The Future King

CHAPTER 1

Emry Merlin hurried through the dark London streets, cursing her good-for-nothing brother. Of course he d pick a night like this to cause trouble. What had started as a tentative drizzle was now an enthusiastic downpour, and Emry shivered beneath her wet cloak as she squelched her way down the Strand.
Half an hour ago, she d been lying in bed reading a novel about love-crossed pirates. Then a castle guard had knocked on her door, concerned that Emmett still hadn t returned from the tavern.
I think somethin s wrong, Tristan had told her. He had this tortured look, like he was goin off to do something reckless. But reckless shouldn t take four hours.
No, it shouldn t. Emry had lowered her book and considered the young, frowning guard with a sigh. Do you know which tavern?
He said he was headed to the Tipsy Merchant.
She knew it, but only by reputation. The tavern was a haunt of the city s rougher types: petty criminals, laborers spoiling for a fight, and the occasional guard when they had coin to lose, and when they didn t, but couldn t help gambling anyway.
I m going after him.
Tristan had blanched. By yourself?
I m a wizard.
But you re also a lady, and it ent safe, down that way, late at night.
Emry had assured him that she d take precautions.And I have, she thought. Under her sodden cloak, she wore a boy s tunic and hose. Her dark hair, which fell just below her chin these days, was tucked beneath a hat. It was a hasty disguise, and one that wouldn t hold up on close inspection, but still. It was better than traipsing through the city not to mention the mud in skirts.
As she walked, she considered creative ways to torment her brother if it turned out nothing was actually the matter. Death by a thousand parchment cuts was currently winning. Honestly, there was mud inside her boots.
Emry drew her cloak tighter around her shoulders as a gust of cold air cut through the wet fabric. Between the late hour and the rain, London

Robyn Schneider grew up in Southern California, where she spent her childhood reading fantasy novels and searching for secret passages. She’s a graduate of Columbia University, where she studied creative writing, and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, where she earned a Masters of Bioethics. Robyn is the bestselling author of The Other Merlin, The Beginning of Everything, Extraordinary Means, Invisible Ghosts, and You Don’t Live Here. Her work is available across the world in over a dozen languages. She lives in Los Angeles with her TV producer husband, their tiny puppy, and far too many books.

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