A burning need to run tugs at my heart. I want Kilorn, I want Gisa. I want Shade to appear and tell me this is another dream. I imagine them beside me, their words and open arms a comfort.
Another voice drowns them out. It burns my insides.
Cal follows orders, but he can’t make choices.
I sigh at the thought of Maven’s words. Cal did make a choice. And in the deepest parts of myself, I’m not surprised. The prince is as he has always been. A good person at his core, but unwilling to act. Unwilling to truly change himself. The crown is in his heart, and hearts do not change.
Farley finds me in an alley, staring at a wall with blank eyes, my tears long since dried. She hesitates for once, her boldness long gone. Instead, she approaches with almost tender slowness, a hand outstretched to touch my shoulder.
“I didn’t know until you did,” she murmurs. “I swear it.”
The person she loved is dead, stolen by someone else. Mine chose to walk away. Chose everything I hate over everything I am. I wonder which hurts more.
Before I let myself relax into her, allow her to comfort me, I notice someone else standing nearby.
“I knew,” Premier Davidson says. It sounds like an apology. At first I feel another surge of anger, but it isn’t his fault. Cal didn’t have to agree. Cal didn’t have to let me go.
Cal didn’t have to eagerly leap into a well-baited trap.
“Divide and conquer,” I whisper, remembering his own words. The fog of heartbreak clears enough for me to understand. Montfort and the Scarlet Guard would never support a Silver king, not truly. Not without other motives in play.
Davidson nods his head. “It’s the only way to beat them.”
Samos, Calore, Cygnet. The Rift, Norta, the Lakelands. All driven by greed, all ready to break one another for an already-broken crown. All part of Montfort’s own plan. I force another breath, and try to recover. Try to forget Cal, forget Maven, focus on the road ahead. Where it leads, I don’t know.
Somewhere in the distance, somewhere in my bones, thunder rolls.
We’re going to let them kill each other.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to the armies of people who made and continue to make my books a possibility. To my editor Kristen and the entire editorial team, the HarperTeen and HarperCollins family, Gina, the Elizabeths （both Ward and Lynch）， Margot, the best cover designer in the world, Sarah Kaufman, and the design team. To our foreign publishers and agents, the Universal film team, Sara, Elizabeth, Jay, Gennifer, and of course, the powerhouse that is New Leaf Literary. Suzie, always in my corner. Pouya, Kathleen, Mia, Jo, Jackie, Jaida, Hilary, Chris, Danielle, and Sara keeping my head on straight and coming through with some amazing notes to shape King’s Cage. New Leaf is always pushing forward. And once more, to Suzie, because I can never thank her enough.
Thank you to the just as formidable army that is my friends and family. My parents, Lou and Heather, still the reason for all this and the drive behind everything I am. My brother, Andy, who is now a better adult than me. My grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins, with great love to Kim and Michelle, the closest things I have to sisters. Thank you to friends from my old home, Natalie, Alex, Katrina, Kim, Lauren, and more. Thank you to friends from my new home, Bayan, Angela, Erin, Jenn, Ginger, Jordan, what seems like most of Culver City, and whoever ends up in the rocking chairs for PMCC Sunday. Thank you to my bunkmates in Slytherin Common Room, Jen and Morgan, and the missing bunkmate, Tori, who always has bedcouch waiting.
This might be a bragging paragraph, but I’ve made so many real friends and grown so much through meeting other authors over the past year. We have a weird job that I could not do without you guys. I would be remiss not to name, shame, and thank a few of you. First, Emma Theriault. Remember that name. Her support has been invaluable over the years. Thank you, in no particular order, to Adam Silvera, Renee Ahdieh, Leigh Bardugo, Jenny Han, Veronica Roth, Soman Chainani, Brendan Reichs, Dhonielle Clayton, Maurene Goo, Sarah Enni, Kara Thomas, Danielle Paige, and the entire YALL family. Warrior mother Margie Stohl. The first friend I ever made in this industry, Sabaa Tahir, who continues to be a torch against the night falling around us. My deepest love and admiration to Susan Dennard, who is not only an exemplary human, but a deeply talented writer with unparalleled insight into our craft. And of course, Alex Bracken, who tolerates too many text message rants to count, is both equally versed in Star Wars and American history, has the cutest child-emperor dog in the world, and is a truly steadfast, lovely, determined, intelligent friend who happens to be a crackerjack writer as well. I think I ran out of adjectives.