It would have been easier. Sweeter. But she would not let me.
She pressed my blood-spattered hand to her swollen belly, and I felt the heartbeat within.
Your heartbeat, xe Nyka.
I must live, she said, because she could not.
She asked too much. My phoenix was mortally wounded, and her fire burned hot all around us. Blazingly, blisteringly hot.
She asked too much.
The shock of Pheronia’s wound caused her labor to begin early. She was carried to safety so they could try to save the child, though it was too late for Pheronia. They left me to die. I do not blame them.
I felt it, the moment she left this world. I heard her last screams, and as the fire of my bondmate licked across my skin, scorching my flesh, I heard another sound—the wails of a newborn child.
I died, too, but that was not the end. It was the beginning. Our beginning.
I came back. For you, Veronyka.
We were born together, you and I.
False Sisters.
Shadow Twins.
I promised Pheronia I would protect you. It was her dying wish.
I told her I would make things right.
And I’ve only just begun.
TIME LINE
NOTABLE RULERS FROM THE REIGN OF QUEENS (BEFORE THE EMPIRE, BE) First Era, before dates and events were meticulously recorded (c. 1000–701 BE)
1000 BE – 800 BE
Queen Nefyra1, the First Rider Queen: Chosen by Axura to be the first animage and the First Rider Queen. Ignix, the first phoenix, was her bondmate.
775 BE – 725 BE
Queen Otiya, the Queen of Bones: Defeated a rival Rider family that tried to usurp the throne.
Second Era, the height of Pyraean culture (701–279 BE)
701 BE – 645 BE
Queen Aurelya, the Golden Queen: Began construction on the Golden City of Aura, from which she derives her name.
412 BE – 335 BE
Queen Liyana, the Enduring Queen.
335 BE – 317 BE
Queen Lyra the Defender: Mustered the Red Horde, the first-ever gathering of the entirety of Pyra’s Phoenix Riders. Successfully defended Pyra from the Lowland Invasion.
Third Era, the decline of the queendom (279–1 BE)
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.