Crown of Bones

by A. K. Wilder

  Palrio

  Tangeen

  Isle of Aku

  Nonnova

  Sierrak

  Gollnar

  Northern Aturnia

  Southern Aturnia

  Avon Eyre

  Recorder—a wordsmith or scribe, usually savant, who chronicles the initiation journey and other significant events of the realm.

  Retoren—an ancient language Ash tries to translate.

  Rhiannon—Baiseen’s treasurer’s most ambitious daughter, yellow-robe to a meercat caller phantom and childhood friend/once love interest of Marcus.

  Rigg-tackle-stuggs—a Sierrak football game played with two balls, four teams and four goals, one on each point of the compass.

  Rowten—non-savant captain of the Baiseen Palace honor guard.

  Rune bands—also known as rune chains—manacles or bracelets made from copper, bone, or sometimes gold. Etched with runes from the ancient sea scrolls, when worn they are said to keep a savant’s phantom from rising and cause terrible pain if they try.

  Salila—a Mar woman with extreme appetites, intractable will, and no obvious morals. Her only fear is Teern, known to all Mar as Father, and King of the Sea.

  Samsen—a yellow-robe savant who raises a part caller-part alter phantom that is confined to various forms of birds. He accompanies Marcus on his initiation journey as guard.

  Sanctuaries—the temple retreats devoted to the training of savants and their phantoms.

  Savant—One who can raise their phantom, bringing forth a manifestation of their being that is either caller, ouster, alter, warrior, or healer, or some combination of two. The ranks are:

  Brown-robe—those deemed as potentials by the Bone Throwers who, when eight years old, are brought to the sanctuaries to try to raise their phantom

  Blue-robe—successful potentials who have begun their training at the sanctuary

  Green-robe—more advanced savants but haven’t held their phantom to form

  Yellow-robe—savants who have successfully completed their initiation journey

  Orange-robe—highly trained savants who have reached master level

  Red-robe—the highest-ranking savant in a given sanctuary

  Black-robe—one of the Bone Throwers whose phantoms never hold solid form

  Sea Eagle—Captain Nadonis’s carrack that sails Marcus and his party toward Aku.

  Second Sun (also Dark Sun or Twin Sun)—Amassia’s binary sun that travels an extremely eccentric orbit. It can be viewed by the naked eye once every twenty-five-million years, when it heralds the next Great Dying.

  Sierrak—the realm to the far north, main Sanctuary in Asyleen. Sierrak is the home of the High Savant Tann, and famous for their starwatchers, and finely made distance viewers.

  Summits—These are meetings attended by council members, usually yellow-robe and higher, to make policies for the realms. A vote on the Summit carries weight, as even the Magistrate must uphold Summit decisions, agreed with or not.

  Talus—a mysterious white-robe savant Ash meets on the Isle of Aku.

  Tangeen—the realm to the west of Palrio, whose seat of rule is Pandom City. Home of Belair Duquan. Also home realm to the most beautiful Sanctuary in all of Amassia, Whitewing.

  Tann—a red-robe, High Savant of Lepsea, Sierrak, who raises a reptilian ouster phantom.

  Taruna—the Ma’ata keeper charged with minding the Mar’s underwater tombs off the coast of Kutoon in Gollnar.

  Teern—called Father by all Mar, and the King of the Sea, Teern has the responsibility of ensuring the survival of his people. Some say he isn’t Mar himself, but the last of the old gods, surviving many cycles of the Great Dying and remaining unchanged.

  Tessellated columns—the monoliths that rise when called to protect Baiseen. Nearly three stories tall, they are carved from obsidian found in the high ranges of Palrio. Ancient legends say they were set by Mar, back when the southwest of Palrio was under the sea.

  Tutapa—the island archipelago realm in the South Seas. Their Sanctuary, La’hanta, is very small and thought not to host an original whistle bone.

  Tyche—granddaughter of Yuki, a ten-year-old orange-robe savant who raises a caller phantom in the form of an impala.

  U’karn—head of the war council of Baiseen.

  Warriors—phantoms that train for battle, prepared to guard and protect their realm. Seen more in Sierrak and Aturnia but can be found in any realm, though very rare in Palrio.

  Whistle Bones—carved from bone, baleen, shell, or tusk. Only the whistle bones, thrown by the black-robe savants, can predict which child will raise their phantom, which will be non-savant, and which is marred and must be sacrificed to the sea.

  Yuki—the High Savant of Aku and Tyche’s grandmother.

  Zakia—High Savant of Kutoon in Gollnar who raises an alter phantom.

  Zarah—an orange-robe warrior from Northern Aturnia who teaches on the Isle of Aku, Marcus and Belair’s instructor.

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  Acknowledgments

  It takes far more than a village to bring a book to life. For everyone who has had a hand in this one, and every single person who reads it, my heart sings out to you.

  Special thanks go to Aaron Briggs for the brainstorming, cinematic and gaming vision, eagle-eyed continuity detection and action-packed choreography. Without your collaboration, this book would only be half a world, half a story. And blessings to my invincible agent, Nicole Resciniti, whose inspiring contributions, logic, strength, and faith surpass my wildest dreams. You are the best!

  Truckloads of gratitude to my brilliant sister, Shawn Wilder, for her endless reading and feedback of version after version after version and the support from the rest of the Wilder clan, Zac and Grayson. To Stephanie Smith and Natalie Costa Bir who read and offered notes in the very early days before the story took flight overseas, and to all the authors who have read and offered quotes, support, and friendship in tough times! Special shout-out to Greg Briggs and Katherine Petersen who proofed tirelessly right up to the eleventh hour, two people who know the difference between fletches and fetches, boson and bosun, among other things!

  Gratitude goes to everyone at Entangled Publishing—Liz Pelletier, Heather Howland, Stacy Abrams, and Nancy Cantor for the fantastic structural, line, and copyediting as well as everything else that happens behind the scenes. And to Tera Cuskaden who championed the story right from the start. Deep appreciation as well goes to Heather Riccio, who always makes me smile no matter how stressful things get, Jessica Lemmon, Curtis Svehlak, Bree Archer, and Jessica Turner. You all are champions!

  Finally, a special thanks to those who have stood by me in so many ways over decades of writing: Jeannette, Adriene, Jodi, Jean, Ly, Anna, Victoria, Jacque, Greg, Sara, Candy, Jimmy, Helen, Merrie, Traci, and my deep inner circle who cheer me on every day: Aaron, Ochre, Kayla, Kinayda, Son, EJ, and the wildest members of the team, Sin and Ra. I hope you all love this book as much as I do!

  About the Author

  A.K. Wilder is an established fantasy writer under the name of Kim Falconer. Born on the Wilder Ranch in California, she now lives on the far east coast of Australia. She is an astrologer and tarot reader, like her father before her, and holds multiple degrees, from horseshoeing, herbal medicine, and veterinary nursing to a master’s degree in writing. Storytelling is her first love, along with passions for reading, organic gardening, yoga, Spanish guitar, meditation, weight training, and the sea. Her writing is done in the early hours of the morning, when the dragons are still asleep.

  akwilder.com

  Keep reading to sink your teeth into the smash-hit series from New
York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff.

  Just Because You

  Live in a Tower Doesn’t

  Make You a Prince

  I can’t see clearly—distance, darkness, and the distorted glass of the windows cover up a lot—but I get the impression of a strong jaw, shaggy dark hair, a red jacket against a background of light.

  It’s not much, and there’s no reason for it to have caught my attention—certainly no reason for it to have held my attention—and yet I find myself staring up at the window so long that Macy has all three of my suitcases at the top of the stairs before I even realize it.

  “Ready to try again?” she calls down from her spot near the front doors.

  “Oh, yeah. Of course.” I start up the last thirty or so steps, ignoring the way my head is spinning. Altitude sickness—one more thing I never had to worry about in San Diego.

  Fantastic.

  I glance up at the window one last time, not surprised at all to find that whoever was looking down at me is long gone. Still, an inexplicable shiver of disappointment works its way through me. It makes no sense, though, so I shrug it off. I have bigger things to worry about right now.

  “This place is unbelievable,” I tell my cousin as she pushes open one of the doors and we walk inside.

  And holy crap—I thought the whole castle thing with its pointed archways and elaborate stonework was imposing from the outside. Now that I’ve seen the inside… Now that I’ve seen the inside, I’m pretty sure I should be curtsying right about now. Or at least bowing and scraping. I mean, wow. Just…wow.

  I don’t know where to look first—at the high ceiling with its elaborate black crystal chandelier or the roaring fireplace that dominates the whole right wall of the foyer.

  In the end I go with the fireplace, because heat. And because it’s freaking gorgeous, the mantel around it an intricate pattern of stone and stained glass that reflects the light of the flames through the whole room.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Macy says with a grin as she comes up behind me.

  “Totally cool,” I agree. “This place is…”

  “Magic. I know.” She wiggles her brows at me. “Want to see some more?”

  I really do. I’m still far from sold on the Alaskan boarding school thing, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to check out the castle. I mean, it’s a castle, complete with stone walls and elaborate tapestries I can’t help but want to stop and look at as we make our way through the entryway into some kind of common room.

  The only problem is that the deeper we move into the school, the more students we come across. Some are standing around in scattered clumps, talking and laughing, while others are seated at several of the room’s scarred wooden tables, leaning over books or phones or laptop screens. In the back corner of one room, sprawled out on several antique-looking couches in varying hues of red and gold, is a group of six guys playing Xbox on a huge TV, while a few other students crowd around to watch.

  Only, as we get closer, I realize they aren’t watching the video game. Or their books. Or even their phones. Instead, they’re all looking at me as Macy leads—and by leads, I mean parades—me through the center of the room.

  My stomach clenches, and I duck my head to hide my very obvious discomfort. I get that everyone wants to check out the new girl—especially when she’s the headmaster’s niece—but understanding doesn’t make it any easier to bear the scrutiny from a bunch of strangers. Especially since I’m pretty sure I have the worst case of helmet hair ever recorded.

  I’m too busy avoiding eye contact and regulating my breathing to talk as we make our way through the room, but as we exit into a long, winding hallway, I finally tell Macy, “I can’t believe you go to school here.”

  “We both go to school here,” she reminds me with a quick grin.

  “Yeah, but…” I just got here. And I’ve never felt more out of place in my life.

  “But?” she repeats, eyebrows arched.

  “It’s a lot.” I eye the gorgeous stained glass windows that run along the exterior wall and the elaborate carved molding that decorates the arched ceiling.

  “It is.” She slows down until I catch up. “But it’s home.”

  “Your home,” I whisper, doing my best not to think of the house I left behind, where my mother’s front porch wind chimes and whirligigs were the most wild-and-crazy thing about it.

  “Our home,” she answers as she pulls out her phone and sends a quick text. “You’ll see. Speaking of which, my dad wants me to give you a choice about what kind of room situation you want.”

  “Room situation?” I repeat, glancing around the castle while images of ghosts and animated suits of armor slide through my head.

  “Well, all the single rooms have been assigned for this term. Dad told me we could move some people around to get you one, but I really hoped you might want to room with me instead.” She smiles hopefully for a second, but it quickly fades as she continues. “I mean, I totally get that you might need some space to yourself right now after…”

  And there’s that fade-out again. It gets to me, just like it does every time. Usually, I ignore it, but this time I can’t stop myself from asking, “After what?”

  Just this once, I want someone else to say it. Maybe then it will feel more real and less like a nightmare.

  Except as Macy gasps and turns the color of the snow outside, I realize it’s not going to be her. And that it’s unfair of me to expect it to be.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispers, and now it almost looks like she’s going to cry, which, no. Just no. We’re not going to go there. Not when the only thing currently holding me together is a snarky attitude and my ability to compartmentalize.

  No way am I going to risk losing my grip on either. Not here, in front of my cousin and anybody else who might happen to pass by. And not now, when it’s obvious from all the stares that I’m totally the newest attraction at the zoo.

  So instead of melting into Macy for the hug I so desperately need, instead of letting myself think about how much I miss home and my parents and my life, I pull back and give her the best smile I can manage. “Why don’t you show me to our room?”

  The concern in her eyes doesn’t diminish, but the sunshine definitely makes another appearance. “Our room? Really?”

  I sigh deep inside and kiss my dream of a little peaceful solitude goodbye. It’s not as hard as it should be, but then I’ve lost a lot more in the last month than my own space. “Really. Rooming with you sounds perfect.”

  I’ve already upset her once, which is so not my style. Neither is getting someone kicked out of their room. Besides being rude and smacking of nepotism, it also seems like a surefire way to piss people off—something that is definitely not on my to-do list right now.

  “Awesome!” Macy grins and throws her arms around me for a fast but powerful hug. Then she glances at her phone with a roll of her eyes. “Dad still hasn’t answered my text—he’s the worst about checking his phone. Why don’t you hang out here, and I’ll go get him? I know he wanted to see you as soon as we arrived.”

  “I can come with you—”

  “Please just sit, Grace.” She points at the ornate French-provincial-style chairs that flank a small chess table in an alcove to the right of the staircase. “I’m sure you’re exhausted and I’ve got this, honest. Relax a minute while I get Dad.”

  Because she’s right—my head is aching and my chest still feels tight—I just nod and plop down in the closest chair. I’m beyond tired and want nothing more than to lean my head back against the chair and close my eyes for a minute. But I’m afraid I’ll fall asleep if I do. And no way am I running the risk of being the girl caught drooling all over herself in the hallway on her very first day…or ever, for that matter.

  More to keep myself from drifting off than out of actual interest, I pick up one of the chess pieces
in front of me. It’s made of intricately carved stone, and my eyes widen as I realize what I’m looking at. A perfect rendition of a vampire, right down to the black cape, frightening snarl, and bared fangs. It matches the Gothic castle vibe so well that I can’t help being amused. Plus, it’s gorgeously crafted.

  Intrigued now, I reach for a piece from the other side. And nearly laugh out loud when I realize it’s a dragon—fierce, regal, with giant wings. It’s absolutely beautiful.

  The whole set is.

  I put the piece down only to pick up another dragon. This one is less fierce, but with its sleepy eyes and folded wings, it’s even more intricate. I look it over carefully, fascinated with the level of detail in the piece—everything from the perfect points on the wings to the careful curl of each talon reflects just how much care the artist put into the piece. I’ve never been a chess girl, but this set just might change my mind about the game.

  When I put down this dragon piece, I go to the other side of the board and pick up the vampire queen. She’s beautiful, with long, flowing hair and an elaborately decorated cape.

  “I’d be careful with that one if I were you. She’s got a nasty bite.” The words are low and rumbly and so close that I nearly fall out of my chair. Instead, I jump up, plopping the chess piece down with a clatter, then whirl around—heart pounding—only to find myself face-to-face with the most intimidating guy I’ve ever seen. And not just because he’s hot…although he’s definitely that.

  Still, there’s something more to him, something different and powerful and overwhelming, though I don’t have a clue what it is. I mean, sure. He has the kind of face nineteenth-century poets loved to write about—too intense to be beautiful and too striking to be anything else.

  Skyscraper cheekbones.

  Full red lips.

  A jaw so sharp it could cut stone.

  Smooth, alabaster skin.

  And his eyes…a bottomless obsidian that see everything and show nothing, surrounded by the longest, most obscene lashes I’ve ever seen.