“I used to love you.” I shuddered, memories of runes and shadows and paring knives slipping under skin fresh in my mind, and shook my head. “I adored you. I would’ve died for you. I thought you were Lady-sent to save us, to pull us from the chaos magic and greed had brought down upon us, but you’re just like us. You’re not any different from them, maneuvering people like pieces to keep your power.”
She flew at me, fingers curling around my collar and pulling me close. My mask clattered to the dirt at our feet. “I am nothing like them. The decisions I made, everything I gave up, I did it for you, for each and every one of you, and you have no idea of the costs. You may be able to repay your debt in blood, but I’ll take mine to the pyre. I will never be free of what I did for this country.”
And I would never be free of what her people did to mine.
I grabbed Our Queen’s hand, prying her weak fingers from my throat one by one. Weaker than me, and poppy tincture still flowed through my veins. Her last act of magic had left her with more than scars. She stumbled.
“None of us will.” I let her go.
She picked up my mask with trembling hands, gaze stuck on the rough interior. “We cannot let our people suffer through another war.”
“Your people.” I helped her to her feet. “My people are dead.”
“Lord del Weylin has made himself a king and raised an army of drafted civilians and Erlend allies. His rebellion must be crushed before it becomes a war, and the people he would throw unprepared into battle must be freed.” She held out my mask, the finish bone-white and blank. “And our Elise was taken against her will. We cannot abandon her.”
The brittle calm my wrath had brought broke.
I took my mask and hid my face. “You’ve never managed to kill Lord del Weylin.”
The last Erlend lord clinging to the past. To tradition.
The source.
“No, it was our previous Opal’s final assignment. The three of you will go to Erlend. Weylin and his allies will die.” She gestured for me to turn and tied my mask back into place. “Understand?”
He expected assassins. He expected the Left Hand and Our Queen’s attempts on his life, but they’d never kill him like that. He’d sent Five here and knew even more about the Left Hand’s tactics now. Emerald and Amethyst would fail. But I was more than Opal.
I was a thief and a killer, trained by a childhood of fear and violence, and Weylin was not prepared for me. No walls or armies could protect him.
“Understood.” I tried to pull away, but her nails dug into my skin.
“And Opal, my Opal,” she whispered in my ear. “I will forgive your bitterness today, but if you ever treat me like that again, you won’t make it out of this city alive.” She released me. “Now kill them or die trying.”
“Of course, Our Queen.” I turned and swept into a bow, the names gouged inside my mask pressing into my flesh like brands.
North Star. Deadfall. Riparian. Caldera. Winter.
They would know me. They would know Nacea, and they would never forget it again in the short, short lives I granted them before they died.
They’d taken my country and my life, and I would take their heads.
For Sal
The history of Igna is long and divided—by people, by religions, by language—and Our Queen has tasked me, as well as many others, with connecting this history. I have attempted to distill it into one shortened time line for quick reference and one historical analysis detailing what I believe are formative events. To ensure that all who have need of this history are able to make use of it, I have decided to use the common as opposed to the academically accepted terms in the time line. The expressions most commonly used by historians will be expanded upon and their origins explained in the book proper. Versions in both Erlenian and Alonian reside within the same binding to, I hope, promote a common understanding between readers of various backgrounds.
Erlend and Alona exist no longer, but the division remains. The last ten years have been wrought with skirmishes, battles, and one-day wars between Our Queen and Lord Gaspar del Weylin, and few are of note when the larger picture is not taken into account. Many of these clashes I have left out of the time line because they are as frequent as they are repetitive, and we have neither the time nor the presses to list them all within this brief time line. Given the increasing appearances of ghost towns and increased nighttime raids by the north, a number of favorable and sensational rumors have taken root within Igna. I will state what is known and not theorize given that these events are still unfolding. For now, it is simply important to know that the struggle between Igna and Erlend—or some would say between Alona and Meredan’s displaced—is still ongoing.
—Elise de Farone
Spring 295 RA—The monarchy of Lona—the precursor to Alona—is formed from the Sun-drenched Coast and its city-states.
Summer 308 RA—The Great Migration—Meredan refugees travel through Berengard and are granted land north of Aren after Berengard denies them asylum due to their role in the Whispered War.
Spring 346 RA—The War of Twelve Gods begins between Lona and Berengard.
Who needs twelve gods? I can barely keep up with your Triad.
Winter 354 RA—The War of Twelve Gods ends when the Religious Rights treaty is signed by the three Head Priests of Lona and the Queen of Berengard.
Winter 397 RA—The northern lords of Aren—del Weylin, de Seve, de Farone, and del Aer—withdraw from the country and form the new nation of Eredan.
Of course they did.
Spring 398 RA—The last surviving noble house of Aren, the de Contes family, surrenders to Eredan. Lona declares war on Eredan after a series of border skirmishes to the east of Nacea.
Winter 398 RA—The Three Stars of Nacea agree to pay tribute to Eredan in exchange for military protection. Nacea becomes a territory of Eredan.
Spring 400 RA—The first civil war ends with the Eredan–Lona Treaty outlining the terms of surrender.
Autumn 400 RA—The Thrice-Blessed School opens on the border of Eredan and Lona to promote civility between the nations.
Summer 405 RA—Lona becomes Alona after the monarchy of Lona is dissolved and the High Council elected.
Summer 435 RA—The first victim of the Ash Plague dies. Alonian citizens head north to avoid the plague. The Eredan town of High Water allows them to settle outside of the city gates. Nacea stations quarantine healers along its borders to monitor visitors. Mizuho closes all its ports and recalls its ambassadors.
Winter 436 RA—The plague spreads through the Bay of Glass. Eredan closes its borders but continues to send aid.
Autumn 438 RA—The First Star of Nacea succumbs to the plague. The northern cities are isolated to prevent further spread.
Spring 439 RA—The Royal Physician system of medicine is adopted from Berengard after Physician Serrat Ansleigh visits Alona during the Ash Plague and trains with the Priests of the Body at the Thrice-Blessed School.
Summer 440 RA—The Third Star of Nacea sends ten handpicked students to the Thrice-Blessed School to study medicine and quarantine procedures.