Free The Glowing Knight by Jodi Meadows

than some others who aren’t strongenough to earn it. Connor makes us share sometimes.”
    Connor glanced downward, but his generosity didn’t surprise me. I squeezed his shoulder.
    â€œIt’s bad out there,” Kevin said. “Everyone is hungry. Thirsty. Most people don’t have anywhere safe to sleep. We were lucky. The refugee camps are empty. A few refugees might have sneaked into the city with the returning residents, same as we did, but most kept moving east. They didn’t want to stay here, where it’s so dangerous.”
    It was hard to blame them. “All right, we need to go. Connor, at least. The rest of you can follow tomorrow, if you want to stay here the rest of the night.”
    â€œWhere?” Connor asked.
    â€œTo the palace. That’s where we’re going to stay.”
    â€œWhy do you need me right now?” That sounded suspiciously like a whine, but when I frowned, a look of understanding unfolded over his face. “I’ll get my bag.”
    The others looked as though they wanted to ask “Why Connor,” too, but they just gathered their belongings instead. While they were busy, I took an envelope off the small desk. It was sealed with red wax and a thumbprint, and the front bore my name in Melanie’s handwriting.
    The Ospreys hadn’t noticed her earlier. They’d been sleeping when she’d come to deliver the letter, and even when they’d awakened, none of them had noticed something new in the room. What if it had been dangerous? They could have been hurt, or worse.
    But when I looked up to find them watching me, they all wore closed, embarrassed expressions. I stuffed away my need toscold. In the days since the Inundation, I’d been miserable in my pretty cage, but they’d been hungry, and cold, and hurt. While this was an especially dangerous time to be unguarded in the city, I couldn’t blame them for their exhaustion.
    â€œDid a messenger come for you today?” I placed the letter in my pocket and headed into the hall.
    â€œYes.” Theresa slipped her bag over her shoulder. “Were they really from you?”
    I nodded.
    â€œWe didn’t know. We couldn’t be sure.”
    â€œDon’t worry, Rees. That’s why I came to get you.”
    The five of us moved downstairs silently, picked our way through the dim taproom, and went outside to find a dozen men—police and Indigo Order officers—waiting for us.
    Sergeant Ferris stepped forward. “Princess.”
    â€œOh good. An escort.” I grinned and let my hand drift toward Melanie’s knife, but didn’t draw it. The gesture was merely a reminder. “Send your best people to Fisher’s Mouth in Greenstone. You’ll find Patrick Lien there.”
    People scrambled to follow that particular order.
    I could go with them. Leave Connor with instructions and go apprehend Patrick myself. But the words wouldn’t come. I needed to be somewhere else.
    â€œIn the meantime, take me to Captain Rayner and Prince Tobiah.”

FOUR
    â€œWHERE DID YOU get a knife?” James didn’t bother to greet me as I entered the prince’s bedchambers. The gas lamps were dark, but the wood-paneled walls gleamed in the candlelight.
    â€œIt just appeared.” I touched the handle; my escorts had tried to take it from me, but I’d asked if they’d seen what I’d done to the Hawksbill wall and they spent the rest of the silent ride eyeing me warily.
    There was a question in the way James lifted an eyebrow: had I made it appear?
    I snorted. That would have been a handy magic. “Someone gave it to me.” I shut the door behind me and moved toward Tobiah’s bed. He was still and sallow, barely breathing. Brown curls fanned across his forehead, and strain carved a line between his eyes. He was so still. “Has he awakened at all?”
    â€œNo.” James walked up beside me, his elbow brushing