Glass Swallow (33 page)

‘He’s lucky you let him trade in Magharnan glass at all, love.’

‘He can’t help being awful.’

‘And you can’t help being too kind to him.’

Rain tugged his hand, leading him towards the banqueting chamber. ‘I can afford to be generous. I got you, didn’t I?’

Light poured into the passageway through a stained-glass window depicting a flock of birds. Peri stopped in the pool of multicoloured sunshine.

‘One of yours?’ He cocked an eyebrow.

‘Of course.’ Playfully she trapped the shadow of the swallow in her palm and pretended to press it to his heart.

He kissed her. ‘A miracle.’

They stepped out of the light together and headed into the celebration beyond.

JULIA GOLDING grew up on the edge of Epping Forest. After reading English at Cambridge, she joined the Foreign Office and served in Poland. Her work as a diplomat took her from the high point of town twinning in the Tatra Mountains to the low of inspecting the bottom of a Silesian coal mine.

On leaving Poland, she joined Oxfam as a lobbyist on conflict issues, campaigning at the United Nations and with governments to lessen the impact of war on civilians living in war zones. She now works as a freelance writer.

Married with three children, she lives in Oxford.

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