Tress of the Emerald Sea (a Cosmere Novel)

TRESS OF THE EMERALD SEA Title Page Dedication Acknowledgments Part One 1. The Girl 2. The Groundskeeper 3. The Duke 4. The Son 5. The Bride Part Two 6. The Inspector 7. The Father 8. The Stowaway 9. The Rat 10. The Sprouter 11. The Thief 12. The Crow Part Three 13. The Cabin Boy 14. The Dougs 15. The Quartermaster 16. The Corpse 17. The Carpenter 18. The Other Corpse 19. The Cannonmaster 20. The Helmswoman 21. The Pirate Part Four 22. The Idiot 23. The Assistant Cannonmaster 24. The Cursed Man 25. The Prey 26. The Sharpshooter 27. The Spore Eater 28. The Extra Good Listener 29. The Familiar 30. The King’s Mask 31. The Midnight Essence 32. The Liberator 33. The Liar 34. The Tosher Part Five 35. The Lover of Tea 36. The Explorer 37. The Scholar 38. The Apprentice 39. The Chicken Keeper 40. The Chef 41. The Philosopher 42. The Guide 43. The Musician 44. The Fallen 45. The Protector 46. The Informant 47. The Poet 48. The Nightmare 49. The Martyr 50. The Murderer 51. The Dragon 52. The Sacrifice 53. The Survivor Part Six 54. The Valet 55. The Hypocrite 56. The Traitor 57. The Maligned Fashion Expert 58. The Monster 59. The Prisoner 60. The Sorceress 61. The Man 62. The Hunter 63. The Pilot 64. The Hero Epilogue Postscript About the Author Also by the Author Copyright ILLUSTRATIONS Front Endpapers Sipping Salty Tea On the Garden Wall An Unexpected Companion Death of the Dream Tress at the Wheel Crow Revealed Entering the Crimson Sea A Better Deal The Midnight Essence The Sorceress’s Tower The Battle of Wits A Twinkling Speck of Light Rear Endpapers FOR EMILY Who has all my love ACKNOWLEDGMENTS What a ride. When I sat down to write this book on a whim, I had no idea where the whole project would end up going. (Be sure to check out the postscript at the end of the book, where I talk about my inspirations for it in ways that might be a little too spoilery to put up front.) I envisioned something special for the four books from the 2022 Secret Projects Kickstarter campaign, but my team has gone above and beyond. This turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous volume. I know that many of you will be listening to the audiobook, which certainly has its own special artistry—but if you get a chance, make sure you leaf through the print version. Because wow. It’s fitting, therefore, to start off our thank-you with Howard Lyon. I envisioned these books being kind of an “artist’s showcase,” where we picked an artist and let them go a little wild with what they wanted to do in creating the book. Howard did so much on this book. The cover, the endpapers, the interior illustrations—but really, the entire design owes a lot to him. Thank you, Howard, for being willing to take on this huge project. You did an amazing job. ʫaac Stewart is our art director at Dragonsteel, and was essential in making this all come together. Rachael Lynn Buchanan was our art assistant. Bill Wearne at American Print and Bindery really came through for us to get this thing printed, considering shortages. Many thanks, Bill. And I’d also like to thank all the people in the supply chain, from the paper mills to the cover and foil material suppliers, the press, the bindery, and the delivery drivers. At Dragonsteel, our COO is Emily Sanderson. Our Editorial department is Peter Ahlstrom, Karen Ahlstrom, Kristy S. Gilbert, and Betsey Ahlstrom. Kristy Kugler was our copyeditor. Our Operations department is Matt “Are you going to do this in every book, Brandon?” Hatch, Emma Tan-Stoker, Jane Horne, Kathleen Dorsey Sanderson, Makena Saluone, and Hazel Cummings. Our Publicity and Marketing department is Adam Horne, Jeremy Palmer, and Taylor Hatch. These folks don’t get enough credit for all the wonderful things they do to make my projects happen. In particular, with this Kickstarter campaign, I needed their enthusiasm and their wonderful ideas. (For example, the original idea for a subscription box was Adam’s several years ago.) It was a lot of work to get all of this put together and executed, so if you have a chance, thank my team in person. And, of course, we need to give an extra special thanks to my Fulfillment department. Kara Stewart’s team worked long hours to get these books to you all. They deserve a round of applause, and include Christi Jacobsen, Lex Willhite, Kellyn Neumann, Mem Grange, Michael Bateman, Joy Allen, Katy Ives, Richard Rubert, Sean VanBuskirk, Isabel Chrisman, Tori Mecham, Ally Reep, Jacob Chrisman, Alex Lyon, and Owen Knowlton. I’d like to thank Margot Atwell, Oriana Leckert, and the rest of the team at Kickstarter. In addition I’d like to thank Anna Gallagher, Palmer Johnson, Antonio Rosales, and the rest of the BackerKit team. We had a special sensitivity reader help us with this book—Jenna Beacom—and she was incredible. If you ever need someone to give you help on a book in regards to Deaf representation and how to write a deaf character, go straight to Jenna. She’ll help you get it right. Our alpha readers for this project were Adam Horne, Rachael Lynn Buchanan, Kellyn Neumann, Lex Wilhite, Christi Jacobsen, Jennifer Neal, and Joy Allen. Our beta readers were Mi’chelle Walker, Matt Wiens, Ted Herman, Robert West, Evgeni “Argent” Kirilov, Jessie Lake, Kalyani Poluri, Bao Pham, Linnea Lindstrom, Jory Phillips, Darci Cole, Craig Hanks, Sean VanBuskirk, Frankie Jerome, Giulia Costantini, Eliyahu Berelowitz Levin, Trae Cooper, and Lauren McCaffrey. Gamma proofreaders also included Joy Allen, Jayden King, Chris McGrath, Jennifer Neal, Joshua Harkey, Eric Lake, Ross Newberry, Bob Kluttz, Brian T. Hill, Shannon Nelson, Suzanne Musin, Glen Vogelaar, Ian McNatt, Gary Singer, Erika Kuta Marler, Drew McCaffrey, David Behrens, Rosemary Williams, Tim Challener, Jessica Ashcraft, Anthony Acker, Alexis Horizon, Liliana Klein, Christopher Cottingham, Aaron Biggs, and William Juan. Last but not least, I need