The Dragonprince's Heir Read Online Free PDF Page B

over the drop, and let it go.
    It fell four paces and landed with a quiet little plink on empty air, just above that window. My breath escaped in a moment's relief. The window pane below was still extended. I scooted forward another inch, until I was only halfway seated on the stone of my window, and a new terror stabbed up through my gut.
    I tried to turn in place, to dive across the open windowsill and get a grip on the ledge inside my room. Instead I slipped. The fine, smooth doeskin of my breeches slid against the seamless stone, and my legs shot down toward the abyss. My fingers bruised clutching at the smooth stone of the windowsill. They caught against the very edge. I jerked to a stop. My stomach rose up, and I thought I might pass out from blind panic.
    Then my fingers slipped, and I fell.
    I landed hard on a pane of empty air. It was no more than three paces by four, and my left foot missed the edge. I slammed down hard, my right leg twisting and folding painfully under me while my left tried to drag me the rest of the way down to earth.
    I twisted frantically to get a grip with my hands. In the process I slapped the key I'd dropped before, and it went tinkling and skittering toward the far edge. I grabbed for it. I got it. In the same motion, I threw my trapped leg free, and it went over the side.
    I would have screamed if I could have breathed. Terror flashed black and red behind my eyes, but as I slipped over the pane of air, I closed one hand tight around the key and caught the edge with the other. Once more I held myself suspended for a heartbeat. This time, it was enough. I kicked my knees up into the empty window and sat for some time panting. Then I inched farther in, until my ankles were dangling inside the dark room.
    Then at last I relaxed my grip on the open window. I leaned my head against the cool stone wall and whispered calming words. I waited until my heartbeat no longer thundered in my ears, then I said quietly, "Windspun glass, close." I felt the window snick shut behind me.
    The room was dark. I could have spoken the word to light it with Father's imprisoned fire, but I had no need. I knew this room as well as my own. I maneuvered past piles of mildewed linens and furniture crumbling in rot. Six years of exposure to the elements had taken their toll, but nothing in here held real value. In six years, no one had cared enough to summon a locksmith.
    I sank down and pressed my head against the door. My arms were still shaking, and my heart was trying to bruise itself against my breastbone, so I knelt there for a while, breathing and listening. I turned the key over and over on my fingertips.
    Caleb once told me that Father could not trust his own people enough to build locks into the doors of the tower. In the earliest days there hadn't been doors at all. But in the long years of peace, things had changed, and there were craftsmen enough within the fortress to make such amenities. My father's special magic had built windows of windspun glass that opened at a word, but it had taken a boring old copper lock to make this escape route for me. Six years ago I'd stolen the key, just to preserve this opportunity—to ensure no one ever closed the window pane directly beneath my own—and in all that time I had dreamed of trying it out. I had never imagined it would be so scary.
    But now I needed to move. Someone might have seen me, after all. Or Caleb might check in on me. Or Mother might send someone with food. If they searched, they would find the open window. I needed to move.
    I fit the key in the lock, and it turned as easily as always. I cracked the door and peeked out into the hall, but it was empty now. I slipped on through, closed the door behind me, and locked it again. I pocketed the key and took two steps toward the stairs before I heard one heavy footfall right behind me.
    "I always wondered if that was your doing," Toman said.
    I froze in panic, but he went on utterly at ease. "It fits your