Winterborne — Characters

King Thelon Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Thelon, the king

• Bk 1Henric's grandfather and the reigning king.
• Bk 1Salt-and-pepper hair combed back, trimmed beard, dark green brooding eyes, broad shoulders. Moves as if the world belongs to him.
• Bk 1Crown: thick, rusted, six spikes, the middle one tallest.
• Bk 1Throne-room dress: black leather shaped like armor, pauldrons like curled horns, spiked gauntlets.
• Bk 1Wrote and illustrated The Dragon and His Prince, read it to Henric as their secret, and used it to keep ice dragons alive in the boy's mind.
• Bk 1Uses the Whisper Torture: carved TRUTH into Henric's forearm to make him admit he dreams of ice dragons.
• Bk 1Locked his father, King Onsthelot, away in his last years.
• Bk 1Fathered Merador with a commoner by arrangement, to secure an heir.
• Bk 1Gave Henric the Ring of Udebar at the welcome celebration.
• Bk 1Keeps the family's Massachusetts house, off Salem End, as a “trophy cottage” of living-looking severed heads behind blank-spined books.
• Bk 1Ordered Dorover to carve out Kellenen's dragon-wing tattoo.
• Bk 1Has a gravelly voice.
• Bk 1On Earth wore a black coat over his shoulders and a blue winter coat.
• Bk 1A castle portrait shows him in purple with a fur-lined cape, the dragon-wing and scorpion-tail ring on his finger.
• Bk 1In private he wears a plain black lace shirt and matching pants.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Queen Osalia Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Osalia, the queen

• Bk 1Henric's grandmother and co-ruler.
• Bk 1Hazel eyes, gray hair in an elaborate braid.
• Bk 1Crown: black, twisted like vines, ending in a silver flower.
• Bk 1Believes the Crown must always win and that stories make rulers. “Our secrets are weapons you must learn to wield.”
• Bk 1Wrote the public lie that erases Aveenar: Henric is the son of Princess Petrolla, and Audrey of a Doomhall peasant.
• Bk 1On Earth wore a black sweater patterned with gray thread and a green winter coat.
• Bk 1In the throne room she wears black: a dress lined with pelts at the shoulders and scale-textured sleeves.
• Bk 1In private she wears a black dress that pools at her feet.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

King Onsthelot Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Onsthelot

• Bk 1Henric's great-grandfather. His reign lasted fifty years.
• Bk 1A dragon dreamer. He dreamt of the ice dragons but never saw their faces, and the dreams consumed him.
• Bk 1His obsession with the Prince of Winter risked a religious war between elves and humans. Thelon had him locked away.
• Bk 1His frantic drawings cover the tunnel beneath the dining library, around a door inscribed Au Parti Santius Dragonius Esquici Timere (“To the Holy Dragons Forgotten by Time”).
• Bk 1His wooden boxes on those shelves are sealed by dragon magic, like the blank books in Henric's chambers. No one has opened them.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Prince Calibor Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Calibor, Storm Prince, Calibor Sabio

• Bk 1Henric and Audrey's father, once heir to the throne, called the Storm Prince.
• Bk 16'1", dark brown eyes, dark hair. A frowning vein on his forehead betrays his temper.
• Bk 1Sword: Cevada, which lives beneath the skin of his right arm as blue lightning-lines and surfaces when called.
• Bk 1Founded the Order of the Scorpion Rebels in his youth with Aveenar, Tellimor and Dyla.
• Bk 1Promised since childhood to Princess Petrolla. Fell in love with Aveenar, a halfsie, which made their children a crime under the law.
• Bk 1The Crown announced his death (“The Passing of Calibor Iceheart, Our Storm Prince”). He fled to Earth with Aveenar and lived as Calibor Sabio in Carmel, Massachusetts.
• Bk 1Stayed away from Winterborne almost twenty years.
• Bk 1Can never hold the Throne of Bones again. The court is to vote on his forgiveness or condemnation.
• Bk 1Has given up on the Skyvars.
• Bk 1Implies Demhalt led, or tried to lead, a rebellion.
• Bk 1Favors an all-black outfit with a turtleneck; in Carmel wore a suit and black peacoat.
• Bk 1Entered Winterborne with a black cloth over his mouth marked with a crow pierced by an arrow.
• Bk 1Given a blue coat whose chains fasten to buttons shaped like dragon wings.
• Bk 1His children called him King Dad for his bossiness.
• Bk 1At the castle he wore a black jerkin and gloves with finger slits, with the witch-marked cloth around his neck.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Aveenar Montoet Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Halfsie

Also known as Aveenar, Charlotte, Aveenar Montoet

• Bk 1Henric and Audrey's mother. On Earth she went by Charlotte.
• Bk 1A commoner halfsie, born to an estranged elf father. His absence drove her to study Winterborne's histories, and she became a teacher of the common folk.
• Bk 1Green eyes. Henric shares none of her features.
• Bk 1Dyla's closest friend from girlhood and a co-founder of the Scorpion Rebels.
• Bk 1Calibor met her on a visit to the city and insisted on making their love public once she was pregnant with Henric. The scandal filled the leaflets: A Royal and a Halfsie, The Prince and His Halfsie Mistress.
• Bk 1Sang Henric the lullaby that later returns in his dreams.
• Bk 1Stabbed to death at the family's home in Carmel four years before Book 1, while Henric was upstairs, drunk, with a girl. He found her body but never saw the killer.
• Bk 1In Henric's vision she appears in a tattered white dress, lips stitched with dark thread, eyes hollow and dark.
• Bk 1Her Oothrum statue shows her in flowing stone robes, hands folded over her chest.
• Bk 1Race: Halfsie.

Henric Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Halfsie

Also known as Henric, Henric Sabio, Prince of Winter, Ravencrow

• Bk 1Narrator, Calibor and Aveenar's son, Escurion's rider, the prophesied Prince of Winter.
• Bk 15'6", red hair, one brown eye and one gray.
• Bk 1Eighteen, a high-school senior in Book 1; about three years older than Audrey.
• Bk 1Scratches the sides of his thumbs until they bleed.
• Bk 1Draws; after his mother's death, only Escurion.
• Bk 1Dreamt of Escurion for four years before the dragon returned at his welcome celebration.
• Bk 1Ice answers his right hand, fire his left; together, frostflame.
• Bk 1Scar: TRUTH carved in his forearm.
• Bk 1Wears the Ring of Udebar on his right index finger.
• Bk 1Took a silver ring with a blue dragon-skull gem from a drawer in his chambers.
• Bk 1Alias in disguise (eyepatch and crow-marked mask): Ravencrow, a warlock.
• Bk 1Childhood friends: the Midnight Kings, Carmel boys who drifted away after elementary school. Peter stayed close until Aveenar's death.
• Bk 1His left eye is the gray one.
• Bk 1His red hair turns into a frizzy nest when unkempt; at home he favors a black sweatshirt.
• Bk 1Crossing into Winterborne he wore a heavy black coat lined with gray pelts, silver chains and crown-shaped buttons.
• Bk 1In his waking vision he rides in black armor veined with frozen light, the winged W across his chest.
• Bk 1Hundarian likens his brown eye to a talibark tree against the snow.
• Bk 1Grew a shadow of stubble along his jaw after arriving in Winterborne.
• Bk 1His Ravencrow disguise is an eyepatch over his gray eye and a crow-marked cloth over his lower face.
• Bk 1At the palace he wears a black shirt, black pants tied at the waist, and a coat with pelt-lined shoulders, its fabric scale-textured and threaded with silver.
• Bk 1For his secret night in Centurion he dressed all in black: gloves, a heavy coat and boots, with the eyepatch and mask.
• Bk 1Court dress for his presentation: dark purple coat and cloak with silver embroidery, silver clasps along the spine, chest chains, shoulder plates and buckled boots.
• Bk 1When he uses ice, blue light shows on his arm in the shape of ice stubs jutting up his skin.
• Bk 1Can light a hearth with a wave of his left fingers.
• Bk 1Cracks his knuckles while brooding.
• Bk 1Race: Halfsie.

Audrey Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Halfsie

Also known as Audrey, Audrey Sabio

• Bk 1Henric's younger sister. Born on Earth about three years after Henric.
• Bk 1Ten at her mother's funeral, fourteen and a high-school freshman in Book 1.
• Bk 1Loves books, classical music and her piano. Adapts fastest; thinks in headlines and narratives.
• Bk 1“Always name a beast. Familiarity makes them our equal.”
• Bk 1Public story: Calibor's daughter by a peasant, so she can pass as pure.
• Bk 1Luz is her assigned tutor.
• Bk 1Often wears her hair in a messy ponytail.
• Bk 1Given a red coat with gold chains and crown-shaped buttons, its sleeves too long for her.
• Bk 1Wore a red dress with a scaled turtleneck collar at her first castle breakfast.
• Bk 1Disguised as a witch at the castle, her lower face covered by a cloth marked with a crow pierced by an arrow.
• Bk 1At breakfast she wore a red coat with black patterns and a high collar over a ruffled blouse, her hair pulled over one shoulder.
• Bk 1At court she wears a dark long-sleeved dress, her hair combed back down her back.
• Bk 1At Oothrum she ties her hair back for the first time, having once worn it loose to look softer.
• Bk 1Race: Halfsie.

Merador

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Merador Iceheart

• Bk 15'11", black hair tied in a bun, brown eyes, a scar above his upper lip.
• Bk 1Dresses in white with the winged W in silver.
• Bk 1Married to Luz.
• Bk 1His white garment resembles a toga over white pants and white boots, under a white hooded cloak.
• Bk 1Greets by beating a fist over his chest.
• Bk 1Wore a black cloak, identical to Luz's, at the Six Voices meeting.
• Bk 1Wears a cape that falls cleanly from his shoulders over his white clothes.
• Bk 1Shares a small castle portrait with Luz, the two in white against a snowstorm.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Luz

Iceheart Family · Unknown

• Bk 1Merador's wife.
• Bk 15'8", white hair, lashes and brows, blue eyes.
• Bk 1A scar runs from the corner of her lip to her left ear.
• Bk 1Casts protective domes of blue light.
• Bk 1Audrey's assigned tutor.
• Bk 1Came to Carmel with Merador to rescue the family.
• Bk 1Wears a white hooded cloak; greets by beating a fist over her chest.
• Bk 1Opens doorways in Albethea's walls by touch, spreading thin blue streaks through the stone.
• Bk 1Wore a black cloak, identical to Merador's, at the Six Voices meeting.
• Bk 1Dresses in white like her husband.

Silverlamb Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Silverlamb

• Bk 1Royal rebel and seer, great-granddaughter of Hellsbeth.
• Bk 1Commanded the building of Albethea, the passage between Winterborne and the Ordinary Realm.
• Bk 1Designed the dragon-ridder knowing it would end the dragons, and wept while building it.
• Bk 1After the dragons died, set the Heart of Snow inside Hondebur's skull and bound the lives of every elf to it.
• Bk 1Forged the Heathen Crown, the crown of the Prince of Winter, after foreseeing his coming.
• Bk 1Survived the Dark Rebellion and was given lands, titles and the chance to love.
• Bk 1The Icehearts called her foresight madness; the elves called it a gift.
• Bk 1She was denied a funeral and a grave, and her prophecy scrolls were found on her body.
• Bk 1Her portrait hangs in Henric's chambers: silver hair, dark eyes, a dragon-ridder aimed at a dragon's shadow.
• Bk 1Wrote the prophecy that begins “The Prince of Winter shall appear…”
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Hellsbeth Iceheart

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Hellsbeth

• Bk 1Daughter of King Coronan and Queen Malva Iceheart, who led the Icehearts to Winterborne.
• Bk 1Kept a secret affair with the elf king Romendan for thirty years.
• Bk 1Their daughter, Skeely, was born ten years in.
• Bk 1When the affair was exposed, killed Romendan, seized the Heart of Snow, and outlawed the sigil of the Prince of Winter.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

King Coronan and Queen Malva

Iceheart Family · Iceheart

Also known as Coronan, Malva

• Bk 1Led the Icehearts (“the Strangers”) to Winterborne about 300 years ago.
• Bk 1Parents of Hellsbeth Iceheart.
• Bk 1Race: Iceheart.

Skeely

Iceheart Family · Halfsie

• Bk 1Daughter of Hellsbeth Iceheart and the elf king Romendan, born ten years into their affair.
• Bk 1Fought for fair treatment of magical folk and was killed in a riot.
• Bk 1Race: Halfsie.

Romendan Eltemore

Elves · Elf

Also known as Romendan, the Dealbreaker, the Dealmaker

• Bk 1Elf king who crossed the Sea of Snakes with Cebrahim Ventera about 500 years ago, guided by Higher Elf visions.
• Bk 1Bonded the first dragons with Cebrahim (Specter and Hondebur) and returned with them to Elkon, inspiring a migration.
• Bk 1Kept a secret affair with Hellsbeth Iceheart for thirty years; father of Skeely.
• Bk 1Killed by Hellsbeth when the affair was exposed.
• Bk 1The elves remember him as the Dealbreaker for losing the dragons; the Icehearts call him the Dealmaker.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Cebrahim Ventera

Elves · Elf

Also known as Cebrahim

• Bk 1Crossed the Sea of Snakes with Romendan about 500 years ago with an elven army.
• Bk 1Bonded with Specter.
• Bk 1After Hellsbeth killed Romendan, lost Specter, was lured to false peace talks, captured, tortured and displayed.
• Bk 1His and Romendan's portrait sailed over on the Centera.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Dyla Silvermore

Silvermores · Elf

Also known as Dyla

• Bk 1Daughter of Ren and Turneethror. Mother of the twins Hundarian and Kellenen.
• Bk 15'11", dark wavy hair braided in places, gray eyes.
• Bk 1Aveenar's close friend when they were young.
• Bk 1A co-founder of the Scorpion Rebels; a loyalist to the Crown in public.
• Bk 1Wore a red dress when she met Calibor's family at the castle's iron doors.
• Bk 1Wears a black dress with scorpion-claw shoulder pads in the rebels' lair.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Demhalt Silvermore

Silvermores · Elf

Also known as Demhalt, the Elven Eye

• Bk 1The Elven Eye. The twins' father.
• Bk 1Served the Icehearts on missions no one else could take.
• Bk 1Killed by Tryorians: his head was left on Kellenen's bed, the dragon-eating-a-snake carved into his forehead.
• Bk 1Calibor implies he led, or tried to lead, a rebellion.
• Bk 1Sang “Father's song” (Little Berryfly) to the singlehorns.
• Bk 1Gave Hundarian the Lonely Wing pendant after a mission.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Hundarian Silvermore

Silvermores · Elf

Also known as Hundarian, Everkeeper

• Bk 15'9", long black hair often tied in a bun, gray eyes, a beard growing in.
• Bk 1Keeper of the histories; reads Silverlamb's scrolls.
• Bk 1Skilled with the dagger and the bow.
• Bk 1Wears the Lonely Wing pendant, which glows blue at a whispered word.
• Bk 1Bound by a life-bound document to keep the family's secrets.
• Bk 1Wears the twin Ring of Udebar, which Henric slid onto his finger.
• Bk 1Former lover of Unmbur.
• Bk 1Shares his twin's black hair and gray eyes, with fuller lips and stubble on a strong jaw.
• Bk 1Wears a dark green coat with swirls embroidered on the back and a sheathed dagger at his belt.
• Bk 1Broad-shouldered; slightly taller than Henric.
• Bk 1Wore a black robe with his dragon-wing pendant for his lesson with Henric at Historicus.
• Bk 1His night gear: black clothes, shoulder plates rising into horned silhouettes, blades strapped at his hips.
• Bk 1Rebel armor: black coat with shoulders shaped as scorpion claws stacked in threes, black leather, a ridged shell-like belt and claw-etched gauntlets.
• Bk 1Wears a battle skirt under his scorpion armor and carries a dagger at his belt.
• Bk 1Has faint freckles, and the tip of his right ear curves slightly sharper than the left.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Kellenen Silvermore

Silvermores · Elf

Also known as Kellenen

• Bk 1Hundarian's twin.
• Bk 15'6", long black hair in braids, gray eyes, silver guards on her ear tips.
• Bk 1Aspires to the royal guard; shadows Dorover.
• Bk 1A dragon-wing tattoo on her forearm was carved out by Dorover on Thelon's order while Henric kept his secret.
• Bk 1Drives herself by vengeance for her father.
• Bk 1Pointed ears show when her hair falls forward.
• Bk 1Dimples show when she tries to suppress a smile; her gray eyes carry streaks of silver light.
• Bk 1Thin silver chains hang from the armor cuffing her ear tips.
• Bk 1Wears a moss-green coat with a leather belt, pants tucked into knee-high boots, and a gold winged-W pin.
• Bk 1Stood guard outside Henric's door in golden armor.
• Bk 1Her ears flush with color when she is embarrassed.
• Bk 1Out of armor she wore a red long-sleeved dress, her hair braided deep and tight.
• Bk 1Wears a dragon-wing pendant like her brother's, which glows blue when she murmurs and tightens her fist.
• Bk 1Her night gear: black clothes, shoulder plates rising into horned silhouettes, blades strapped at her hips.
• Bk 1Rebel dress: red coat with scorpion-claw shoulders linked by thin chains, dark pants, brown boots, a dagger at her belt.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Tellimor

Scorpion Rebels · Witch / Warlock

• Bk 1Warlock and head of the Scorpion Rebels.
• Bk 1Salt-and-pepper hair, a witch's mask, black clothes etched with silver scorpions, a cane hiding a blade.
• Bk 1His daughter Weelona survived.
• Bk 1Wears a glowing scorpion necklace that controls the images shown in the lair's mirrors.
• Bk 1Race: Witch / Warlock.

Weelona

Scorpion Rebels · Unknown

• Bk 1Tellimor's young daughter.
• Bk 1Dark hair in a ponytail; outspoken.
• Bk 1Survived Oothrum, where her brothers were killed.

Unmbur

Scorpion Rebels · Unknown

• Bk 1A wealthy member of the Scorpion Rebels in his mid-twenties.
• Bk 1Red coat, white horse named Oni, a silver pin of a rose wrapped by a serpent.
• Bk 1Calms horses with an untranslatable word.
• Bk 1Hundarian's former lover.
• Bk 1Wears his hair in a bun, with black gloves and black boots; his rose-and-serpent pin sits on his left chest.
• Bk 1His horse-calming word, Teslentar, comes from the Tongue of the Flesh.

Veesha

Scorpion Rebels · Witch / Warlock

• Bk 1A witch who served drinks at Sifti, the House of Many Pleasures.
• Bk 1Shaved head, face painted black on its upper half.
• Bk 1Brown, piercing eyes and deep-toned skin; she wore the sigil of the witch and warlock.
• Bk 1Race: Witch / Warlock.

Mr. Silverstein

Tryorians · Tryorian

Also known as Silverstein

• Bk 1Henric's English teacher in Carmel and head of the Damaged pack hunting the family.
• Bk 1Horned skull mask, pelts, two pale snakes.
• Bk 1Was after “the jewel.”
• Bk 1Wears glasses; gray hair parted in the middle; speaks in a monotone.
• Bk 1His Damaged mask is a cracked skull with curling horns and a long, splintered snout.
• Bk 1Wears rotted fangs strung across his chest and a cloak stitched from pelts and thorned branches; moss clings to his boots.
• Bk 1Wears a rusted medallion of a dragon and snake each eating the other's tail.
• Bk 1His two snakes are white with square heads, red eyes, forked tongues and icicle-like teeth.
• Bk 1Race: Tryorian.

Peter Silverstein

Tryorians · Tryorian

Also known as Peter, Peter Tryor

• Bk 1Silverstein's son, Henric's childhood friend, one-time lover and bully.
• Bk 1Hazel eyes, dimples, blond hair.
• Bk 1Bears a vanishing dragon-eating-a-snake tattoo.
• Bk 1Rides a red, four-legged ice dragon.
• Bk 1Can speak inside Henric's mind.
• Bk 1One of the Midnight Kings; stayed close to Henric until Aveenar's death.
• Bk 1Buzzed blond hair and golden stubble.
• Bk 1His dragon-eating-a-snake tattoo sits on his hand, about the size of a penny.
• Bk 1In Henric's dream he wears armor and a crown of wood and thorns with two horns rising from its sides.
• Bk 1In the dream his red dragon is horned, as massive as Escurion, and breathes blue flames.
• Bk 1In the dream he waits at mountain ruins of tan, squared columns under a flat stone roof, beside a lagoon ringed by rock, sand and snow.
• Bk 1Sharp jaw, heart-shaped lips and dirty-blond hair.

Itheleea

Tryorians · Tryorian

• Bk 1Wolf rider with a shaved head, black eyes, a lightning-shaped birthmark and a necklace of bones.
• Bk 1Her helmet bears a scorpion tail and a dragon wing.
• Bk 1Deep brown skin; wears a cape and rides a saddled wolf.
• Bk 1Carries a long white canine capped in silver, blown as a horn that makes the wolves howl.
• Bk 1Race: Tryorian.

Caspiden

Tryorians · Tryorian

• Bk 1Older scarred wolf rider.
• Bk 1Brown eyes and gray beard stubble; rode a white-streaked wolf.
• Bk 1Race: Tryorian.

Konniver Tryor

Tryorians · Tryorian

Also known as Konniver

• Bk 1A Tryorian sorcerer and wolf leader.
• Bk 1Race: Tryorian.

Lord Fredween

Doomhall Nobility · Human

Also known as Fredween

• Bk 1Of the house that rules Doomhall. A human purist.
• Bk 1Arrested at the welcome celebration for denying the Crown's story.
• Bk 1Father of the late Princess Petrolla.
• Bk 1A short man with a round belly, dressed in red, his face flushing with rage.
• Bk 1Race: Human.

Princess Petrolla

Doomhall Nobility · Human

Also known as Petrolla

• Bk 1Lord Fredween's late daughter, betrothed to Calibor since childhood.
• Bk 1Went mad and shut herself away after he vanished.
• Bk 1The Crown's cover story makes her Henric's mother.
• Bk 1Race: Human.

Dorover

Guards, Servants & Spies · Elf

• Bk 1Elf guard, scar on his chin, gray eyes.
• Bk 1In love with Kellenen; carved out her tattoo on royal orders.
• Bk 1At Sifti he wore a half-moon mask with twigs and branches twisting down its left side, a bare chest and a short leather skirt.
• Bk 1Wears full armor with a helmet and carries a sword.
• Bk 1Race: Elf.

Korella

Guards, Servants & Spies · Unknown

• Bk 1Daughter of Thrern and Homalek. Master of War.

Celon

Guards, Servants & Spies · Unknown

• Bk 1A little boy spying for the king.

Vendis

Guards, Servants & Spies · Verimor

• Bk 1A Verimor barkeep in Centurion's northeast corner.
• Bk 1Septum ring, pierced nipples, a seven-pointed star tattooed on his chest.
• Bk 1A faun: his lower half is a goat's; his black eyes make his sockets look empty; broad, hairy human chest.
• Bk 1Speaks with a thick, clipped accent; also called Ventis.
• Bk 1Race: Verimor.

Cecilia / Valentina

Earth · Human

Also known as Cecilia, Valentina

• Bk 1The senior girl with Henric the night his mother died.
• Bk 1Book 1 uses both names.
• Bk 1Race: Human.