This book was a beast to write. The following people ensured I was not eaten: Arwen Brenneman and Rebecca Sherman, whom I can never thank enough; Phoebe North and the Glassboard Gang; Naithan Bossé and Earle Peach, who got me thinking about harmonics at just the right moment; Inchoiring Minds and Madrigalians; Becca, who showed me the taiga; Tamora Pierce, who knows about battling Grendels; Rose Curtin and Steph Sinclair, consultants to the clueless; Iarla ó Lionáird; Jacob Arcadelt; Josquin des Prez; Bessie, my trusty bike; and my mother, who’s always happy to talk about art.
I gratefully acknowledge the late Douglas Adams, to whom I owe the idea of an inside-out house, and Pink Floyd, to whom there are more sly allusions in this book than I can count.
Finally, thanks to Jim, Dan, Mallory, and the fabulous folks at Random House, who have been unflaggingly supportive and kind. And to Scott, Byron, and úna, my heart and home.
AT CASTLE ORISON
Seraphina Dombegh—our charming heroine, often called Phina, half-dragon Queen Lavonda—ill and abdicated
Rufus, Dionne, and Laurel—Lavonda’s unlucky children, all dead Queen Glisselda—plucky new head of state Prince Lucian Kiggs—Glisselda’s cousin and fiancé Viridius—court composer, Seraphina’s erstwhile employer Lars—designer of trebuchets, lover of loud music, half-dragon Abdo—dancer and scamp, possible property of a god, half-dragon Tython—Abdo’s pious grandfather
Dame Okra Carmine—undiplomatic Ninysh ambassador, half-dragon Alberdt—resistant guardsman
dozy page boy—sleeping on the job
IN NINYS
Josquin—Dame Okra’s distant cousin, a chin-bearded herald Captain Moy—leader of the Eight, the authoritative chin beard Nan—Moy’s doughty daughter
Des Osho—the Eight, Phina’s armed escort through Ninys Nedouard Basimo—kleptomaniac plague doctor, half-dragon Blanche—reclusive hermit, fond of spiders, half-dragon Od Fredricka des Uurne—muralist with a chip on her shoulder, half-dragon Gianni Patto—claw-footed bogeyman of the Ninysh mountains, half-dragon Count Pesavolta—ruler of Ninys and reluctant funder of quests
IN SAMSAM
Hanse—terse old huntsman who escorts Phina through Samsam
Rodya—unwashed young bravo, the other escort
Josef, Earl of Apsig—Lars’s half brother, disdainer of dragonkind, up to no good
Jannoula—banished from Phina’s mind, half-dragon
Ingar, Earl of Gasten—lover of books, learner of languages, disciple of Jannoula, half-dragon
IN PORPHYRY
Naia—Abdo’s favorite auntie
Paulos Pende—elderly priest with a powerful mind, leader of the half-dragons, or ityasaari, in Porphyry Zythia Perdixis Camba—statuesque lady, unexpectedly familiar, ityasaari Amalia Perdixis Lita—Camba’s aged mother, Agogoi Mina—winged officer of the law, ityasaari Brasidas—blind market singer, ityasaari Phloxia—shark-toothed lawyer (literally), ityasaari Gaios and Gelina—handsome fleet-footed twins, ityasaari
DRACONIC FRIENDS AND FOES
Ardmagar Comonot—deposed leader of dragonkind, bothering the Queen Orma—Phina’s uncle, on the run
Eskar—former undersecretary of the dragon embassy; running with Orma, or pursuing her own plans?
Ikat—physician, civic leader of the dragon exiles in Porphyry Colibris—Ikat’s daughter, forever young Lalo—exiled saarantras, eager to go home Mitha—quigutl of Lab Four, friend to Eskar, insurrectionist and folksinger General Zira—prominent Loyalist general General Palonn—prominent general for the Old Ard General Laedi—new strategist for the Old Ard, the butcher of Homand-Eynn
NOBLE KNIGHTS
Sir Cuthberte Pettybone—knight of Phina’s acquaintance, too old for war, too young to die
Sir Maurizio Foughfaugh—erstwhile squire of Phina’s acquaintance, still a dedicated nuisance
Sir Joshua Pender—training the next generation of dracomachists
Squire Anders—the next generation, easily dazzled
Agogoi—founding families of Porphyry, now make up the ruling Assembly Allsaints—all the Saints in Heaven. Not a deity, exactly; more like a collective ard—Mootya for “order, correctness”; may also denote a battalion of dragons Ardmagar—title held by the leader of dragonkind; translates roughly to “supreme general”
aurochs—large, wild cattlebeast, extinct in our world; existed in Europe until the Renaissance Bibliagathon—great library of Porphyry
Blystane—capital of Samsam
Castle Orison—Goreddi seat of government, in Lavondaville Censors—extra-governmental dragon agency charged with maintaining draconic purity Chakhon—Porphyrian god of chance, sometimes called Merry Chance Comonot’s Treaty—established peace between Goredd and dragonkind destultia—draconic drug; an emotional suppressant, analgesic, and pyrocardia cure Donques—village in the Ninysh alps
doublet—short, fitted, and often padded man’s jacket
dracomachia—martial art for fighting dragons; invented by St. Ogdo excision—surgical removal of memories from deviant dragons, performed at the discretion of the Censors Fnark—Samsamese village, site of St. Abaster’s shrine
gaar—Porphyrian anchovy paste, more delicious than it sounds Goredd—Seraphina’s homeland, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Goreddi) Heaven—Southlanders’ afterlife, as outlined by the Saints in scripture Homand-Eynn—site of a terrible Loyalist defeat
houppelande—robe of rich material with voluminous sleeves, usually worn belted; women’s are floor-length; a man’s might be cut at the knee ityasaari—half-dragon (Porphyrian)
Ker—council of dragon generals that advises the Ardmagar Kerama—capital of the Tanamoot
Lab Four—secret Censorial facility in the Tanamoot
Laika—island near Porphyry where the Porphyrian navy moors Lakhis—Porphyrian goddess of necessity, sometimes called Dread Necessity Lavondaville—Seraphina’s hometown and the largest city in Goredd, named for Queen Lavonda, who made peace with dragonkind forty years ago Loyalists—dragons who take Comonot’s side in the civil war Meconi—river leading from the Omiga Valley to the interior of the Tanamoot Metasaari—Porphyrian neighborhood, home to exiled saarantrai Montesanti—monastery of St. Abaster’s Order in Ninys Mootya—language of dragons, rendered in sounds a human mouth can make Ninys—country southeast of Goredd, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Ninysh) Old Ard—dragons opposed to Comonot and his Loyalists
Omiga—principal river of Porphyry
oud—lute-like instrument, often played with a pick, or plectrum palasho—palace (Ninysh)
Pinabra—vast pine forest in southeast Ninys
Porphyry—small city-state at the mouth of the Omiga River, northwest of the Southlands; originally a colony of dark-skinned people from even further north; may also refer to its territories along the Omiga River psalter—book of devotional poetry, usually illustrated; in Goreddi psalters, there’s a poem for each of the major Saints pyria—sticky, flammable substance used in dracomachia for setting dragons on fire; also called St. Ogdo’s fire pyrocardia—deadly heart condition in dragons
Quighole—dragon and quigutl ghetto in Lavondaville
quigutl—small, flightless subspecies of dragon with a set of dexterous arms in place of wings; do the dirty, fussy jobs that dragons can’t or won’t saar—Porphyrian for “dragon”; often used by Goreddis as a short form of saarantras
saarantras—Porphyrian for “dragon in human form” (plural form: saarantrai) St. Abaster—defender of the faith; hates dragons, but loves smiting; revered in Samsam, but popping up all over St. Capiti—representing the life of the mind; Phina’s substitute patroness St. Clare—patroness of the perceptive
St. Fionnuala—Lady of Waters; called Fionani in Ninys
St. Gobnait—patroness to the diligent and persistent; cathedral in Lavondaville named for her St. Ida—patroness of musicians and performers; music conservatory in Lavondaville named for her St. Ogdo—founder of dracomachia; patron of knights and of all Goredd St. Pandowdy—lost Saint
St. Tarkus—another one
St. Willibald—patron of markets and news; called Wilibaio in Ninys and Villibaltus in Samsam St. Yirtrudis—the heretic; Phina’s true patroness; author of an interesting testament Samsam—rain-soaked country south of Goredd, one of the Southlands (adjective form: Samsamese) Segosh—capital of Ninys, center of art and culture (adjective form: Segoshi) shawm—oboe-like instrument
skittle-pin—small pin used in lawn or table bowling
Skondia—Porphyrian harborside neighborhood
Southlands—Goredd, Ninys, and Samsam together
Tanamoot—dragons’ vast country north of the Southlands, wild and mountainous Vasilikon—Porphyrian seat of government
Zokalaa—great square of central Porphyry