Amanda Downum - The Bone Palace

House Korinthes is not the only house to have fallen from glory, but is certainly the most notorious. Beginning with the rumors surrounding Iodith Petreos’s death and ending with the Hecatomb, their 73-year reign is generally considered a shadow on Selafaïn history. Demos I was a ruthless ruler, as was his daughter Damia. Demos II was a burgeoning tyrant when Tsetsilya Konstantin’s death triggered the destruction of the palace and the devastation of Erisín. Historians often speculate what sort of king Ioanis might have been, but most are just as glad not to know. Their crest was a winged boar, red on black.

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!

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