Page 96 of A Court Bright and Broken

“Let them go?” Pharis’ dark brows rose nearly to his hairline. “What was the younger one in for?”

“Trying to get into the ball,” I said casually. “She was just a villager who wanted a glimpse of the glitz and glamour. Harmless.”

His expression soured. “That’s what I thought about Wyn. Where was this woman from? What village?”

The gleam in his eyes told me Pharis thought the young captive was worth investigating further. I was actually relieved I had no idea what village Raewyn was from.

If it was discovered that she was the young woman captured on the palace lawn that night and that she’dsomehowdisappeared from the dungeon, she’d be suspected of kidnapping, witchcraft, or worse—attempted regicide.

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask,” I said honestly.

“So it could be anywhere.” Pharis huffed an irritated breath. “I should have gone with you to the dungeons. You’re too trusting of women.”

“And you’re not?”

“Never. I knew something was up with Lady Wyn. I’m kicking myself for not borrowing some lie-detecting glamour and interrogating her further that night.”

“Don’t fault yourself,” I told him. “I wasn’t quite myself that night either.”

His gaze sharpened. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure if you’re right when you say I’m too trusting of women, but even I am not usually so easily won. I trusted her immediately. I was…”

My voice drifted as I searched for a way to explain how mesmerized I’d been by the lovely stranger. Now that several days had passed, I was struggling to even recall the feeling.

Maybe the possibility that she’d come here to kill us all had dampened my ardor a bit, but it was starting to seem unreal that I’d actually proposed marriage only hours after meeting someone.

Pharis raised a sardonic brow as he supplied a finish to my abandoned sentence. “Love sick? Transfixed?Enchanted?”

“All of those and more. Did you not experience anything like that with her?”

“I must have,” he said. “Otherwise she’d be sitting in the dungeon right now, and I’d be spending my search efforts locating a young lady to hand-feed me my bacon and roasted potatoes.”

He picked up a crispy potato cube and tossed it into his mouth.

I laughed. “No doubt there’d be a long line of them eager to do exactly that.”

Pharis took another bite from the fragrant, steaming plate that had been delivered to the table in front of him. After chewing, he looked over at me again.

“What about you? Will you start again soon on selecting the lucky future queen of the Sixlands? Time is ticking, you know.”

“You sound like Father,” I groaned. “No, I don’t have the heart for it right now. Besides…”

“Besides what?” His tone was a mixture of suspicion and dread. “Don’t tell me you’re still pining for Wyn.”

“No, it’s not that. I just… well, what if she actuallywasa victim and not the perpetrator in all of this?” I asked. “It might be unlikely, but it’s possible. What if shewaskidnapped and is out there somewhere, hoping for rescue while I sit here and donothing to save her? That would make me the worst fiancé of all time.”

“You just admitted to being enchanted by some sort of spell that night,” Pharis said.

“No, I didn’t. I admitted to being enchanted by Wyn. It doesn’t necessarily take magic to turn my head.”

Raewyn had done it that day at the Rough Market just by being herself.

“Well, we won’t know until we find her,” Pharis said. “Which wewilldo. If she’s been kidnapped, we’ll rescue her, and I’ll apologize profusely to your intended bride for my lack of faith intrue love.”

Scraping the last bite into his mouth, he pushed back from the table.

“Meanwhile, you’re going to have a very irritated king on your hands if you don’t make at leastsometime for courting. Father’s even been onmeabout it, asking which noble ladies I’ve been spending time with.”

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