9 BE – 37 AE
Queen Elysia the Peacemaker: Her reign in the queendom was most notable for the loss of the Everlasting Flame and the mass evacuation of Aura. After leaving Aura, Elysia founded the empire and married the Ferronese King Damian.
AFTER THE EMPIRE (AE)
37 AE – 45 AE
Queen Ellody the Prosperous: Reign of Prosperity.
45 AE – 56 AE
King Justyn the Pious: Reign of Piety. Transformed Azurec’s Eyrie from a training facility into a pilgrimage site. Built the Pilgrimage Road.
56 AE – 95 AE
Queen Malka the Wise: Reign of Wisdom.
95 AE – 121 AE
King Worrid the Learned: Reign of Learning. Born deaf, he designed a specialty saddle to accommodate his condition. Set up the Morian Archives, making sure the empire’s histories were recorded by the priests and acolytes of the god Mori.
121 AE – 135 AE
King Hellund2 the Just: Reign of Justice.
135 AE – 147 AE
Queen Bellonya the Brave: Reign of Bravery. Lost her arm as a child, became the fiercest spear thrower in the empire’s history.
147 AE – 165 AE
King Aryk the Unlikely3: The Unlikely Reign.
165 AE – 169 AE
Queen Regent Lania of Stel: Reign of the Regent.
169 AE – 170 AE
Avalkyra4, the Feather-Crowned Queen.
Pheronia4, the Council’s Queen.
169 AE – Present
Reign of the Council.
* * *
1 Despite having died soon after her love Callysta, Nefyra is the only queen mentioned in any stories, legends, or histories from Pyra during this period. Because these accounts were verbal, it is likely there were errors in dating, or perhaps Nefyra’s heirs were named for their mother and grandmother, suggesting that Nefyra II, Nefyra III, and even Nefyra IV were the likely queens mentioned in these accounts. There is also the possibility that the line between myth and history has been blurred here, and the songs and myths were intended to depict the First Rider Queen as having a divinely long reign.
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.
GLOSSARY
GODS
Axura1: Goddess of the sun and daylight, as well as life, symbolized by the phoenix
Nox2: 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
Teyke: 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
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, governor of Ferro. Famous for failed assassination attempt against Ferronese King Damian.
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.
PYRAEAN TERMS
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.
maiora: Grandmother
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
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.
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).
* * *
1 “Azurec” in the Trader’s Tongue
2 “Noct” in the Trader’s Tongue
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In order to say a proper thanks, I guess I should start at the beginning. Thank you to my parents—to mom, for great hair and a curious mind, and to dad, for a love of food and my fantastic Mediterranean skin tone. Also thank you for life.
To my brothers, Robin and Jason, who toughened me up young and frequently left me behind . . . it was in those lonely hours that I learned how to be strange and imaginative and to entertain myself. I also have to thank you for my sisters, Melissa and Jenny, as well as my nieces (Brianna and Ella) and nephews (Alexander, Everett, and Oliver), who have brought so much chaos and laughter into our family, and have taught me to appreciate silence (and naps).
To John and Angela, my Greek parents, who have been an essential part of my life since I was sixteen. I cannot thank you enough for the unconditional love and support that I don’t deserve and will never forget. Thank you, too, for being the best possible caretakers and guardians of my heart, Rocky.
Thank you to Bruce (who kept asking to read this book, even though I kept saying it wasn’t ready yet) and to Isabel, my godmother (with whom I share a love of reading and a name), and all my cousins and family, near and far.
To Shannon, my best friend since grade five, and Joel, who understands and shows appropr
iate enthusiasm for nerdy things like fantasy maps. You guys always kept me fed and drunk and safely tucked in on your couch. Cheers to Niki Wee and Shannon “Red Boots” Robertson, who were often tucked in next to me.
To Derek, who never doubted for a second that I could do this. I love you.
I must shout out all my critique partners and writer friends who have been there for every setback and success, making this winding road a bit less lonely. Elly Blake (my first CP, who blazed the trail so I could follow safely behind); Tara Wyatt, my bae (who holds my hand through every victory and meltdown); Morgan Rhodes (who helped brainstorm this idea); Eve Silver (who always made me believe it was only a matter of time); and fellow TRW friends Maureen, Julie, Bonnie, and Molly. Thank you to my other CP, Jennifer Welker, and my agent—and publisher—sister Akemi Dawn Bowman. To Jessi, thanks for the wine and cheese and cheerleading, and thank you to work friends past and present: Amy, Megan, Lindsay, Rohana, Chelsey, and Ashley.
To my agent, Penny Moore, who is a certified badass and a tireless advocate for her clients and for the YA community. I’m truly lucky and honored to have you on my side. Thanks as well to Andrea, Sandy, and everyone at Empire Literary.
I honestly can’t imagine Crown of Feathers at any other publisher or with any editor other than Sarah McCabe. Thank you for seeing the potential in this story and helping to grow and shape it into the kind of book I always hoped it could be. I am intensely proud of what we’ve made together.
Big thanks to Jessi Smith for your sharp eyes and fresh insight, and to Sarah Creech and Kekai Kotaki for a breathtaking cover that makes my heart sing. To Jordan Saia for the stunning map and to Mike Rosamilia for the gorgeous interior design. To everyone at Simon Pulse and Simon & Schuster for believing in this book and for being there every step of the way: Mara Anastas, Chriscynethia Floyd, Liesa Abrams, Katherine Devendorf, Elizabeth Mims, Sara Berko, Chelsea Morgan, Lauren Hoffman, Caitlin Sweeny, Alissa Nigro, Anna Jarzab, Christina Pecorale, and the S&S sales team, Michelle Leo and her team, Nicole Russo, and Samantha Benson.
And finally, thank you to the readers. Without you there would be no books at all, and what a dreary world that would be.
About the Author
Author photograph by Megan Ewing
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, Nicki 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
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Nicki-Pau-Preto
Simon Pulse
Simon & Schuster, New York
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.
SIMON PULSE
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First Simon Pulse hardcover edition February 2019
Text copyright © 2019 by Nicki Pau Preto
Jacket illustration copyright © 2019 by Kekai Kotaki
Map illustration © 2019 by Jordan Saia
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Jacket designed by Sarah Creech
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
Jacket illustration copyright© 2019 by Kekai Kotaki
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pau Preto, Nicki, author.
Title: Crown of feathers / by Nicki Pau Preto.
Description: New York : Simon Pulse, [2019] | Summary: Veronyka, sixteen, leaves her controlling sister and disguises herself as a boy to join a secret group of warriors who ride phoenixes into battle.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018013701 (print) | LCCN 2018020873 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534424647 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534424623 (hardcover)
Subjects: | CYAC: Magic—Fiction. | Sex role—Fiction. | Secret societies—Fiction. | Human-animal relationships—Fiction. | Phoenix (Mythical bird)—Fiction. | Sisters—Fiction. | Fantasy.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.P384 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.1.P384 Cro 2019 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018013701
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