by Jodi Meadows
On the rooftop of a nearby mansion, a figure moved. A man. On the next rooftop over, another shadow lurched up, frighteningly graceful and unusually long. The wraith boy?
The first shadow lifted something in front of him, and aimed.
“Get down!” The words were out before I realized, and everything happened in quick succession.
The shooter on the roof loosed his crossbow bolt.
I grabbed Tobiah’s shoulders and pulled him back.
The wraith boy surged across the rooftops with a thunderous roar.
Screams erupted in the courtyard below.
The bolt struck Tobiah in the stomach, rather than his heart where it had been aimed, and the prince collapsed to the balcony floor, half in my arms.
Uniformed men rushed through Tobiah’s apartments and onto the balcony, shouting and creating a barrier of bodies.
Francesca and Meredith were pulled inside, even as they reached for Tobiah.
Blood poured from the wound in Tobiah’s gut, filling the air with an angry scent of copper. I was already sitting over him with his head cushioned in my lap when men began cutting away the bloodied shirt to inspect the wound.
“Trust Wilhelmina.” Tobiah’s order came out weak, but the men exchanged glances; they’d heard. “Protect her.”
Gently, I cupped his cheeks in my hands and tried to meet his gaze, but his eyelids kept drifting shut. “When are you going to learn?” I rasped. “I don’t want to be rescued.”
His mouth twitched into a pale smile. “I don’t want to fight.”
Then he closed his eyes.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LIKE REVOLUTIONS, PUBLISHING a book is a team effort. Many thanks to the people (more than I could ever name!) who helped get The Orphan Queen out into the world.
My dear ladies in the palace of publishing:
Lauren MacLeod, my agent with an arsenal of highlighters and soothing words. I could never have stormed this castle without you.
Sarah Shumway and Laurel Symonds, my editors who wield red pens like swords. Ladies, songs will be sung in your honor. They will tell tales far and wide of your editorial wisdom.
Katherine Tegen, the queen of KTB. I am ever honored that my books are worthy of holding your logo on their spines.
Alana Whitman, Lauren Flower, Onalee Smith, Rosanne Romanello, Aubry Parks-Fried, and Margot Wood: an extraordinary and supportive team of ladies who can talk books like no one’s business.
Amy Ryan, Erin Fitzsimmons, and Colin Anderson: costumers extraordinaire who understand that authenticity is key to any disguise.
Lots of love to the Ospreys in my life:
Adam Heine, who understood immediately where I was aiming with this story.
Christine Nguyen, who code-named this story Batprince. How you read entire first drafts in little chat boxes, I will never understand.
C. J. Redwine, a terrific writer, critique partner, and friend. Sorry I’m not sorry that your street smells like pee. It’s out of love.
Gabrielle Harvey, who didn’t disown me for what happened to that violin bow. I probably don’t deserve you, but I’m glad you stick around anyway.
Jaime Lee Moyer, one of the strongest people I will ever know.
Joy Hensley, my friend, fellow writer, and surprise fifth cousin by marriage (totally a legitimate relationship). Remember that time I trapped you in the car for two hours and made you listen to my mad plot ramblings?
Jill Roberts, my mom, who gasped, “That’s a terrible ending!” when I explained my plan for revising the first draft. Thanks, Mom. Your horror let me know I was heading in the right direction. Sorry to make you sad, though.
Jillian Boehme, a wise and generous friend who will one day come around to properly appreciating Batman. (I’ll keep loving you even if you don’t.) Thanks for reading all my stories. And for the Batman T-shirt. I wear it all the time.
Kathleen Peacock, who reminds me of magic.
Myra McEntire, who patiently listened to early mad ramblings about world building, plot, and “Oh my commas, I don’t know if I can do this!” (Thanks for saying I could.)
Sarah Schaffner, my sister. We could totally infiltrate a palace together. What are you doing next week?
Stacey Lee, who challenged me to dig deeper into motivations and also fed me yummy Thai food. (Wil would have been all over that meal. Mmm.)
Valerie Cole, a darling friend who needs to know, “But how does Wil’s hair look after that fight?” It looks amazing, Valerie. Of course her hair looks amazing.
Wendy Beer, who plied me with castle and architecture research and always asked how many characters had died at the end of each day.
I salute you. *Snap-thump*
My husband, Jeff, who never once complained about the whole “My character does calligraphy and so must I!” thing. Thanks for not questioning my sanity during my (ongoing) pen and notebook addiction. And for being awesome all around.
God, who did indeed have a plan. Always love. Always gratitude.
And, of course, you: the reader. Whether you’re a librarian, teacher, bookseller, blogger, or someone who picked up this book because it has a cool cover (I mean, doesn’t it??), I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for reading and sharing your love of books.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PHOTO © HOUSDEN PHOTOGRAPHY
JODI MEADOWS is the author of the Incarnate series. She lives and writes in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, with her husband, a cat, and an alarming number of ferrets. She is a confessed book addict and has wanted to be a writer ever since she decided against becoming an astronaut. You can visit her online at www.jodimeadows.com.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
BOOKS BY JODI MEADOWS
Incarnate
Asunder
Infinite
Phoenix Overture, a digital novella
CREDITS
Cover art © 2015 by Colin Anderson
Cover design by Erin Fitzsimmons
COPYRIGHT
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
THE ORPHAN QUEEN. Copyright © 2015 by Jodi Meadows. Part opener photograph © iStockPhoto. 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 any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.epicreads.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meadows, Jodi.
The orphan queen / Jodi Meadows. — First edition.
pagescm
Summary: “In a world where it is forbidden, refugee Princess Wilhelmina’s ability to do magic might be just the thing to help reclaim her kingdom, or ruin it forever”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-231738-4
EPub Edition © February 2015 ISBN 9780062317407
[1. Princesses—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Orphans—Fiction. 4. Fantasy.] I. Title.
PZ7.M5073Orp2014
2014022631
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
AC
15 16 17 18 19 PC/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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