The king’s guards patrolled in thick rotations, their torches flickering like the last remnants of a world the king was burning to the ground. There were more of them than there had been yesterday, and that was a problem. I tugged at the stiff collar of my stolen uniform, trying to ignore the suffocating weight of the fabric against my skin. The crest embroidered on my chest made my stomach churn, but Micah had been right. This uniform, this guise, it was the only way we were getting inside the palace.
