Wings of Shadow

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by Nicki Pau Preto


  2 After he married his bold Queen Genya the General in 125 AE, many began to refer to this period as the Reign of the General.

  3 So called because Aryk was Bellonya’s youngest brother, fourth in line for the throne, and only ascended because his older brother and both her daughters predeceased her.

  4 Neither princess was officially crowned, but both were referred to as queens before their deaths in the Blood War.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to my agent, Penny Moore, for picking me out of the slush and seeing my potential.

  Thank you to my editor, Sarah McCabe, for making my dreams come true and loving this world and these characters as much as I do.

  Thank you to my publishers at home and around the world, to my subrights agents, my publicists and cover designers, and everyone who has had a hand in bringing these books from my head and into my hands.

  Thank you to OwlCrate for taking a chance on my series and giving me stunning special edition covers. Thank you to Fae Crate for the endless support and enthusiasm (and merch!), and Uppercase and Totally Booked Crate for giving the Crown of Feathers series its first boost.

  Thank you to my friends and family for the endless support and encouragement, and thank you especially to my writer friends, who understand the ups and downs of this career better than anyone.

  As always, thank you to the readers, bloggers, booktubers, bookstagrammers, reviewers, librarians, and booksellers for championing this series. I couldn’t be more grateful.

  Last but certainly not least, thank you to the First Riders Street Team! You turned my fan base from a fledgling flock into a horde, and so many of you went above and beyond for me and my books. Special thank-you to Holly H., Liza F., Megan J., Alex C., Brianna B., Haley R. B., Brittany P., Laura W., Eileidh M., Callum C. (Val’s #1 fan), Erika D., Lili H., Sam G., Hailey B., Leslie B., Leah T., Ali K. B. T., Shahna C., Maddi C., and Kathy P.

  More from this Series

  Heart of Flames

  Crown of Feathers

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  NICKI PAU PRETO is a young adult fantasy author living just outside Toronto, Canada. After getting a degree in visual arts, a master’s in art history, and a diploma in graphic design, Nicky discovered two things: she loved to escape the real world, and she wasn’t interested in a regular nine-to-five life. Luckily, her chosen career covers both.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/teen

  www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Nicki-Pau-Preto

  Simon Pulse

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  ALSO BY NICKI PAU PRETO

  Crown of Feathers

  Heart of Flames

  GLOSSARY

  GODS

  Axura5:

  Goddess of the sun and daylight, as well as life, symbolized by the phoenix

  Nox6:

  Goddess of the moon and darkness, as well as death, symbolized by the strix

  deathmaidens:

  Servants of Nox, who lure lost souls into the dark realms

  Miseriya:

  Goddess of the poor and hopeless

  Hael:

  God of health and healing

  Teyke7:

  God of luck, a trickster, symbolized by the cat

  Mori:

  God of knowledge and memory, symbolized by the owl

  Anyanke:

  Goddess of fate, symbolized by the spider

  Soth:

  The wicked south wind, likely originating from the now-extinct Lowland civilization

  Nors:

  The fair north wind, of similar origin to Soth, and still prayed to by the people of Arboria North

  Eo:

  An obscure goddess of unknown origin favored among traders and messengers

  Xenith:

  An alleged third sister of the ancient Pyraean pantheon of Axura and Nox

  NOTABLE PEOPLE

  Callysta:

  Lover and second-in-command of Queen Nefyra. Callysta’s and Queen Nefyra’s phoenixes were also mates: Cirix, the first male phoenix, and Ignix, the first female phoenix.

  Queen Genya the General:

  Married to King Hellund the Just. Exiline was her phoenix. Successfully defeated the brigands that terrorized her husband’s reign.

  The Five Brides:

  Queen Elysia and her four royal sisters (Anya, Rylia, Cara, Darya). They helped secure peace treaties during the founding of the empire through marriage alliances.

  The First Riders:

  Fourteen female warriors chosen by Axura to fight against Nox’s darkness.

  King Rol of Rolland:

  Ancestor to Rolan of Stel and originally called Rol the Unruly, he earned fame—and the nickname Rol the Betrayer—for his famed assassination attempt against Ferronese King Damian.

  Rolan of Stel:

  Governor of Ferro, responsible for the attack on Azurec’s Eyrie

  Councilor Halton of Stel:

  Rolan’s father

  Lania of Stel:

  Wife of King Aryk Ashfire, mother of Pheronia Ashfire, Queen Regent of the Golden Empire

  General Rast:

  Leader of the Golden Empire’s military and credited with enforcing the animage registry and magetax at the end of the Blood War.

  FAMOUS BATTLES

  Dark Days:

  The dawn of time, when Axura’s phoenixes battled Nox’s strixes, saving the world from endless night

  Lowland Invasion:

  Attempted invasion of Pyrmont (then the entirety of the Pyraean Queendom) by an unnamed civilization living in modern Pyra’s Foothills

  Stellan Uprising:

  A series of lords who banded together in Stel, attempting to wrest several major cities from empire control, eventually defeated by Avalkyra Ashfire

  Blood War:

  The conflict between opposing heirs and sisters Avalkyra and Pheronia Ashfire

  Last Battle:

  Fought in Aura Nova, final conflict of the Blood War

  COMMON TERMS

  animage:

  A person who has animal magic

  shadowmage:

  A person who has shadow magic

  Red Horde:

  The first-ever gathering of the entirety of Pyra’s Phoenix Riders, under Queen Lyra’s reign

  False Sisters/Shadow Twins:

  Siblings born mere moments apart by the same father and two different mothers

  Mercies:

  Phoenix Riders that checked battlefields for survivors and resurrections

  Shadowheart:

  Spymaster, position in ancient Pyra in service to the queen

  magetax:

  Tax charged to animages for the use of their magic

  magical registry:

  Record of known animages in the Golden Empire

  bondservant:

  An animage working off a criminal debt to the empire

  mageslave:

  A derogatory term for a bondservant

  dark realms:

  The endless black abyss where lost souls wander for eternity

  Soth’s Fury:

  A series of caves near Azurec’s Eyrie, named after the south wind and currently in use as a Phoenix Rider training course

  Silverwood:

  A stretch of forest near the eastern Pyraean Foothills featuring taller, straighter trees likely brought to the region by settlers from Arboria North

  Prosperity outpost:

  Originally built by Queen Lyra the Defender during the Lowland Invasion and updated and heavily expanded by Ellody during her Reign of Prosperity

  Copper Hill:

  A once-thinking mining community on the outskirts of Ferro, now home to warehouses, processing facilities, and an abandoned outpost-turned-prison

  Haven:

  A secret hideout for animages located in Arboria

  horde:

  The technical term for any flock exceeding one hundred birds

  wing widow:

  A derogatory term for a Rid
er whose mount has died

  Shadow Blooms:

  A spiky black flower that grows only on the upper reaches of Pyrmont, also commonly called “Deathmaidens” after the servants of Nox

  PYRAEAN TERMS

  aeti:

  Yes, affirmative

  apex:

  literal translation is “first” but it generally refers to the highest-ranking bondmates in a flock. They are often oldest and strongest, but that is not always the case

  apexaeris:

  Apex Rider or Apex Master

  Aura:

  City/place of gold, and the ancient capital of Pyra

  Aurys:

  River of gold, which flows from Pyrmont’s highest peaks down into the valley of the Golden Empire

  benex:

  literal translation is “second” but it generally refers to a secondary bonded pair, linked to the apex pair

  diyu ma:

  “Long time,” an expression or greeting

  duovol:

  A two-Rider flight pattern, called a “queenstrike” when a queen leads the charge

  impyr:

  Term of endearment translating to “little fire,” originating in a Pyraean song

  maiora:

  Grandmother

  mundi apex phoenix:

  The world’s first phoenix

  nyx:

  Victory

  onbra:

  Dark or shadow

  pyr:

  Fire or flame

  Pyra:

  City/place of fire; also known as the Freelands, an emancipated province of the Golden Empire

  pyraflora:

  Fire Blossom, a tree with red flowers symbolic of Pyra. Petals can be made into poison, and sap is used for fireproofing.

  phoenixaeris (s); phoenixaeres (pl):

  Phoenix Rider or Phoenix Master

  phoenixami:

  “Phoenix friend,” usually meant to indicate apprentices or young, untested Riders, and carried with it the hint of derision or condescension

  phoenovo:

  Phoenix egg

  petravin:

  Rockwine, a distilled Pyraean liquor aged with a blend of local herbs and flowers, made only in the small village of Petratec

  sapona:

  Soaptree, plant used to bathe with

  Sekveia:

  The Second Road, an ancient route through the wilds of Pyrmont that supposedly leads to lost treasure

  stellaflora:

  Pale white Star Flowers used to commemorate the dead

  trivol:

  A three-Rider arrowhead flight pattern

  vollancea:

  A spear or single file flight pattern

  xe:

  Prefix meaning “sweet” or “dear”; can also mean “brother” or “sister,” based on the gender of the name it’s paired with.

  xe xie:

  Generic term of endearment translating to “sweet” or “dear” (xe) “one” (xie)

  FOREIGN LANGUAGE TERMS

  sia:

  Yes, affirmative in dialect of Arboria North

  verro:

  Yes, affirmative in Ferronese

  5 “Azurec” in the Trader’s Tongue

  6 “Noct” in the Trader’s Tongue

  7 Teyke’s cat was given the name “Felix” in the Scrolls of Luck, discovered in Orro at a Temple to Teyke, and according to that text is considered a god himself

  MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Text © 2021 by Nicki Pau Preto

  Jacket illustration © 2021 by Kekai Kotaki

  Map illustration © 2021 by Jordan Saia

  Jacket design by Tiara Iandiorio © 2021 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  MARGARET K. McELDERRY BOOKS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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  The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Interior design by Mike Rosamilia

  Series design by Sarah Creech © 2021 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Author photograph by Megan Ewing

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Pau Preto, Nicki, author.

  Title: Wings of shadow / Nicki Pau Preto.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Margaret K. McElderry Books, [2021] | Series: Crown of feathers ; 3 | Summary: “Veronyka has been revealed as the heir to the empire, but to protect her people, she’ll have to face the most devastating enemy she could imagine: her own sister”—Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020044678 (print) | LCCN 2020044679 (ebook) | ISBN 9781534466029 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534466043 (ebook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Sisters—Fiction. | Princesses—Fiction. | Magic—Fiction. | Phoenix (Mythical bird)—Fiction. | Human-animal relationships—Fiction. | Fantasy.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P384 Wi 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.P384 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044678

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020044679

 

 

 


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