Ace Books by Patricia A. McKillip

THE FORGOTTEN BEASTS OF ELD

THE SORCERESS AND THE CYGNET

THE CYGNET AND THE FIREBIRD

THE BOOK OF ATRIX WOLFE

WINTER ROSE

SONG FOR THE BASILISK

RIDDLE-MASTER: THE COMPLETE TRILOGY

THE TOWER AT STONY WOOD

OMBRIA IN SHADOW

IN THE FORESTS OF SERRE

ALPHABET OF THORN

ACE BOOKS, NEW YORK

An Ace Book

Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

A division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

575 Hudson Street

New York, New York 10014

This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2004 by Patricia A. McKillip.

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated. ACE and the “A” design are trademarks belonging to Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First edition: February 2004

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McKillip, Patricia A.

Alphabet of thorn/Patricia A. McKillip.— lsted.

p. cm. ISBN 0-441-01130-6

1. Teenage girls —Fiction. 2. Translators —Fiction.

3. Orphans— Fiction. I. Title.

PS3563.C38A78 2004

813'.54-dc22 2003062912