The Leopard (Marakand) (52 page)

She would build the walls of fire, as the little demon, the salamander of the undying fire, had shown her when he guarded her. In the heart of Marakand, she would build a fortress of fire, and within it she would await her champion, her king, her emperor Over-Malagru, and her Praitannec army that would be.

Then when her champion came to her again, the suburb could burn.

Although I don’t usually include a long list of acknowledgements,
Marakand
really needs one. So . . . many thanks to my usual gang: Tristanne, Connie, Marina, April, and Chris, for reading so many drafts, variants, and abandoned chapters. Thanks to them again, and to Molly and Jocelyn, for reading the nearly final draft or portions thereof, and for being there when I needed people to think out loud at. Connie Choi and Emily Suen kindly checked my Nabbani names to make sure nothing was unintentionally embarrassing.

While I’m at it, I’d like to say here what a pleasure and an honour it is to work with Raymond Swanland, who captures the spirit of the stories so well for the covers, and Rhys Davies, who takes my utilitarian maps and makes something beautiful, and who takes so much care to make sure they make sense. Especially, I want to thank Lou Anders, my editor at Pyr, for so passionately championing the world of Moth and the Blackdog.

Photo © Chris Paul

K. V. Johansen grew up in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, where after reading
The Lord of the Rings
at the age of eight she developed not only a lifelong love of fantasy literature but a fascination with languages and history which would be equally long-lasting and would eventually influence the development of her own writing, leading her to take a Master’s degree at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto. The love of landscape and natural history that appears in her work also traces to an early age, when she spent countless hours exploring woods and brooks with her dog. While spending most of her time writing, she retains her interest in medieval history and languages and is a member of the Tolkien Society and the Early English Text Society, as well as the Science Fiction Writers of America and the Writers’ Union of Canada.

Her previous fiction for adults include the Sunburst-nominated
Blackdog
and the short-story collections
The Storyteller
and
The Serpent Bride
. She is also the author of a number of books for children and teens and two books on the history of children’s fantasy literature. Various of her books have been translated into French, Macedonian, and Danish. Visit her online at
www.kvj.ca
.