The following is, and can only be, an incomplete list acknowledging the people whose time and effort ultimately resulted in this book.
First of all, I must thank my good friend Chris. They listened to me when, in the fall of 2022, this book was merely a weird idea I had to mash up the plot of The Count of Monte Cristo with a demon summoning ... and a sapphic romance. "You should totally write that book," they said. And so I did—sending every single draft chapter to them as I wrote it, and tore it apart, and rewrote it from scratch. Their support was the primary difference between this timeline, where I wrote and published this book, and the then-far-more-likely timeline where I did not.
Also invaluable in the process was professional editor Judy L Mohr. I sent her a much worse version of this book in March of this year, and she very patiently, very lovingly, and very thoroughly tore it apart. Her critiques, which ranged from essential grammar and formatting tips to large-scale structural advice on how to actually get the story to work, were foundational to this book becoming what it is. In the wake of her editorial pass, I basically shattered my original draft, reassembled the pieces in a more logical order, and rewrote the second half from scratch. The result is a much better novel than I could have created on my own.
A few others of note to mention here. A million thanks to Queen_Zora, who also read every single draft chapter-by-chapter as I wrote it, and loved it enough to craft the wonderful cover art. Her encouragement was also invaluable. Thank you to Tiana, to Casey, to Brit, and again to Chris, the four of whom listened to me read a somewhat-final version of this book in full (!!!), unabridged, over discord. Thank you again again to Chris, who came up with the tagline.
Thank you to my parents and my siblings for putting up with me (for decades!). Thank you to all the wonderful authors of fantasy fiction who brought me along on marvelous journeys through the vast and distant frontiers of imagination.
And thank you, dear reader, for reading.
—Madeline Konrad, August 2023