The Shadow Guild: The Shadow Guild is the business aspect of Under, falling under the direction of the Queen of Under. It includes all business dealings of whores, thieves, mercenaries, pirates and assassins of Yigris. All those who fall under the Shadow Guild’s rule must pay their dues, but in return they are protected by the might of the Queen of Under, as well as given shelter, food and clothing. Those who provide for the queen are in turn provided for.
The Guild Council: The Guild Council consists of the public heads of the different factions of Under, which include the pirates, thieves, whores, sellswords, and assassins. They report directly to the Queen of Under.
Riquin Hawkbeard: Riquin is the head of pirates. Born the son of a Yigrisian merchant sailor, he joined the Guild when his father lost his ship to pay his gambling debts. Bright and brutal, Riquin climbed the ranks quickly and became captain of his own ship, the Amber Mew, by the time he was thirty.
Dalia One-Eye: Dalia is the leader of thieves. Dalia was raised in Under and was picking noblemen’s pockets by the time she was four. She lost an eye at eighteen, when she had the choice between saving her eye or stealing a diamond-studded bracelet. Though she is the leader of thieves and must spend most of her time with bureaucracy, she still occasionally goes out on the hunt, simply to keep up her skills. She is currently seventy-three years old.
Madam Yimur: Yimur is the mistress of whores and paramours. The daughter and granddaughter of a whore, Yimur was raised in the Six-Mast surrounded by sex workers her entire life. Woefully flat-chested, she made it her goal to become so sought after that she would have to turn men away. The tales of Yimur’s kisses spread far and wide, and men (and women) came from as far away as the Balklands to spend a night with her. In the end, she married a merchant sailor and turned them all away, choosing to spend her time overseeing those who worked for her instead.
Gellen Brightblade: Gellen is the captain of sellswords. Little is known of him. It is believed that he may be Ladian, though he denies it. He is a vicious fighter, a shrewd tactician and a merciless drinker. He and Riquin despise each other, while he and Dalia are close friends.
Devery Nightsbane: Devery is the master of assassins. The youngest member of the council, he is the son of a Farcastian noblewoman who immigrated to Yigris several years ago. He is unnaturally fast, and his name strikes fear in the hearts of those in the know throughout the Four Winds.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Accomplishing anything worth doing never happens in a vacuum. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but it took a small island nation to raise this book. Without the help of friends, family, acquaintances and one very helpful stranger, this story would still be just a pile of words on a hard drive, and that is all it ever would have become.
First and foremost, I must uphold a promise that I made almost four years ago. Two-thirds of the way through writing the first draft of The Queen Underneath, my computer crashed, and I lost the document. I had saved it to the cloud, but the program I was using wasn’t compatible (note to Scrivener users—this is a real thing), and I spent about six hours howling and sobbing until a stranger—a man named Hutch who worked for Google—helped me find my book floating in the ether of the internet. I promised him that if I were to ever see that book published, he would be the first name mentioned in the acknowledgments. So here it is, Hutch from Google. Without your help, this book would never even have been finished. You made this possible, and my gratitude can’t be expressed with only a few words on this page.
Second, but nearly as important to the finished product of this novel as Hutch finding my book, is my amazing agent, Rena Rossner. I don’t really even have the words to say, publicly, how much your belief in me and my work has meant to me, but let me just say that if we were together at a pub, after a few glasses, I’d be weeping and possibly getting down on one knee to propose to you. Your advice, your editorial notes, your listening ear when I was falling apart have made you invaluable, but your kind heart has made you my friend. You are a rock star, and I can never thank you enough.
Thank you to my fantastic editors, Alyssa Raymond and Lauren Knowles, who have guided this story in such a brilliant, beautiful way. Thank you for believing in Gemma and her ragtag crew. To Ruth, my copyeditor, to Rosie Gutmann who designed the final product, to Will and everyone else at Page Street who had a hand in bringing Yigris to life, I salute you and am so grateful for all your hard work.
To the Ozzies—my poet friends who put up with my sword-waving, beheading, blood-letting ways, I can’t tell you how much your friendship, support and words have meant to me. Bryan—you’re a huge part of why I’m here. Thanks for making me go to that first meeting. Debbie—I love you with all my heart, tiny preacher woman. Thank you for brushing off my tarnished soul every once in while. John R.—your words set my creative heart aflame. Your classes are a cathedral. And Susan—dear encyclopedia of wisdom and wit—thank you for everything but especially for playing matchmaker. To Judy, who is too smart by half and too kind by three-quarters—you are the sister of my heart and the critique partner of my dreams.
To my dear friends who have suffered through beta readings—Doug, Liana, Wendy, Earl, and Kevin—you guys are the real MVPs. The finished product is so much better because of the sludge you waded through. To all my agent sibs—I’m so glad to be on this journey with you guys. Thanks for making me laugh with your GIFs, your wit and your love of avocados.
This book is about found family, which was important for me because I didn’t find a good portion of my family until I was a grown woman. Ric and Carolyn—you add to every story I’ll ever tell. We don’t share blood, but you are my team. Thank all the gods that the dice shook out the way they did, because I don’t want to live in a world where you aren’t my family.
And to my blood family. You know who you are. Thank you for everything—I don’t have enough pages to write all the ways that you helped shape me into the woman who finally grew up to be an author, but thank you, Mom, for stories at bedtime and overlooking the fact that I was still reading at 2:00 a.m. Thank you Jo and Cassy, Jen, Jon and Bill for hours of pretend, for always being there and for growing up to not just be my siblings, but also my friends. To Grandma H.—thank you for always giving me books for Christmas and for being a wonderful storyteller. Grandma and Grandpa M. and Grandpa H.—I so wish you were here to see this. I love you and will miss you always. And to my daddy—thank you for Beastmaster and Star Wars, Star Trek, and Johnny Quest. I only ever wanted to make you proud.
Thank you most of all, Isabella, Grayson, Willow, and Duncan for putting up with microwave dinners and a daydreaming mom. For loving me despite my flaws, and for teaching me that all the best books have maps, and every story is made better with magic. I used to think that my dream was to be an author, but in fact my dream job is being your mom. Publishing this book is just a bonus. And to Clay, who saved me from myself, thank you for believing in me enough for the both of us. Thank you for being you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stacey Filak is an unabashed Chicago Bears fan, a die-hard tabletop role player, a partially recovered Pinterest addict, and a born-again Viking princess. She lives in Michigan with her husband and four children, as well as a menagerie of pop-culture-named pets. She can be found haunting Twitter (@staceyfilak) when she’s not busy crafting worlds, daydreaming about recipes she’ll never make, or plotting her enemies’ demise. The Queen Underneath is her first book.