Laecdomon: A disruptive member of Aristogiton’s squad in the Attolian guard and an agent of Baron Erondites.

Laela: A slave in the househould of Nahuseresh. A friend of Kamet’s.

Lamion: One of Eugenides’s attendants.

Legarus: One of the men in Aristogiton’s squad in the guard. He is quite beautiful and uses it to what he thinks is his advantage.

Luria: One of Attolia’s attendants.

Lyopidus: The mortal brother of the god Eugenides. Jealous of his brother’s powers, he asked Eugenides to steal the Sky’s lightning bolts and died when they set the world on fire.

The magus: One of the king’s most powerful advisors; a scholar.

Marin: One of Nahuseresh’s dancing girls. He and Kamet were both in love with her.

Melheret: The Mede ambassador to Attolia.

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 the 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.

MEGAN WHALEN TURNER and LEIGH BARDUGO:

A CONVERSATION

Leigh Bardugo: First of all, I just want to say how thrilled I am to be chatting with you about these books. I feel like these are the novels that get passed from writer to writer as examples of the best young adult and fantasy have to offer. And honestly, I don’t think I’d trust someone who didn’t like these books. It would certainly be cause to reevaluate our relationship.

Megan Whalen Turner: I’m going to ignore all those unearned accolades you just heaped on me and say that in high school, I loaned my best friend a copy of Fear Is the Key, by Alistair McLean, one of my all-time favorite books, and she thought it was . . . okay. It was a tough moment. I had to remind myself that she knew I hated Summer of My German Soldier and she had never held it against me. We did manage to stitch up this terrible breach in our friendship—fifteen years later, when The Thief was published, I dedicated it to her.

LB: Proof that you are a far more generous sort than I. Okay, I’m going to get this out of the way because I know from experience that writers hate this question, but as a reader, I’m dying to know: Where did this story begin for you?

MWT: Oh, hey, “where did this story begin?” is so much better than “where do you get your ideas?” The next time somebody asks me that question, I will just reformulate it in my head before answering, thank you.

There were two important starting points for The Thief. One was the moment when Gen tries to distract their pursuers in order to give the rest of the party time to climb up the bluff and escape Attolia. I had this idea of a big reveal—that in spite of being right there under their noses, one member of a group of travelers has been wildly underestimated by the others in the party. Underestimated not only by the people in the story, but by the reader, as well. I didn’t know anything else about the story except that I wanted that scene to happen.