In a Glass Grimmly Read Online Free PDF Page A

There, she found the old merchant already at work. He pumped the loom pedal with his feet as he wove the shuttle up and down, up and down. Jill stared at his hands picking nimbly at the space where the shuttle wove. There was nothing there. Nothing at all on the loom. She was sure of it.
    Just then, the merchant looked up. Their eyes met. Again, she felt that heat, that danger. But just for an instant. It passed, and the merchant said, “What do you think of my work, Princess?”
    She walked slowly over to the loom. His feet stopped pumping. The shuttle hovered in the air above where the material should have been. She surveyed the nothing.
    Do you see it, child?
the queen had asked.
    Jill looked up at the merchant. “My mother was right,” she said. “It is more like autumn leaves.”
    The merchant smiled. “Yes, my dear. Well, you can always hope to be as wise and beautiful as your mother one day. It’s a worthy goal for any daughter.”
    Jill looked at the floor, curtsied, and turned to leave. But she ran directly into the king, who was coming to inspect the merchant’s gift. He was followed by his friend and confidant, Lord Boorly.
    “And where is this wonderful silk?” Lord Boorly demanded as he crossed the threshold, his monocle fixed firmly between his left eyebrow and the top of his fleshy cheek.
    Then his eyes fell on the loom. His eyebrows shot up his forehead. His monocle fell to the floor and shattered. At his side, the king stared wordlessly.
    “Stunning, isn’t it, Your Majesty?” the merchant said.
    “Uh . . .” the king began.
    “The princess was just telling me that she has come to the opinion that your wife was most apt in describing this silk as like autumn leaves. Weren’t you, Princess?” And he smiled at her.
    “Yes,” she said, studying the faces of Lord Boorly and the king curiously. “I was.”
    “Ah!” said Lord Boorly. “Yes! I see it now! It’s hard to catch at first! So subtle! So fine! But yes! It’s magnificent!” He walked up to the loom to inspect more closely. “Yes, autumn leaves—I see that. But what about peacock feathers, eh? Wouldn’t you say that hits a little closer to home, Anderson?”
    The merchant considered this. “It may . . .” he said at length. “It just may . . .”
    The king had, by this point, come up closer to the loom. He was still inspecting it when the merchant asked him, “And you, Your Highness, what would you say it looked most like? Lord Boorly’s peacock feathers? Or your wife’s leaves? Or,” he added, “gold pieces kissed by the colors of sunset? That was the princess’s description.”
    “It was, was it?” The king squinted at her, and then turned back to the loom. After a moment, he straightened up. “Well, I agree with my daughter! Gold pieces, absolutely!”
    Lord Boorly looked crestfallen. “You wouldn’t say peacock feathers, Your Highness?”
    The king looked at Jill. She shrugged her small shoulders. He looked back at Boorly. “I most certainly would not!” he said. “Gold pieces at sunset, if anything. Leaves, maybe. But really, gold at sunset. In fact,” he said, raising his voice and pointing one finger at the ceiling, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a color so like gold at sunset as this!” He reached out and shook the merchant’s hand. “My good sir, thank you for bringing us this magnificent specimen. I cannot wait to see my daughter arrayed in such a stunning gown!” He smiled at Jill and then turned and led Lord Boorly from the room.
    Jill looked at the merchant. He was staring after the two men, wonderingly, smiling. She watched him for a moment and then slipped out the door.
    ----
    Jill sat in her mother’s room, watching the queen sample different shades of eye shadow that had been given to her for her half birthday. After a while, she said, “Mother, can I tell you something?”
    “Hmm?” replied her mother absently.
    Jill studied the queen’s beautiful features. “Mother,