The Bone Season

by Samantha Shannon

  He had kissed me. He had wanted me. Maybe he still did.

  But anything between us was impossible. And from the look in his eyes, I knew that wanting me wasn’t enough.

  “I cannot go to the citadel.” He rolled his thumb over my lips. “But you can. You can go back to your life, Paige. That chance is all I want for you.”

  “It’s not all I want.”

  “What do you want?”

  “I don’t know. I just want you with me.”

  I had never said those words aloud. Now that I could taste my freedom, I wanted him to share it with me.

  But he couldn’t change his life for me. And I couldn’t sacrifice my life to be with him.

  “I must hunt Nashira from the shadows now.” He pressed his forehead against mine. “If I can draw her away from here, the rest may leave. They may give up.” His eyes opened, burning his words into my mind. “If I never return—if you never see me again—it will mean that everything is all right. That I have ended her. But if I return, it will mean that I have failed. That there is still danger. And then I will find you.”

  I held his gaze. I would remember that promise.

  “Do you trust me now?” he asked.

  “Should I?”

  “I cannot tell you that. That is trust, Paige. Not knowing whether you should trust at all.”

  “Then I trust you.”

  As if from miles away, I heard a pounding. Fists on metal, muffled shouting. Nick came running into the tunnel, accompanied by the remaining survivors, who piled onto the train just before the doors snapped closed. “Paige, get on,” he shouted.

  The countdown was over. Out of time. Warden pulled away from me, his eyes hot with remorse.

  “Run,” he said. “Run, little dreamer.”

  The train was moving. Nick swung himself over a rail onto the back and held out a hand.

  “PAIGE!”

  I came back to myself. My heart leapt, and all my senses hit me like an iron wall. I turned and ran along the platform. The train picked up speed, almost too fast. I grabbed Nick’s outstretched hand, vaulted over the rail, and I was on the train, I was there, I was safe. Sparks flew across the track, and the metal frame shook beneath my feet.

  I didn’t close my eyes. Warden had vanished into the darkness, like a candle blown out by the wind.

  I would never see him again.

  But as I watched the tunnel race before my eyes, I was certain of one thing: I did trust him.

  Now I had only to trust in myself.

  Glossary

  The slang used by clairvoyants in The Bone Season is loosely based on words used in the criminal underworld of London in the nineteenth century, with some amendments to meaning or usage. Other words have been taken from modern colloquial English or reinterpreted. Terms specific to the Family—those humans who reside in Sheol I—are indicated with an asterisk*.

  Æther: [noun] The spirit realm, accessible by clairvoyants. Also called the Source.

  Amaurosis: [noun] The state of non-clairvoyance.

  Amaurotic: [noun or adjective] Non-clairvoyant.

  Barking irons: [noun] Guns. “To raise one’s barking irons” = to prepare for a struggle.

  Bleached mort: [noun] A fair-haired woman. Mildly offensive.

  Blow: [verb] Tattle; whistle-blow.

  Bob: [noun] Slang term for a gold coin; one British pound.

  Bone: [adjective] Good or prosperous.

  Bone-grubber*: [noun] A derogatory term for a red-jacket.

  Bones*: [adjective] Dead.

  Brain plague: [noun] A slang term for phantasmagoria, a debilitating fever caused by Fluxion 14.

  Breacher: [noun] A spirit that can cause an impact on the corporeal world due to its age or type. Includes poltergeists and archangels.

  Broads: [noun] Cards used for clairvoyance, usually Tarot cards.

  Broadsider: [noun] An outdated term for a cartomancer. Still recognized in conversation but rarely used in the citadel.

  Buck cab: [noun] A rogue, unlicensed cab, generally frequented by clairvoyants.

  Busking: [verb] Cash-in-hand clairvoyance. Most buskers offer to read fortunes for money. Not permitted within the clairvoyant crime syndicate.

  Buzzers*: [noun] Emim.

  Cokum: [adjective] Shrewd; cunning.

  Cold spot: [noun] A small tear between the æther and the corporeal world. Manifests as a permanent patch of ice. Can be used, with ectoplasm, to open a conduit to the Netherworld. Corporeal matter (e.g., blood and flesh) cannot pass through a cold spot.

  Courtier: [noun] Purple aster addict. The name comes from St. Anne’s Court, Soho, where the purple aster trade began in the early twenty-first century.

  Crib: [noun] Place of residence.

  Dethroned: [adjective] Being fully recovered from the influence of purple aster.

  Dollymop: [noun] An affectionate, if condescending term for a young woman or girl (often shortened to dolly).

  Donop: [noun] A pound; weight measurement. Used primarily within the ethereal drug community.

  Dreamer: [noun] Shorthand for dreamwalker, typically used by Rephaim.

  Dreamscape: [noun] The interior of the mind, where memories are stored. Split into five zones or “rings” of sanity: sunlight, twilight, midnight, lower midnight, and hadal. Clairvoyants can consciously access their own dreamscapes, while amaurotics may catch glimpses when they sleep.

  Drifters: [noun] Spirits in the æther that have not been banished to the outer darkness or last light. They can still be controlled by clairvoyants.

  Duckett: [noun] A vendor. Also the alias of Sheol I’s pawnbroker.

  Ecto: [noun] Ectoplasm, or Rephaite blood. Chartreuse yellow. Luminous and slightly gelatinous. Can be used to open cold spots.

  Emim, the: [noun] [singular Emite] The purported enemies of the Rephaim; “the dreaded ones.” Described by Nashira Sargas as carnivorous and bestial, with a taste for human flesh. Their existence is shrouded in mystery.

  Family, the*: [noun] All humans that reside in Sheol I, with the exception of bone-grubbers and other traitors.

  Fine-wire: [verb] To pickpocket skilfully.

  Flam: [noun] Lie.

  Flash house: [noun] An oxygen bar or other social area. Generally patronized by criminals.

  Flatches: [noun] Money; keep. “To earn one’s flatches” = to earn a living.

  Flimp: [noun] Pickpocket.

  Floxy: [noun] Scented oxygen, inhaled through a cannula. Scion’s alternative to alcohol. Served in the vast majority of entertainment venues, including oxygen bars.

  Flux: [noun] Fluxion 14, a psychotic drug causing pain and disorientation in clairvoyants.

  Gallipot: [noun] A specialist in ethereal drugs and their effect on the dreamscape.

  Ghost: [noun] A spirit that has chosen a particular place in which to reside, most likely the place in which he or she died. Moving a ghost from its “haunt” will annoy it.

  Gilet: [noun] A sleeveless jacket.

  Gilly: [noun] Vigile.

  Glow: [noun] Aura.

  Glym jack: [noun] A street bodyguard, rented to protect denizens from unnaturals at night. Identified by a distinctive green light.

  Golden cord: [noun] A link between two spirits. Very little is known about it.

  Greasepaint: [noun] Make-up.

  Harlie*: [noun] Performer.

  Hisser: [noun] A condescending term for a whisperer or polyglot.

  Irons: [noun] Guns.

  Janxed: [adjective or verb] Busted; broken.

  Jerryshop: [noun] Pawnbroker.

  Julker: [noun] Polyglot.

  Lamps: [noun] Eyes. See also shiners.

  Last light: [noun] The center of the æther, the place from which spirits can never return. It is rumored that a final afterlife is encountered beyond the last light.

  Macer: [noun] A cheat.

  Meatspace: [noun] The corporeal world; Earth.

  Mecks: [noun] Nonalcoholic substitute for wine. Has a syrupy, sweet con
sistency. Comes in white, rose, and “blood,’’ or red.

  Mime-crime: [noun] Any act involving the use of, or communication with, the spirit world, especially for financial gain. Considered high treason under Scion law.

  Mime-lord: [noun] A gang leader in the clairvoyant syndicate; a specialist in mime-crime. Generally has a close group of five to ten followers, but maintains overall command over all clairvoyants in one section within a cohort. Member of the Unnatural Assembly.

  Mime-queen: [noun] Title used my some female mime-lords.

  Mollisher: [noun] A young clairvoyant associated with a mime-lord or mime-queen, sometimes shortened to “moll.” Usually presumed to be [a] the mime-lord’s lover and [b] heir to his or her section.

  Nib: [verb] Arrest.

  Nightwalker: [noun] One who sells his or her clairvoyant knowledge as part of a sexual bargain.

  Nose: [noun] A spy or informer. “To turn nose” = to betray a person or organization.

  Numen: [noun] [plural numa] Objects used by soothsayers and augurs to connect with the æther, e.g., mirrors, cards, bones.

  Ossista: [noun] Attendant in an oxygen bar.

  Outer darkness: [noun] A distant part of the æther that lies beyond the reach of clairvoyants.

  Paddy wagon: [noun] A vehicle used to transport prisoners.

  Penny dreadful: [noun] Cheap, illegal fiction produced in Grub Street, the center of the voyant writing scene. Serialized horror stories. Distributed among clairvoyants to make up for the lack of fantastical literature produced by Scion. Penny dreadfuls cover a wide range of supernatural subjects. They include The Vamps of Vauxhall, The Fay Fiasco, and Tea with a Tasser.

  Penny gaff: [noun] Low, sometimes ridiculous entertainment, usually applied to illegal theater productions.

  Performer*: [noun] A human resident of Sheol I who has failed his or her tests and is under the command of the Overseer.

  Pink-jacket*: [noun] Second stage of initiation in Sheol I. A pink-jacket must prove themselves against the Emim to become a red-jacket. If this test is failed, the pink-jacket becomes a white-jacket again.

  Push: [noun] Money.

  Querent: [noun] Any person that seeks knowledge of the æther. They may ask questions or offer part of themselves (e.g., blood, palm) for a reading. Soothsayers and augurs may use a querent to focus on certain areas of the æther, making predictions easier.

  Red-jacket*: [noun] The highest rank for humans in Sheol I. Red-jackets are responsible for protecting the city from the Emim. In return for their service, they are given special privileges. Also called bone-grubbers.

  Reef: [verb] To hit; to strike.

  Regal: [noun] Purple aster.

  Reigning: [verb] Using purple aster.

  Rephaim, the: [noun] [ singular Rephaite] Biologically immortal, humanoid inhabitants of the Netherworld, known to feed on the aura of clairvoyant humans. Their history and origin are uncertain.

  Rookery: [noun] Slum. In Sheol I, the shantytown in which performers are forced to live.

  Rottie: [noun] Amaurotic.

  Screever: [noun] A forger of documents, employed by mime-lords to provide fake travel papers for their employees.

  Scrying: [noun] The art of seeing into and gaining insight from the æther through numa. A querent may be used.

  Scurf: [noun] A greedy, exploitative employer.

  Shiners: [noun] Eyes. See also lamps.

  Silver cord: [noun] A permanent link between the body and the spirit. It allows a person to dwell for many years in one physical form. Unique to each individual. Particularly important to dreamwalkers, who use the cord to leave their bodies temporarily. The silver cord wears down over the years, and once broken cannot be repaired.

  Skilly*: [noun] A thin gruel, usually made of meat juices.

  Slate: [verb] To beat.

  Sortes: [noun] Lots. A category of numa used by cleromancers. Includes needles, dice, keys, bones, and sticks.

  Spool: [noun] A group of spirits. Can also be used as a verb, “to spool” = to gather (a group of spirits).

  Stiff: [noun] Dead body.

  Subliming: [noun] A process by which an ordinary object is transfigured into a numen.

  Syndicate: [noun] A criminal organization of clairvoyants, based in the Scion Citadel of London. Active since the early 1960s. Governed by the Underlord and the Unnatural Assembly. Members specialize in mime-crime for financial profit.

  Syndies: [noun] Members of the clairvoyant crime syndicate. Generally used by Vigiles.

  Tasser: [noun] Shorthand for a tasseographer.

  Threnody: [noun] A series of words used to banish spirits to the outer darkness.

  Tincto: [noun] Laudanum. An illegal narcotic. The slang comes from its trade name, Tincture of Opium.

  Toke*: [noun] Stale bread.

  Tooler: [noun] [1] A class of pickpocket; [2] A disobedient child.

  Underlord: [noun] Head of the Unnatural Assembly and mob boss of the clairvoyant syndicate. Traditionally resides in the Devil’s Acre in I Cohort, Section 1.

  Voyance: [noun] Clairvoyance.

  Voyant: [noun] Clairvoyant.

  Waitron: [noun] Gender-neutral term for anyone in Scion’s service industry.

  Walker: [noun] Shorthand for dreamwalker.

  White-jacket*: [noun] Initial rank given to all humans in Sheol I. A white-jacket is expected to display a certain degree of proficiency in their particular type of clairvoyance. Passing this test enables them to become a pink-jacket; failing means banishment to the Rookery.

  Whitewash: [noun] Long-term amnesia caused by white aster or [verb] to use white aster on someone.

  Yellow-jacket*: [noun] The lowest rank in Sheol I. Given to humans if they show fear during a test. Can be used as a synonym for coward.

  Zeitgeist: [noun] German word meaning the “spirit of the age.” Literally “time spirit.” Most voyants use the word metaphorically, but some worship the zeitgeist as a deity.

  Acknowledgments

  I owe a great debt to the Godwin family, most of all to David, for giving me such a warm welcome into the world of publishing. A big hand for Kirsty McLachlan, Caitlin Ingham, and Anna Watkins for all their hard work on the film and foreign rights side. I couldn’t have asked for a better agency than I’ve found at DGA.

  To the Bloomsbury team: before meeting you, I had no idea just how much passion and teamwork went into creating a book. I’d like to express my gratitude to the inimitable Alexandra Pringle, whose passion for this novel has been the best inspiration I could ask for; to Alexa von Hirschberg, my wonderful editor, who has gone miles beyond the call of duty and been there for me at the drop of a hat; and to Rachel Mannheimer, Justine Taylor, and Sarah Barlow, all of whom have helped make The Bone Season the absolute best it could be. Heartfelt thanks to Katie Bond, Jude Drake, Amanda Shipp, Ianthe Cox-Willmott, Eleanor Weil, and Oliver Holden-Rea in the UK, and to George Gibson, Cristina Gilbert, Nancy Miller, Marie Coolman, and Sara Mercurio in the U.S. You’ve all been fantastic.

  Andy Serkis, Jonathan Cavendish, Chloe Sizer, Will Tennant, and the rest of the team at Imaginarium: it is a privilege to be working with you. Thank you for your dedication to every aspect of this book, far beyond the visual. On an artistic note, many thanks are owed to András Bereznay for designing the map; David Mann for the beautiful cover—you are the Mann—and Leiana Leatutufu for being my own personal automatiste.

  To say this book has been my life for the past two years would be an understatement. There are far too many of you to name in this small space, but thank you so much to the friends that have been there for me over those years—and before them. A particularly big thanks to Neil Dymond and Fran Tracey; to Emma Forward, my inspiring English teacher; and to Rian, Jesica, and Richard for inviting me along to Ireland. If not for you, I’d never have met Molly Malone in person.

  To my translators around the world, thank you for making this book available in more languages than I could ever master. Many thanks to Flo and Alie for giving
me a hand with French and Serbian names, and to Devora at Agam Books for sharing her knowledge of Hebrew.

  Thank you to all the people that have followed my blog and Twitter feed on the road to publication, especially Susan Hill. Your support has given me so much confidence. Extra thanks to the staff and students at St. Anne’s College for being so kind and accommodating over this last chaotic year. Stanner love.

  And of course, thank you to my family—most of all to Mum, for giving me constant strength and support, and Mike, my super stepfather and the undisputed king of tasseography. The two of you have handled me at my worst, so in the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, you sure as hell deserve me at my best.

  JD, thanks for being my muse for this one. You are my number one dead poet. And last but not least, thank you to Ali Smith for giving me the courage to send The Bone Season out into the world.