Emry’s heart ached to see him do that. To watch him transform so effortlessly from the future king back into the Arthur she knew. And she worried she’d never find a way to become her old self again. That the strange magic flowing through her veins would change her into someone she didn’t recognize. Or worse, into someone she didn’t want to become.

And then Arthur caught her eye and smiled a slow, beautiful smile, and she decided she’d never let that happen, despite the impossible tasks that stood in front of them. They were setting out to make a better world. Together.

“I’m pretty sure this is a terrible idea,” Emry said.

“Of course it is,” Arthur said, holding back a grin. “But when has that ever stopped us?”

END OF BOOK ONE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This is a book that I’ve been holding in my heart for a long time. It’s one that I spent years writing, sometimes longhand, sometimes in seventeenth-century libraries, sometimes in quaint French villages and bustling London pubs. But mostly, it’s a book that I worked on, for a large part, at home during the pandemic. It’s surreal to watch it find its way into the world, this story I desperately wish I could send back in time to my younger self.

Instead, all I can do is send it forward in time to you, dear reader. I hope it was everything you needed it to be. Also, thank you for putting up with my extremely dubious reimagining of King Arthur.

But most of all, thank you to everyone who cheered this book on when it was nothing but a crazy idea, a half-finished manuscript, and a copy-editor’s worst nightmare (in my defense, I only invented a couple of words and fudged history when it was absolutely necessary). If everyone could line up to the side of the stage until I call your names, that would be great.

First, I’m amazingly fortunate to have found a true champion in my agent, Barbara Poelle, who is nothing short of miraculous. Second, I’m incredibly grateful for my badass editor, Jenny Bak, for believing in this story and knowing exactly how to make it better. Thank you for your guidance and insight, and for only FaceTiming me by accident once.

To my husband, Daniel Inkeles—none of this would be possible without your love, support, and lovingly supportive snark. Thank you a million times over, and sorry for dragging you to all of those castles all of those times and making you take Instagrams of me.

Mom, thank you for listening to me chatter on about characters and plot points and Arthurian legends, and for giving me that copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when I was twelve, which is really what started me down this path in the first place.