Meridite: An Eddisian goddess. Mother of armorer Horreon.

Minister of War: Eugenides’s father

Minos: An Attolian baron. Publicly a supporter of the queen.

Miras: One of the new gods of Attolia, god of light and arrows. Worshiped by soldiers.

Moira: Messenger goddess of the Eddisian pantheon and also a record keeper. Her name means fate.

Nahuseresh: The Mede ambassador to Attolia. Nephew of the emperor; younger brother of the heir to the emperor. He attempted to woo the queen of Attolia as a means to her throne and failed.

Neheeled: Nahuseresh’s older brother, heir to the Mede Empire.

Ne Malia: Mede goddess of the moon, fertility, and rebirth.

Nine Gods: The main pantheon of the new Attolian gods. They defeated the giants.

Nuri: A Mede god of the river and the flood.

Olcthemenes: In the Eddisian stories of the old gods, Olcthemenes was the tailor who turned a blanket into a suit of clothes for the god Eugenides.

Olmia: In the Eddisian stories of the old gods, Olmia the weaver made a hat from bird feathers for the god Eugenides.

Onarkus: The head of the queen of Attolia’s kitchen.

Oneis: A heroic figure from the Epic of Oneis.

The Oracle: Oracle and high priestess at the new temple being built for Hephestia above the palace in Attolia.

Ornon: A minster to the queen of Eddis. Ambassador to Attolia. Subsequently Attolia’s Ambassador to the Mede empire.

Pelles: One of Eugenides’s attendants.

Petrus: Attolia’s personal physician for years.

Philia: One of the goddesses of the Attolian pantheon. She is goddess of mercy.

Philologos: Youngest but highest ranking of Eugenides’s attendants.

Phoros: A baron in Eddis; father of Agape, Hegite, and two other daughters.

Phresine: Oldest of Attolia’s attendants.

Piloxides: One of Attolia’s generals.

Pol: Captain of Sophos’s father’s guard; a soldier.

Polyfemus: One of the giants who supposedly built the old walls of Sounis’s prison and the roads of Eddis.

Proas: An Eddisian god of green and growing things.

Prokep: A Mede god; a statue of him was made by the sculptor Sudesh.

Queen of the Night: Sister of Death and mother of Unse-Sek.

Relius: Attolia’s secretary of the archives before being arrested for treason.

Roamanj: A caravan master who hires Costis and Kamet as guards.

Sejanus: The youngest child of Baron Erondites.

Senabid: A character in skits, a slave who makes a fool of his master.

Shef: A slave dealer in the Mede Empire.

Shesmegah: In the Mede pantheon, goddess of mercy, forgiveness, and second chances.

Sky (god): Created by Earth, he is the second god in the Eddisian pantheon.

Sophos (Useless the Younger): Apprentice of the magus; future duke; nephew of the king and his heir. He becomes king of Sounis.

Sotis: One of Eugenides’s senior attendants.

Sounis: Sophos’s uncle and king of Sounis. He had no children of his own. In exchange for his half brother’s support he has named his nephew, Sophos, as his heir.

Stadicos: One of Attolia’s barons, corrupted by the Mede ambassador, Nahuseresh.

Stenides: Eugenides’s brother, a watchmaker.

Susa: One of Attolia’s barons. Devious, but not necessarily an enemy of the queen. He is baron over the lands where Costis’s family has their farm.

Teleus: captain of the queen of Attolia’s personal guard.

Temenus: Gen’s brother, a soldier.

Tenep: Usually the most gentle of the gods, she turns her anger on the world when Ennikar steals from her.

Thales: Wrote about the basic elements of the universe; Eugenides was copying his scroll before he went on his mission to Attolia.

Thalia: Costis’s younger sister.

Themis: Erondites recruits Themis and hopes to make her the king’s mistress, but Eugenides only dances with Themis’s younger sister, Heiro.

Therespides: A member of the Eddisian court, known for his philandering.

Timos: Cousin of Eugenides and Eddis. He dies stopping Attolia’s advance up the main pass into Eddis.

Titus: Gen’s cousin who once broke several of Gen’s ribs in a beating.

Unse-Sek: A terrible monster that roamed the isthmus in the stories of Immakuk and Ennikar, child of the Queen of the Night.

Witch of Urkell: In the Epic of Immakuk and Ennikar, she is Ennikar’s lover and the daughter of Ninur.

Xanthe: Eddis’s most senior attendant.

Xenophon: One of Eddis’s generals.

Zerchus: A cook in Attolia’s kitchens.

KNIFE DANCE

BY MEGAN WHALEN TURNER

“My brother can do the Eddisian knife dance!”

The official from the palace looked skeptical. Tasked with finding entertainers to perform at the upcoming feast of Cerulis, he’d been scouting among the troupes of players, jugglers, dancers, and acrobats who had camped on the open marshy ground near the Tustis River. They had come, as they did every year, to exchange news and recruit new company members and to make money at the festival. For three days, wealthy citizens and guilds would fund performances at their homes or their meetinghouses or their Ceruliums—where the more exclusive societies met to worship. The best performers would be invited to demonstrate their skill before the king and queen, and the very best of those would be awarded the Cerulis medal at the end of the feast. The official, surrounded by a crowd of people eager to have a chance at the prize, was doling out tokens for an opportunity to audition.

He had a limited number and didn’t recognize the man in front of him. He wasn’t from any of the well-known troupes. Stocky, middle-aged, with slightly battered features, he wasn’t any sort of a dancer or acrobat himself. His brother standing just behind him, was slighter of build, and could have been a dancer. He was plucking at the larger man’s sleeve.

“Ruk, are you sure . . . ?”

But Ruk brushed him off. “The king’s Eddisian, so?” he said. “He’ll like an Eddisian dance.”

The official, about to turn away, hesitated. It was true that the king was Eddisian and might be particularly pleased by a traditional dance from his home.