My jailers pull me toward him, forcing me to approach the king. I wonder if he’ll murder me in front of everyone, and paint the steps of his palace with my blood. I flinch as he stands. We face each other as betrothed people would, stark and alone before a crowd of faces. But this is not a wedding. This might be my funeral, my ending.
Something glints in his grip. His father’s sword? An executioner’s blade? I feel shivering cold as he clamps the something around my neck. A collar. Jeweled, gilded, sharp-edged, a beautiful thing of horrors. My blurred tears make it hard to see, until I’m sure of nothing but the black-armored king before me, and the brand scalding my collarbone.
There’s a chain attached to the collar. A leash. I am nothing more than a dog. He holds it tightly in his fist, and I expect him to drag me from the platform. Instead, he stands firm.
He tugs smartly, testing the chain in hand, making me stumble toward him. The points of the collar dig in. I almost choke.
“You put her body on display.” His lips brush my ear as he forces the words through clenched teeth. Pain hums in his voice. “I’ll do the same to you.”
His expression is unreadable, but his meaning is clear. With one hand, he points at his feet. His fingers are whiter than I remember.
I do as he says.
I kneel.
Acknowledgments
Before I thank any one person, I would like to thank the leftover pizza I’m currently eating. It’s really good.
As with the last time around, I owe thanks to so many people, and I’m going to do my best to include them all here. First and foremost, to my parents, Heather and Louis, who continue their disgusting level of support. I honestly could not have done this, and continue to do this, without you both. And, of course, my baby brother, Andrew, who is somehow now an adult. When that happened, I don’t know, but I’m so proud of you and so excited to see you continue to grow up. So much love and thanks to my grandparents—George and Barbara, Mary and Frank—I treasure you all and miss two of you so much. And to the rest of the extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc., thank you for your support and friendship. Special thanks and congratulations to Michelle, who is an author herself on the publishing road.
Last year’s acknowledgments ran very long, so I’m going to try to be a bit less wordy this time around. Thank you to all my friends on both coasts. Sorry for being weird. A sincere thank-you to Morgan and Jen, who tolerate and sometimes encourage my nonsense.
Thank you so much to the team at Benderspink, who continue to make great strides in the battle to bring Red Queen to the movie theater, not to mention keeping my own screenwriting career afloat. Christopher Cosmos, Daniel Vang, the Jakes, JC, David, and all the interns and their coverage. And, of course, thank you to Gennifer Hutchinson and Sara Scott, as well. I can’t wait to see where we go from here. Finally, to my lawyer, Steve Younger, who always has my back no matter what.
I could write pages thanking the team at New Leaf Literary, but I’ll spare you and summarize: they are, without question, the best. Top to bottom, side to side, every single person at my agency is outrageously talented and I thank my lucky stars I landed with them. To Jo, Pouya, Danielle, Jackie, Jaida, Jess, Kathleen, and Dave—thank you for existing and condescending to deal with me. To Suzie, I say it all the time, but only because it’s true: You are wonderful and unparalleled and the reason I can do what I do.
In case my gushing wasn’t quite gross enough, I’m going to continue. I truly consider the success of Red Queen to be a minor miracle, which I guess makes the people at HarperTeen saints. First and foremost, Kari Sutherland, my first editor, my first and only offer, who believed in my manuscript and made it so. To my other gem of an editor, Kristen Pettit, a shepherd in great clothes with an even greater sense of story. Thank you for your continued work and perseverance in shaping my clay ideas into lovely story sculptures. And also to Elizabeth Lynch(pin), you work so hard and tolerate me so well. The rest of the Harper team is no different: Kate Jackson (even if your food blog haunts me), Susan Katz, Suzanne Murphy, Jen Klonsky, wizards all. In marketing, the tireless Elizabeth Ward, Kara Brammer, actual celebrity superstar Margot Wood, and the rest of Epic Reads. Red Queen would never have made such a splash without any of you. To Gina, my lovely publicist, who makes it possible to see even more lovely readers. In managing editorial and production, my gratitude to Alexandra Alexo, Lillian Sun, Stephanie Evans, Erica Ferguson, Gwen Morton, and Josh Weiss. If not for you, Red Queen and Glass Sword would be an incoherent lump. In sales, Andrea Pappenheimer, Kerry Moynagh, Kathy Faber, Susan Yeager, and Jen Wygand. And a shout-out to Kaitlin Loss, who helps coordinate with my international publishers. Last, but in no way least, the design team, who I think might be actual magical beings? Seriously, have you seen my covers? There’s no way humans made those. But thank you for the art and I am on to you: Sarah Kaufman, Alison Donalty, Barb Fitzsimmons, and Toby & Pete.
Having now been published and officially in the living world of literature, I realize how expansive it is—and how scary it can be. Thank you so much to all the people who’ve made my transition from baby author to published author so smooth and easy. To the bloggers, vloggers, tweeters, readers, carrier pigeon-ers who continue to push Red Queen and now Glass Sword, thank you, thank you, thank you. To the fellow writers who are nothing but support, I’m so grateful for your friendship. I’d name names, but there’s too many of you, and honestly it feels like bragging to call you guys my friends. And once again, to Emma Theriault, who is greedy for RQ, generous with notes, and always willing to chat.
As is tradition, I will also thank a few things that are not people. Well, the first is a collection of people. To the New England Patriots. Last year I thanked you and you won the Super Bowl. Let’s keep that tradition going. Free Brady. To Wikipedia, the National Park Service, Scotland, Target, San Diego Comic-Con, the changing of the seasons, cashmere scarves, my excellent new printer, globes, coffee with too much cream, my Delta points, and brunch. And to my personal inspirations: Tolkien, Rowling, Martin, Spielberg, Lucas, Jackson, Bay. Yes, I said Michael Bay, get out of my face.
Nearly there. These are repeats, but they’re important, so if you’ve made it this far, you might as well read on. To Morgan. To Suzie. And again to my parents. This starts and ends with you.