• Buri gives up command of the Queen’s Riders to Evin Larse.
• September—Kel and Neal return to Steadfast for Raoul and Buri’s wedding.
• Irnai foresees that Neal’s future daughter will try for knighthood and that his future is littered with surprises.
461
• Prior to February 461, Princess Kalasin has married Emperor Kaddar of Carthak.
• March—Aly returns from a month in Corus with Myles and Eleni.
• April—Aly and Alanna fight over Aly’s desire to do field work in the spy organization.
• Aly sets sail for Port Legann; she’s captured by pirates and taken as a slave.
• In Rajmuat (capital of the Copper Isles), Aly is sold into the Balitang family service.
• Prince Bronau informs the Balitang family that they have lost favor with King Oron and are being forced into exile.
• The trickster god Kyprioth poses as Mithros in order to convince Duke Mequen and Duchess Winnamine to keep Aly with their family during their exile.
• Aly makes a bet with Kyprioth: she agrees to keep the Balitang children safe through the autumn equinox. If she does this, he will send her back to Tortall and convince her father to let her be a field agent.
• The Balitang party roots out bandits en route to their new home; Sarai and Dove prevent their execution, suggesting a blood oath of fealty instead.
• Kyprioth informs Aly that she will learn the crow language; she is taught primarily by a crow named Nawat. Kyprioth reveals that the crows also have a wager with him.
• Aly discovers that a spy is watching the Crown.
• May—Daine gives birth to her daughter, Sarralyn.
• Frasrlund, on the Tortallan-Scanran border, has been under siege; it reaches a stalemate, each nation occupying a side of the river.
• Jon lets it slip to Alanna that Aly is missing.
• Nawat takes on human form in order to assist Aly.
• Prince Bronau visits Tanair Castle.
• Aly is revealed to the four raka protectors of Sarai and Dove Balitang as Kyprioth’s chosen.
• The Balitangs are informed (by Aly) of Prince Bronau’s risky situation.
• Junai Dodeka is chosen to be Aly’s guard.
• Bronau and the Balitang group go to the village of Pohan; Aly tries to find the local mage.
• June 22—Midsummer’s Day—Daine and Numair’s daughter has her naming ceremony.
• June/July—
○ Assassins come to Tanair Castle.
○ The duchess allows Sarai and Dove to continue their weapons training, and takes it up herself.
• Bronau proposes to Sarai.
• King Oron dies soon after declaring Prince Hazarin as his successor.
• Prince Bronau leaves for Hazarin’s coronation.
• The mage Ochobu Dodeka comes to Tanair Castle to protect Sarugani’s heirs.
• Diplomats from Scanra go to Corus to negotiate a peace treaty.
• George leaves for Rajmuat.
• King Hazarin dies; the infant Dunevon is crowned king.
• Prince Bronau tries to kidnap Dunevon and is charged with high treason.
• Aly defends Kyprioth before Mithros and the Goddess.
• Prince Bronau flees to Tanair Castle, where there is fighting.
• The crows take on human form to defend the Balitangs.
• Prince Rubinyan comes to collect his brother; upon learning the course of events, he asks the Balitangs to return to Rajmuat.
• George arrives at Tanair Castle, in search of Aly.
Autumn/Winter:
• Prince Rubinyan tells Duchess Winnamine that there will be no more unnecessary executions.
• Princess Imajane declares full mourning regalia to be “disrespectful to the Black God”: only a discreet black armband or black embroidery is appropriate for the mourning of Oron, Hazarin, and Mequen.
• The raka (and Aly) begin seriously planning a rebellion to put Sarai on the throne.
• Dove pieces together the raka conspiracy.
462
Winter:
• The raka continue preparing for revolution in the Copper Isles.
• Tax collectors vanish from their beds, properties are damaged, and nobles and overseers are murdered.
• Sarai refuses to continue her lessons in the sword.
• Aly builds a cadre of trained spies. She earns the nickname “Duani,” or “boss lady.”
Spring/Summer:
• Aly sends spies to Rajmuat three weeks before the Balitangs’ departure from Tanair.
• The Balitang household relocates to Rajmuat, with Mequen’s aunt Nuritin.
• Nawat reveals that Kyprioth has made a wager with all of the crows of the Copper Isles, not just the crows of Tanair.
• Dove is let in on the secret of the planned rebellion, and advises the group not to tell Winnamine or Sarai, as Winna would likely make Elsren take the blood oath to leave the way for his sister Sarai to take the crown.
• Aly is questioned by Duke Lohearn Mantawu (Topabaw, head of law enforcement) while the Balitangs go to court to meet the regents for the young king.
• Tkaa, a messenger from Daine, reveals himself at court and gives Aly a message from home.
• Sarai meets Lord Zaimid Hetnim, the (youngest ever) head of the Carthaki Imperial University Healers’ Wing (and friend and cousin to Kaddar).
• At Nawat’s request, Ulasim sends him along with some other crows to aid distant fighters.
• The Scanran war with Tortall has ended.
• Alan of Pirate’s Swoop finds a knight-master.
• Princess Shinkokami awaits the birth of her first child, Lianokami.
• Daine, pregnant with her second child, Rikash, sends darkings to Aly to aid in her spying endeavors. Aly immediately puts them to use.
• The Tortallan spymaster sends funds to the Copper Isles to support the raka rebellion.
• A riot breaks out in the streets—Sarai struggles to help the raka, but Aly and Dove won’t permit her. Zaimid heals the raka who are hurt.
• The Dockmarket is blown up magically, and a fire breaks out, destroying ships. All are the workings of Aly and her spies.
• Imajane and Rubinyan hold an eclipse party (reinterpreting standard religion/mythology in order to make it fashionable).
• Aly’s spies release political prisoners from the Kanodang fortress. Riots break out in Rajmuat.
• Imajane and Rubinyan offer a marriage contract between Prince Dunevon and Sarai.
• The Graveyard Hag prevents Aly from stopping Sarai from running away with Zaimid.
• Kyprioth lambastes Aly for letting Sarai get away, but she reminds him that Dove is still available and better suited to a queen’s work.
• For three days, all the raka businesses and households close down.
• The royal governors of Imahyn and Kerykun are killed.
• Imajane and Rubinyan offer Dove the marriage contract with Dunevon.
• Aly has the army and navy food supplies sabotaged so the regents will press the merchants for food (at lower cost) and make enemies of them.
• King Dunevon, Elsren, and three other boys die in a magical storm, on King Dunevon’s birthday.
• Nawat returns from his mission to a joyful reunion with Aly.
• During the week after Dunevon’s death, the regent imposes martial law on Rajmuat.
• Winnamine and Nuritin demand to be part of the conspiracy. Duke Nomru and Imgehai Qeshi join in as well.
• Tortall and Carthak put the Copper Isles under a trading ban until the king’s murderer is found. Tyra contemplates this action as well.
• August—A riot breaks out in Rittevon Square when assassins try to kill Dove.
○ As the riot in Rittevon Square continues, Aly and the raka sneak into the palace.
○ Dove circles above the combat on the kudurun
g stallion, as a symbol for those who fight in her name.
○ There are a great number of casualties.
• By the end of August, only the islands of Ikang and parts of Malubesang and Lombyn resist Dove’s rule.
• Kyprioth regains his throne as god of the Copper Isles (and Mithros and the Goddess are looking for their shields, which he has hidden).
Autumn/Winter:
• September—Dove requests that Aly stay on as her spymaster.
• Winnamine and Dove receive a letter from Sarai. She is married, pregnant, and planning to visit as soon as she’s able. She plans to name her child Mequen if it’s a boy.
• Aly tells Dove, Chenaol, Fesgao, and Winnamine the truth about her origins.
• October—Foreign delegations arrive in the Copper Isles for the official “Season,” in preparation for Dove’s Midwinter coronation.
• December—The day after the last day of Midwinter, Dove is crowned queen of the Copper Isles.
463
• Alan comes to the Copper Isles to bring word that the delegation should return to Tortall.
• Aly marries Nawat.
• April—The Tortallan delegation prepares to head home.
• Aly gives birth to triplets, Ochobai, Ulasu, and Junim.
• Owen of Jesslaw marries Margarry of Cavall, Lord Wyldon and Lady Vivenne’s youngest daughter.
Acknowledgments
Each of us came to this project with different skills, different ideas, and different opinions. But there is one thing we all absolutely agree on: we wouldn’t be sharing this finished guide with you if not for the work and support of a lot of different people.
All love and thanks are due to Julie, who saved us (a lot) when she pulled together our scattered project as it collapsed, and made it real; and also to Tim, who contributed the original spy teaching manual, giving us our final direction; Lisa, co-writer Megan, and Judy Gerjuoy and her husband, Tero. Thanks are also, obviously, due to Tammy, who created the universe and let us play in it. Mallory Loehr, who started the whole mess and convinced us we could do it, and Chelsea Eberly, who revived and revised this book into the form you’re reading now. She encouraged us when we needed it most. Without her, the Spy’s Guide would have died on the vine.
This book would not be as rich or as beautiful without the design team: Michelle Gengaro, Maria Middleton, Jason Zamajtuk, and Regina Flath. A special thanks to Eva Widermann for the glorious art and to Isidre Mones for the careful mapping.
Thanks also to Raquel Starace and her mom, Gloria; our friends Bruce and Kathy Coville; Tim’s brother Craig, who measured distances, and his mother, who provided both emotional and material support during the book’s long and sometimes painful growth process.
Very little would have been written without Emily Kramer’s tomatoes and Matt Cody’s illuminating suggestion that writing could be fun. Moral support for this project was provided by Megan’s stage combat family on both coasts; Blake Charlton, doctor and dragon-writer; the Madison Square Lunch dancers; and the Berkeley crew, especially Alice, Andy, Eli, Erika, Juliette, Libby, Mikah, and the lovely Sam. And last but in no way least, years and years of thanks are due to Nina Lourie, the other and better half of Megan’s brain.
A final thank-you to Farrah Nakhaie, who constantly helped pick Julie up, dust her off, and set her forward again this past year. She couldn’t have done it without the help.
About the Authors
TAMORA PIERCE is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over eighteen novels set in the fantasy realm of Tortall. She first captured the imagination of readers with her debut novel, Alanna: The First Adventure. Since then, her bestselling and award-winning works have pushed the boundaries of fantasy and young adult novels to introduce readers to a rich world populated by strong, believable heroines. Her books have been translated into many languages, and some are available on audio from Listening Library and Full Cast Audio. In 2013, she won the Margaret A. Edwards Award for her “significant and lasting contribution to young adult literature.”
Pierce lives in Syracuse, New York, with her husband, Tim, and their cats, birds, and occasional rescued wildlife. Visit her at TamoraPierce.com and follow her on Twitter at @TamoraPierce.
JULIE HOLDERMAN writes stuff and loves cats. A once-upon-a-time graduate of the Alpha Workshop for Young Writers, she returned ten years later to serve as a staff member. She studied writing and history at Ithaca College and is eyeing an MA in history, in pursuit of a PhD. She works full-time as Tammy’s assistant while building her writing portfolio. Her hobbies include long walks through the library and overanalyzing superhero movies. One day she will stop going to school. Maybe. Probably.
TIMOTHY LIEBE is the “Dreaded Spouse-Creature” and IT Guy for fantasy novelist Tamora Pierce, as well as her coauthor on the Marvel Comics White Tiger miniseries. He has written for National Public Radio, CNET, USA Network, and Pacifica Network and spent a decade as a consumer-electronics journalist and editor. An Army brat, Tim traveled the U.S. Midwest and Germany as a child. In the early 1980s, he settled in New York, where he and Tammy still live, surrounded by their (at present) eight cats.
MEGAN MESSINGER’s work has appeared in Cicada, Fantasy Magazine, and Electric Velocipede, as well as other publications, and received honorable mentions in Datlow, Link, and Grant’s 2007 Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Megan discovered the books of Tamora Pierce, Bruce Coville, and Jane Yolen while home sick from school—clearly the most fortuitous case of chicken pox ever. In the years since, she’s been a writing tutor, theater tech, fight choreographer, Web developer, science-fiction blogger, and nanny. She lives with one foot in Tortall, always; these days, the other foot and most of her vital organs are attending medical school in California.
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