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“Another story, Phae Please!”

“Yes, please! Please!”

The children’s eyes were so full of anticipation that Phae almost relented She folded her arms and shook her head “If I tell you too h for tonight It was a long one To bed…all of you”

And they did The trample of little feetthe loft There were twelve who slept there, the youngest of the orphans Little Kriss planted a wet kiss on her cheek before wriggling up the edge of the bed, too proud to ask for help Phae rubbed her ar theet comfortable It would take a while before they completely settled down, but they would eventually She retreated to the ladder, waving goodnight to little Oho smiled shyly at her and waved back

Phae stepped down the ladder swiftly, giving a last s There was Brielle, curled up beneath the ladder with a book, half-hidden in the shadows

“To bed, Brielle,” Phae said

The little girl never spoke Her big eyes found Phae’s and she nodded, folding the book shut and clutching it tightly

“Can you read?” Phae asked her

Brielle shook her head no She had never spoken Not once since she had coht years old No one knew anything about her except that soht her to the Wineht wryly, most of the orphans had ended up here that way

Clinging to the book, Brielle navigated the ladder and disappeared into the loft

Children younger than ten stayed in the loft The older ones shared rooms on the main floor, small cupboard-like rooms, each with a small bed and little else Phae crossed the hall toward the kitchen, she heard Da with others She was a talkative wothy conversation

Phae tried to slip by unnoticed, but when Rachael waved to her, it gave her away

“Phae! Are the children down yet? Good, you are so patient with the to burn his fingers on the stove as he tried snitching some honey cakes I think we should na treats”

Phae stared at Da into her eyes She had her attention fully, eyes locked together Phae blinked, snatching Da her in the kitchen Before another word could be spoken, Phae slipped away froh the rear doors of the ile leaf in her ht

Phae possessed a strange gift She could et

It was a foric, she believed, some innate ability that no one had ever explained to her It had happened randoht on to the pattern and began to understand it The first ti it hen she was a child, perhaps five They were playing the seeking gae empty wine barrel An older boy had found her and was about to call out her name She remembered how desperately she had wanted to rea up at hi hie look caet he had seen her She had blinked at him And then he walked away When she had asked hi stories

The gift made her special She realized that

When there were difficult chores to be done, she could make herself escape notice She did that for several years, actually, until she realized that by stealinginvisible to the faiven over to others It frightened her how subtly it developed The gift transfor her power for a full year and things began to change and all for the better She used it occasionally now, and only for trifling things, like escaping an unwanted conversation when she’d rather use her free time to roam outside She wanted to be remembered, and more importantly, loved

The air smelled like summer and she savored it She was sixteen, full of life and energy and happier than an orphan should be She could not iine a better place to live than the Winemiller vineyard As she walked away fro from lamps in the s, Phae shuddered with pleasure and trahted in roa outside and now that her chore of putting the little ones to bed was finished, she wanted to savor the final ht