Free The Hidden Prince by Jodi Meadows

wood-paneled walls, and the same gleaming brass knobs and hinges and other finishings. There were no strange shapes in the pockets of darkness by full bookcases, or under the ornately carved tables, or in the curtain surrounding the tub in the washroom.
    Everything was quiet. The windows here faced the back of the palace, giving me a view of the ruined gardens and woods beyond. Protesters’ cries were muted, and I heard no scrape of shoes on rugs or brush of clothes on wood.
    Whoever had been here was gone now.
    My fist relaxed around the pen, and I lit a candle when I returned to the table.
    After King Terrell had been assassinated, Tobiah had told methat people always wanted to kill kings. Now that my identity was out—as well as my magical ability and the way I’d allegedly spent time as a vigilante—I had to be careful, too. Particularly since I was alone here. Had Melanie stayed with me—
    Well, she wasn’t here.
    I brought the candle close to the paper, but found no traces of powder. There were no unusual scents, either.
    It was probably safe.
    I slipped the paper from beneath the bottle and unfolded it. The note was in Tobiah’s handwriting. A strained laugh escaped my throat. All that work, and the intruder turned out to be a boy dying just a few doors down the hall.
    Wilhelmina,
    I’m sorry I didn’t visit you after the Inundation. I should have.
    Please forgive me for what I’m about to do; know that it is duty and honor that compel me to act against my true feelings. You were correct when you said I need to decide who I am.
    No matter where my heart leads, I must become who my kingdom needs me to be.
    With greatest affection,
    Tobiah Pierce
    My heart twisted, and tears in my eyes made halos grow around the words.
    He must have written this right before he announced the date of his wedding to Meredith—winter solstice—during theminutes he’d left James’s side to deliver a list of places in Aecor Patrick might have gone.
    Unfortunately, Patrick had been on his way here.
    To shoot Tobiah.
    Maybe I hated the prince, but I loved the vigilante, and now he was dying.
    My feelings had been complicated enough when I’d believed they were separate people, but now that Tobiah Pierce was Black Knife . . .
    Black Knife was Tobiah Pierce . . .
    And where was Connor?
    My breath came hard and fast as I placed the letter on the table once more, and smoothed out the corners. My weapons had been taken away, but not my clothes.
    I glanced at the window. Nearly dark.
    â€œWraith boy.”
    In the corner, he perked up and tilted his head. “Yes, my queen?”
    â€œFrom the balcony, can you lower me to the ground?” Being on the third story, I wasn’t keen to climb down without my grappling hook and line. My first night in this suite, I’d checked the outside wall for any footholds, but without tools, there’d been nothing but a high probability of two broken legs.
    â€œIt isn’t for me to question my queen, but”—he shifted his weight—“can’t you simply walk out? Are you a captive?”
    I glanced at the letter on the table, the beautiful room that had been my prison for three days, and the crown prince’s blood staining my gown. Black Knife’s blood. “Can you do what I asked?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œGood. Then you’re going to help me escape.”

COPYRIGHT
    Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
    THE HIDDEN PRINCE . Copyright © 2015 by Jodi Meadows. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by