Protect the Prince (Crown of Shards #2)(124)

“You’re my kingdom too,” I whispered.

I cupped his face in my hands, then stood on my tiptoes and crushed my lips to his. Sullivan growled and pulled me closer.

All around us, I could hear cheering. From the people on the bridge and lining the river below, from my friends above on the royal lawn, even from the nobles. But their cheers were nothing compared to the feel of Sullivan’s lips on mine, his skin against mine, his heart beating under my fingertips, hammering just as hard as mine was.

We would have kept right on kissing, but something slapped my shoulder. Sullivan and I broke apart. I looked up and realized that Paloma had dropped down a rope to the two of us.

“How about you two lovebirds do the smart thing and climb up here before you both plunge to your deaths?” Paloma said in her usual matter-of-fact tone.

I ignored her, turned back to Sullivan, and wrapped my arms around his neck. “Do we have to? I want to stay here for just a little while longer.”

He grinned back at me. “I was thinking the same thing, highness.”

He reached up and grabbed the rope, yanking it out of Paloma’s hands. Then he tossed it aside, and it floated down to the river below to be swept away, just like his jacket had been.

All around us, the crowd roared again, but I only had eyes for Sullivan, and he for me. He grinned at me again, and I pulled his head back down to mine.

And as I kissed him, I made a vow to myself—that I would spend the rest of my life protecting my prince.





Acknowledgments


My heartfelt thanks go out to all the folks who help turn my words into a book.

Thanks go to my agent, Annelise Robey, and to my editor, Erika Tsang, for all their helpful advice, support, and encouragement. Thanks also to Nicole Fischer, Pamela Jaffee, Angela Craft, and everyone else at Harper Voyager and HarperCollins.

And finally, a big thanks to all the readers. Knowing that folks read and enjoy my books is truly humbling, and I hope that you all enjoy reading about Evie and her adventures.

I appreciate you all more than you will ever know.

Happy reading! ?





An Excerpt from Crush the King


Turn the page for a sneak peek at the next book in Jennifer Estep’s Crown of Shards series



Crush the King



Coming in 2020





Chapter One


Xenia had some other business to take care of, so Paloma and I left her finishing school.

It was almost six o’clock, and the sun was slowly sinking behind the Spire Mountains that ringed the city. The December air was already quite chilly, but it would turn even colder once the last golden rays vanished behind the high, rugged peaks and took their meager warmth along with them. My nose twitched. A faint, metallic scent hung in the air, indicating that it would snow before the night was through.

Only a few people were walking on the side streets that flanked Xenia’s finishing school. Most had their heads down and their arms crossed over their chests, trying to stay as warm as possible in their scarves, coats, and gloves, and no one gave Paloma and me a second look as we made our way over to one of the many enormous square plazas that could be found throughout Svalin.

We stood in the shadows in a narrow alley that ran between two bakeries and looked out over the plaza. Brightly painted wooden carts manned by bakers, butchers, farmers, tailors, and other merchants lined all four sides of the area, while a large gray stone fountain of two girls holding hands bubbled merrily in the center.

People of all shapes, sizes, stations, and ages moved across the gray cobblestones, going from one cart and merchant to the next and shopping for breads, meats, cheeses, vegetables, clothes, and more. Still more people cut directly through the plaza, bypassing the colorful carts and loud, squawking merchants, skirting around the gurgling fountain, and steadfastly trudging home after a long, hard day at work. Miners, mostly, wearing thick, dark blue coveralls, boots, and hard, ridged helmets, all of which were coated with light gray fluorestone dust.

I opened my mouth and drew in breath after breath, letting the air roll in over my tongue and using my mutt magic to taste all the scents swirling through the plaza. Fresh, warm bread and almond-sugar cookies from the bakeries next to the alley. The coppery stench of blood from the meat on the butchers’ carts. The sharp, tangy cheeses. The bits of dirt on the farmers’ potatoes and other produce. The fine layers of crushed, chalky stone clinging to the miners.

I sensed all that and more, but the one thing I didn’t smell was magic.

Normally, I would have welcomed its absence. More often than not, I sensed the hot, caustic stench of magic only when someone was trying to kill me. But this evening, I found the lack of power disappointing.

“I don’t like this,” Paloma muttered, her hand on her mace. “You shouldn’t be here. What if this rumor about another Blair is just a trick to get you out of the palace and into the city where you’re more vulnerable? And leaving Xenia’s finishing school without any guards is just asking for trouble.”

In addition to being my best friend, Paloma was also my personal guard, a job she took very seriously.

“Coming here without any guards is part of the plan. We’re trying to blend in, remember?” I arched an eyebrow at her. “Besides, didn’t you once tell me that a gladiator and an ogre morph like yourself is worth twenty regular soldiers?”