Now I Rise

  Mehmed: The Ottoman sultan

  Halil Vizier: Formerly Halil Pasha, an important advisor in the Ottoman courts whose loyalties are to Constantinople

  Salih: The second son of Halil Vizier, formerly a friend of Radu

  Kumal: Devout bey in Mehmed’s inner circles, brother of Nazira, brother-in-law and friend to Radu

  Nazira: Radu’s wife in name only, Kumal’s sister

  Fatima: Nazira’s maid in name only

  Amal: A young servant who has aided Radu and Mehmed in the past

  Suleiman: The admiral of the Ottoman navy

  Timur: An Ottoman citizen working for Mehmed

  Tohin: An Ottoman citizen expert in gunpowder, mother of Timur

  Urbana of Transylvania: An expert in cannons and artillery

  Lada Dracul’s Inner Military Circle

  Matei: An experienced former Janissary, one of Lada’s oldest men

  Nicolae: Lada’s closest friend

  Petru: Lada’s youngest soldier from the Janissary troop

  Stefan: Lada’s best spy

  The Hungarian Court

  John Hunyadi: Hungary’s most brilliant military commander, responsible for Vlad Dracul’s and Mircea’s deaths

  Matthias: John Hunyadi’s son, high up in court politics

  Elizabeth: The mother of the young king, Ladislas Posthumous

  Ladislas Posthumous: The ill young king

  Ulrich: The king’s regent, advisor, and protector

  Constantinople Court Figures

  Constantine: The emperor of Constantinople

  John: The heir of Constantinople, nephew of Constantine

  Manuel: John’s brother, nephew of Constantine

  Coco: An important naval captain

  Cyprian: An ambassador for the court, bastard nephew of Constantine

  Giustiniani: An Italian, Constantine’s most important military advisor

  Helen: A citizen of Constantinople, Coco’s mistress and Nazira’s friend

  bey: A governor of an Ottoman province

  boyars: Wallachian nobility

  censer: A metal ball with slits or small holes into which one puts burning incense, then swings through the air on a chain; used during religious processions and worship

  concubine: A woman who belongs to the sultan and is not a legal wife but could produce legal heirs

  dracul: Dragon, also devil, as the terms were interchangeable

  fosse: A ditch dug around the exterior of Constantinople’s walls to prevent easy attack

  Galata: A city-state across the Golden Horn from Constantinople, ostensibly neutral

  galley: A warship of varying size, with sails and oars for maneuvering in battle

  Golden Horn: The body of water surrounding one side of Constantinople, blocked off by a chain and nearly impossible to launch an attack from

  Greek fire: A method of spraying compressed, liquid fire known only to the Greeks and highly effective in battles

  Hagia Sophia: A cathedral built at the height of the Byzantine era, the jewel of the Christian world

  harem: A group of women consisting of wives, concubines, and servants that belongs to the sultan

  Hodegetria: A holy relic, said to have been painted by an apostle and used for religious protection in Constantinople

  infidels: A term used for anyone who does not practice the religion of the speaker

  irregulars: Soldiers in the Ottoman Empire who are not part of officially organized troops, often mercenaries or men looking for spoils

  Janissary: A member of an elite force of military professionals, taken as boys from other countries, converted to Islam, educated, and trained to be loyal to the sultan

  liturgy: Religious worship performed in Latin or Greek, depending on whether the church is Catholic or Orthodox

  metre: Loud music performed by Janissary troops as they attack, extremely effective at demoralizing and disorienting enemy troops

  Order of the Dragon: Order of Crusaders anointed by the pope

  pasha: A noble in the Ottoman Empire, appointed by the sultan

  pashazada: A son of a pasha

  postern: A small gate designed to let troops in and out of Constantinople through the inner walls

  regent: An advisor appointed to help rule on behalf of a king too young to be fully trusted

  Rumeli Hisari: A fortress built on one side of the Bosporus Strait as companion to the Anadolu Hisari

  spahi: A military commander in charge of local Ottoman soldiers called up during war

  Transylvania: A small country bordering Wallachia and Hungary; includes the cities of Brasov and Sibiu

  trebuchet: A medieval engine of war with a sling for hurling large stones

  vaivode: Warlord prince of Wallachia

  vassal state: A country allowed to retain rulership but subject to the Ottoman Empire, with taxes of both money and slaves for the army

  vizier: A high-ranking official, usually advisor to the sultan

  Wallachia: A vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, bordered by Transylvania, Hungary, and Moldavia

  Please see the author’s note in And I Darken for more information on resources for further study on the fascinating lives of Vlad Tepes, Mehmed II, and Radu cel Frumos.

  As a note in this book, I would like to personally apologize to the nation of Hungary and its incredible history. The Hunyadi family legacy is worthy of its own trilogy, but in the interest of not writing three-thousand-page-long books, I had to dramatically simplify and compress things to suit my narrative needs. In the end, these books are works of fiction. I try to incorporate as much history as respectfully as I can, and encourage anyone intrigued to further study this time period and region.

  The characters in the series each interact with religion, and more specifically Islam, in various ways. I have nothing but respect for the rich history and beautiful legacy of that gospel of peace. Individual characters’ opinions on the complexities of faith, both Islamic and Christian, do not reflect my own.

  Spelling varies between languages and over time, as do place names. Any errors or inconsistencies are my own. Though the main characters speak a variety of languages, I made an editorial decision to present all common terms in English.

  First, in correction to an error of omission for And I Darken: Thank you to Mihai Eminescu, the brilliant Romanian poet who wrote “Trecut-au anii” (translated into English as “Years Have Trailed Past”), a beautiful and deeply affecting poem that ends with the line that inspired the titles for these books: “Behind me time gathers…and I darken!”

  Thank you to Michelle Wolfson, my tireless agent. I couldn’t do this without you, plain and simple. Here is to many more years of me sending you “I wrote a strange thing, please figure out how to sell it” emails.

  Thank you to Wendy Loggia, my brilliant editor, whose guiding hand is on every page of these books. I’m so deeply fortunate to have you shaping my words and my career.

  Special thanks to Cassie McGinty, who somehow escaped being thanked in book one, but who was a phenomenal publicist and champion of the series. And thank you to the devastatingly lovely Aisha Cloud, who called dibs on Lada and Radu’s publicity, much to my everlasting delight.

  Thank you to Beverly Horowitz, Audrey Ingerson, the First In Line team, the copy editors, the cover designers, the marketing department, and everyone at Delacorte Press and Random House Children’s Books. You are the absolute best team and absolute best house I could have asked for. I’m constantly amazed by your dedication, innovation, and intelligence.

  Thank you to Penguin Random House worldwide, in particular Ruth Knowles and Harriet Venn, for getting our vicious Lada into the UK and Australia with such style. I’m so jealous she gets to hang out with you.

  Thank you to my first and last critique partners (that sounds more ominous than it is), Stephanie Perkins for the save-me-please emergency reads and Natalie Whipple for the save-me-please emergency moral support. We all know I wouldn’t be here without
you.

  Thank you as always to my incredible husband, Noah, without whom these books would have never existed, and without whom my life would suck. I’ll never get over how lucky I am to have you. And to our three beautiful children, thank me for marrying your father and passing along such excellent genes. (But also thank you all for being the delightful center of my life.)

  Finally, I always feared people wouldn’t connect with my brutal, vicious Lada and my tender, clever Radu. I should never have doubted you. To everyone who embraced the Dracul siblings and these books: thank you, thank you, thank you. A girl could take over the world with you on her side.

  KIERSTEN WHITE is the New York Times bestselling author of And I Darken, Now I Rise, the Paranormalcy trilogy, the dark thrillers Mind Games and Perfect Lies, The Chaos of Stars, and Illusions of Fate. She also cowrote In the Shadows with Jim Di Bartolo. Her books have won several awards, including the Utah Book Award, the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award, and the Whitney Award, and have been named an ALA-YALSA Teen Top Ten Book, a Florida Teens Read List Selection, and a Texas Lone Star Reading List Selection, among other accolades. She lives with her family near the ocean in San Diego, which, in spite of its perfection, spurs her to dream of faraway places and even further away times. Visit her at kierstenwhite.com.

  Follow @kierstenwhite on

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