

Looking around me, I searched for my evening bag, but that had disappeared as well.

Those poison vials, if they still existed, were now lost in the dark lawn. I had no weapon left but my own wits.

Hobbled in every sense of the word, I limped forward. Excruciating pain shot up my leg every time my left foot made contact with the ground.

How was I going to make it to the gate, not to mention all the way home? Was there any chance my carriage and team of horses were still outside the gates?

By the time I rounded the front wall of the castle and the gates came into sight, I was in a cold sweat, my ankle throbbing as if all the blood in my body resided there.

The guards spotted me immediately, thanks to the white slip, no doubt.

Two of them charged across the distance, reaching me shockingly fast.

“Who are you?” one of them barked. “What are you doing sneaking across the palace grounds?”

“I wasn’t sneaking. I’m just trying to go home, and I twisted my ankle.”

“So you work here?” the other guard asked. His eyes roamed up and down my body. “Where?”

My hands suddenly went clammy, and I blinked several times.

I didn’t know much about the human servants who worked in the castle, what sorts of jobs they performed. Were they allowedin the kitchens? Did they do the laundry, change the bed linens? I just didn’t know.

What was it Sorcha had said about them?

All I could remember for sure was that she’d said the older ones didn’t work anywhere near the royal family. Since I was young, I supposed I was qualified for that kind of service.

“I’m one of Princess Mareth’s maids,” I said.

It was clear from both the guards’ facesthathad been the wrong answer.

“You’re lying. The princess’s handmaidens areElven, and they all live in the palace,” the older guard growled.

“I think what we have here is one of King Pontus’s special ‘friends,’” the younger one said with a dirty-sounding laugh.

So the Princess had no human servants, but the King did?

“What’s the matter, love?” The guard leaned down and smiled in my face. “Getting tired ofentertainingthe old geezer?”

He reached down and grabbed his crotch through his clothing. “Bet you’d like a young buck better.”

“Shut up, fool,” the older guard ordered. “People have been hanged for less.”

The younger guard wasn’t dissuaded. “Nobody heard me. No one but you. What, you gonna turn me in? Are you telling me you haven’t wondered why he needs a whole wing full of them?”

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