The Bone Palace - Amanda Downum [169]
He hadn’t seen Isyllt Iskaldur in years—in all his dreams of rescue, freedom had never worn her face. But now she knelt before him and unlocked his shackles.
“I’m not dead, am I?” He could imagine her gaunt, aquiline features on the Lady of Ravens all too easily.
She laughed, but her smile twisted sideways and fell away. “Not yet. We’ll see how long you survive my company.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Not here,” she said, helping him stand. The room blurred and spun as he rose. Isyllt reached to steady him and he flinched away from her hand, from the shock of human contact. He shrugged apologetically, leaning against the wall.
She smiled wry understanding. “Come on. Bath first, then news.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I could never have finished this book without the help and support of so many people. These include but aren’t limited to: Elizabeth Bear, Jodi Meadows, Jaime Lee Moyer, Leah Bobet, Celia Marsh, Liz Bourke, and everyone in the drowwzoo chat, for endless brainstorming and commiserations; the Partners in Climb, for moral support and getting me out of the house on a regular basis, and for never dropping me on my head; all my blog readers who listen to me bitch and look interested and sympathetic; my fabulous agent Jenn Jackson and equally fabulous editor DongWon Song, and everyone at Orbit.
Thank you!
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Adrastos Agyros - the king’s seneschal
Anika Sirota - an ingénue
Aphra - an elder vampire, Spider’s maker
Ashlin Idaran Alexios - crown princess of Selafai, wife of Nikos Alexios
Azarné Vaykush - a vampire
Cahal - a lieutenant in Ashlin’s retinue
Ciaran - a musician and friend of Isyllt
Dahlia - an urchin
Ferenz Darvulesti - a Sarken margrave, Phaedra’s husband
Forsythia - a prostitute
Ginevra Jsutien - a courtier, heir of House Jsutien
Hekatarin Denaris - captain of the prince’s guard
Iancu Sala - steward of House Severos
Isyllt Iskaldur - necromancer and Crown Investigator
Kebechet - a perfumist, proprietor of the Black Phoenix
Khelséa Shar - police inspector
Kirilos Orfion - sorcerer and spymaster, Isyllt’s mentor
Mathiros Alexios - king of Selafai, Nikos’s father
Mekaran Narkissos - owner of the Briar Patch
Mikhael Kurgoth - captain of the king’s guard
Nadesda Severos - archa of House Severos, Savedra’s mother
Nikos Alexios - crown prince of Selafai
Phaedra Severos Darvulia - a sorceress
Savedra Severos - Nikos’s mistress
Sevastian Severos - Savedra’s father, Nadesda’s husband
Spider - a vampire and rabble- rouser
Tenebris - an elder vampire
Thea Jsutien - archa of House Jsutien, Ginevra’s aunt
Varis Severos - sorcerer and member of the Arcanost, Savedra’s uncle
Whisper - a vampire, Forsythia’s lover
Various other citizens, courtiers, vampires, and redshirts
Table of Contents
FRONT COVER IMAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
EXTRAS
MEET THE AUTHOR
A PREVIEW OF THE KINGDOMS OF DUST
PART I: Crepuscule
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
PART II: Nocturne
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
PART III: Aubade
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
APPENDIX I
APPENDIX II
BY AMANDA DOWNUM
COPYRIGHT
BY AMANDA DOWNUM
The Necromancer Chronicles
The Drowning City
The Bone Palace
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 Amanda Downum
Excerpt from The Kingdoms of Dust copyright © 2010 by Amanda Downum
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of