She lifted her face to the stars. She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, heir of two mighty bloodlines, protector of a once-­glorious people, and Queen of Terrasen.

She was Aelin Ashryver Galathynius—­and she would not be afraid.

Ac­know­ledg­ments

This book would not exist without my friends. Especially my best friend, Jaeger copi­lot, and anam cara, Susan Dennard.

It’s to her that I owe the biggest debt, for the entire days spent brainstorming and figuring out the right way to tell the story, for holding my hand as I walked down the dark paths of this book, for being the voice in my head telling me to keep going, keep going, keep going. There was no one ­else that this book could have been dedicated to; no one ­else who challenges and uplifts and inspires me so greatly. So, thank you, Soozyface, for being the kind of friend I was so sure didn’t exist in this world. Love you, dude.

I also owe a huge debt to my brilliant and im­mensely talented friend Alex Bracken, for the genius feedback, for the bajillion-­page e-mails, and for being so, so incredibly supportive. I cannot tell you how grateful I am that our paths crossed all those years ago—­what an insane journey it’s been.

And none of this would ever have happened without my lovely and badass agent, Tamar Rydzinski, who has been with me from the very beginning, and whose tireless work has made this series reality. I’m so honored to call you my agent, but even more honored to call you my friend.

To the incredible worldwide team at Bloomsbury—­how can I ever fully convey what a joy it is to work with you all? Thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do for me and Throne of Glass. To my editor, Margaret Miller—­this book would be a hot mess without you. To Cat Onder, Cindy Loh, and Rebecca McNally—­you guys are the absolute best. To Erica Barmash, Hali Baumstein, Emma Bradshaw, Kathleen Farrar, Cristina Gilbert, Courtney Griffin, Alice Grigg, Natalie Hamilton, Bridget Hartzler, Charli Haynes, Emma Hopkin, Linette Kim, Lizzy Mason, Jenna Pocius, Emily Ritter, Amanda Shipp, Grace Whooley, and Brett Wright: thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your hard work, enthusiasm, and dedication.

To the team at Audible and to the Throne of Glass audiobook narrator, Elizabeth Evans, thank you for making Celaena’s world come to life in a ­whole new way, and for giving her a voice. And thank you to Janet Cadsawan, whose beautiful Throne of Glass jewelry line continues to blow my mind.

To the lovely Erin “Ders” Bowman, for the cheerleading and the unfailing encouragement, for the video chats, and the epic (non-­writing) retreats. Hero Squad Forever.

To Mandy Hubbard, Dan Krokos, Biljana Likic, Kat Zhang, and the Publishing Crawl gang—­thanks so much for being some of the bright lights.

To my parents—­my number-­one fans—­for the many adventures that so often serve as inspiration for these books. To my family, for the love and support, and for pushing this series on your friends and book clubs. Love you all. To my wonderful Grandma Connie—­I miss you and wish you ­were ­here to read this.

To the readers who have picked up and championed this series—­words cannot express my gratitude. I am truly blessed to have you all as fans. You make the hard work worth it.

To my dog, Annie: you ­can’t read (though it ­wouldn’t surprise me if you secretly could), but I want it written ­here—­for eternity—­that you’re the best canine companion anyone could hope for. Thanks for the cuddles, for sitting in my lap while I’m trying to write, and for giving me someone to talk to all day. Sorry I play the music so loudly when you’re trying to snooze. Love you, love you, love you forever and ever and ever.

And to my husband, Josh: You get last billing ­here, but that’s because you’re first in my heart. I’ll never stop being grateful that I get to share this wild journey with you.