The Glowing Knight by Jodi Meadows

ONE
    JAMES WAS DOWN there fighting.
    I was not.
    And this was what jealousy felt like.
    â€œHe’s very good, isn’t he?” Lady Meredith Corcoran fanned herself with a tiny contraption of silk and lace. It looked pointless. She wasn’t exactly sweating, but her pale face was flushed with heat, even in the shade of the box reserved for the royal family and guests.
    The box sat at the top of the stands, enclosed on three sides. Dragon banners hung over the doors on either end, motionless. One of the footmen by a door appeared to be praying for a breeze as he poured a glass of chilled wine and took it to my father, who sat in a cushioned chair at the top row of the box, Mother to his left, and the Corcorans to his right. Aunt Kathleen sat next to Mother, but she was only half here while the others engaged in a low conversation about the trays of fruit sitting onthe table nearby.
    â€œYour cousin, that is.” Lady Meredith smiled and fanned herself faster. “He seems to be one of the best fighters down there.”
    â€œHe is, my lady.” The stands around the tournament field were packed with hundreds of nobles, and spotted with blue uniforms where off-duty Indigo Order soldiers and officers watched the cadet trials. Voices rang out, calling encouragement and insults to the contestants, forcing me to lean close to hear Lady Meredith. “If he wins this round, he’ll move to the finals tomorrow. He’ll fight not other cadets, but officers.”
    â€œAnd if he wins?”
    I could feel my father’s eyes on the back of my head. Mother’s, too. Both of them urging me to converse with Lady Meredith, make her like me, and like her back.
    There was nothing disagreeable about Lady Meredith. She was good-hearted and pleasant, and pretty enough to turn heads, especially with that golden hair she kept twisted into a coronet. But how was I supposed to focus on her when my future was being decided down there with James?
    No, that wasn’t why I was irritated. It was that every time I looked at her, I found myself wanting to make her smile or laugh. It was alarming how easily she could steal my attention.
    â€œIf he wins the match with an officer, he’ll have his choice of duties once he’s finished training this fall.” Which was exactly why this was so important. I needed James to win so that his superiors would believe he was fit to guard me.
    Below, James ducked a swing aimed to take off his head. The crowd gasped and Lady Meredith drew back, her handsflying to her chest. “Saints! What if Cadet Rayner hadn’t been quick enough to evade that?”
    I applauded as frantically as manners allowed. “That swing was announced so obviously that missing it would have meant James shouldn’t be here today.” Anyway, James was good at anticipating others’ moves—a favorable trait for a potential bodyguard—and it was one of his biggest advantages in these trials.
    â€œIncredible,” Lady Meredith breathed. Her cheeks flushed pink with the day’s heat.
    â€œYes.” I grinned and leaned forward to watch James thrust his dulled tournament blade toward his opponent, a tall, muscled boy about the same age as James and me. His black hair shone with sweat. “That’s Eric Matson he’s fighting,” I said.
    Lady Meredith didn’t take her eyes off the match. “I don’t know his family.”
    That wasn’t a surprise. They were some of the lower nobles, with little land outside their Hawksbill home. Most ended up joining the Indigo Order. “They’re distant relatives of the Chuters, and rather new to the city themselves. I believe they arrived shortly after your family returned to Hawes.”
    â€œI’ve missed so much in my time away.”
    â€œI’d be happy to show you around, and tell you all the gossip, if Lady Chey hasn’t already.” I seemed to have a slice of free time lately,