Dern I'm slow. I'm now done with chapter five and starting on six...dern I need to get crackin.
Ok so this post will be exploring the characters of the Henner family. We start out in the story getting to know Iris and her 11 other biological brothers and sisters, her brother and sister and law, and her cousin. So there's (from oldest to youngest):
Rose + Kelen
Braeg + Maelyn
Robin (cousin)
Terron
Jasmine
Jacsen and Anar
Lillie and Iris
Camilla
Wryn
Ixia
Marc
Now Jacsen and Anar and Lillie and Iris are both twins. Jacsen and Lillie were the first borns while Anar and Iris are the second. Now you'd expect the older ones to have more leadership qualities, but that doesn't happen with these guys. Lillie is shy and reserved, also she thinks more logical than Iris. Lillie has a quiet confidence yet she often seems as though she is insecure with her social skills. Jacsen is very anti-social. It amazes me that he even gets a girl friend later on. Nonetheless he doesn't want to have any dealings with leadership. He's the rogue of the family, but his closest relationships are with Iris, Anar, and Lillie. It seems that he is more comfortable the twin siblings than the others. He doesn't get along too well with the older ones and tries to ignore the younger ones.
Anar likes to be pitied. As his father's favorite son, he got a lot of privaledges growing up. He likes having security and doesn't feel like he can have any leadership qualities because of his illness. Through out the book he does grow out of this some what, realizing that he has responisibilities to the family, but still he has a need to be taken care of. Iris, however, is a bit more likely to fit into the leader role. Though persuaded to become a knight, she does have some pride in the fact that if all goes well she will be the first woman knight ever. She's always the one getting into trouble and the one her family worries about the most. Iris has a tongue that often gets her into trouble and has a tendancy to act very childish. But it is her honesty and loyalty that makes her the hero of this story.
As for the other siblings, Rose is the heart of the family. Since their parents are dead, Rose steps up in taking the mother role. She does get help from Maelyn, Braeg's wife, but she is the main mother figure. Rose herself doesn't like to be mothered or taken care in that way, she feels that she is the only one in her family to provide that kind of nurtring. Even when she does have her own child Rose feels like she has 12 other children to take care of. Her natural warmth is something I admire about her, her most endeering feature though is her beauty. Physically and personally Rose is one of the most beautiful people to Iris.
Kelen is Rose's husband. He's light hearted, witty, and smart. Sometimes it seems like he's a big kid with authority. But Kelen does have his issues. As a kid he was picked on for being skinny and basically weak, and was even nearly gang (well two men) raped as a teen. When he became an adult, however, he worked for the smith and is now the strongest (well tied with Braeg) man of the house. He does get touchy and insecure at times and does hold slight grudges with people. Also, he hates it when people break their promises toward him, he finds it to be one of the ultimate insults. But despite all that he is a lovable character with his fierce loyalty and wise-crack antics.
Braeg is the leader of the pack, so to speak. Through the story Iris compares her family to a pack of wolves, and Breag is the head wolf. He is the father figure to everyone in the house and tries his hardest to be a better father than Erid Henner who used to beat Braeg, Terron, and a few times Jacsen. He is very sensible and yet light hearted, however Braeg often feels he is being taken for granted, especially by Iris. He feels that she doesn't care that he works in the smithshop in the morning, sweats all day in the fields and worries (sometimes more so than Rose) about the well being of their family all the time. When she confronts everyone about becoming a knight he feels that his efforts in trying to provide for his family isn't good enough to Iris, that she has to be the one to provide because Braeg is incompetiant or thinks too much like a commoner. Also, Braeg had made a promise to his mother, before she died, that he would never let anything happen to any of them, and like Kelen, Braeg never breaks his promises.
Maelyn is Braeg's wife and the second care-giver of the home. If Rose is the one to bandage a wound, Maelyn is the one to give the sex talk. She is more reserved than her husband and more of a peacemaker. She has a calm demure and a civil approach to everything. Frequently in a happier mood than the others, to see Maelyn really anxious or of low spirits is rare. But when she is gives the news straight-fact. Coming from a slightly less bigger family than the Henner's she is used to caring for others, but Maelyn often wishes for alone time. She is a big fan of meditation before starting the day, and a big fan of anything to relieve her migranes.
Robin is their cousin from their father's side. When Robin's parents died (when Iris was 12) he came to live with the Henners in Etny. Eversince Iris was considered "soiled", Robin figured that he would be the one to marry Iris. In this culture cousins marring cousins is not abnormal, so Robin doesn't consider courting anyone until he felt it was the right time to approach Iris. But once she starts training as a knight and falling for Sir Wrider, Robin realizes that Iris is unatainable. Whether or not he really loved her is never revealed, but it is obvius he does have a loving affection for her. Robin is the friend to everyone in the family, even Jacsen. Though he may not have the tightest relationships with everyone, if you want someone to take you out of your dumpy mood you go to Robin. With his charasmatic humilty and musically gifted talent, Robin can put a smile on anyone's face. Though he does tend to be elusive at times and not fully let people in quickly, Robin is probably most likely to have a heart of gold.
Terron is the one sibling Iris doesn't get along with. After calling her soiled in the first chapter, we see a very cold relationship between the two. Often times he is misunderstood by the others. They see negativity, but really Terron cares deeply for his family and often lets that passion for them to go over board. Being the one to have gotten hit the most by their father, Terron doesn't respond well to authority. Most would think him and Jacsen would relate better because of this, but really Terron tries to ignore the twin boys the most. This is because he feels that one day they would die young and that the closer he was to them the harder the loss. He was very close to his mother and desperatly wanted to be with his father, so when they died he felt it really deeply. One of the reasons he doesn't care too much for Iris is that she was one of her father's favorite children. Though he doesn't resent Anar or Rose for being the other two favorite, he does resent Iris for it. This is because, as a kid, Iris would flaunt her favoritism while poor Terron tried desperatly to earn his father's favor. However, these two do eventually path things up especially when they both realize they had a common goal which was to keep their family safe and happy.
Jasmine is crafty and witty. With her dark looks and clever charms, Jasmine is one of the most sought after girls in Etny. However Jasmine isnt exactly Miss Congeiniality. Jasmine prides herself too much with her looks and often is in a vexed mood. She feels that since Rose decided not to marry above their class that it is up to her to do so. More than anyone in her family she realizes her noble bloodline and desperatly wants to live the life of a noblewoman. When that dream does come true for her though she realizes that her family is more important the the material things she gets as a nobleman's wife. She is the Prodical Son of this story and though she may seem like a snooty-stuck up wannabe, she does have a sweeter side that most would find refreshing.
Camilla was born a year after Lillie and Iris. They consider her their triplet and the three are very close. Camilla isn't as pretty (so says Iris) as her other sisters. Socially awkward and a bit more timid than Lillie, Camilla is the ugly duckling. But yes she does get to become a swan when she disproves Iris (and the rest of her sisters) when she catches the eye of one of the most (if not the most) handsom noblemen in Nyress. Camilla's soft spoken nature and calm personality makes the easiest to be around in the family. However, she does use the handsome nobleman to her advantage. Though she does truly adore him, she uses him to prove to everyone that she is beautiful. She wants to be seen everywhere with him and Iris knows it and calls her out on it too. Camilla is very jealous that her sisters get attention from guys and are considered "prettier than common folk" to everyone else. However once she realizes that it wasn't just her looks that attracted the most handsome nobleman, it was her tender personality, she loses the grudges against her sisters.
Wryn is probably one of the more complicated characters. Out of all the brothers Wryn looks more like his father in the facial features. His bitterness not only comes from his father, but also from the older brothers. Braeg is the hardest on Wryn because Bearg sees a lot of Erid within him. Not wanting him to end up like their father, Braeg is often patronizing and overly correcting Wryn. Wryn admires Jacsen and sort of takes on his personality, but Jacsen doesn't want to acknowledge nor does he care. Jacsen's overly-rogue tendencies makes Wryn fusterated and often makes him as cold and distant as their father was. When Iris completes her training and makes the family nearly a part of the nobility, Wryn wants to follow in her footsteps as a knight. This gives him an immense respect for her when he realizes all the crap she had to face and even did it with grace. One thing that I like about Wryn is his ability to not discriminate when it comes to people. Though I wouldn't consider him an under dog, he does cheer for them and that makes him honorable.
Ixia is the near image of her mother. With firey red hair and bright blues eyes, Ixia is the one who favors thier mother most but not just in looks. More than anyone in their family, Ixia has Leial's personality. With a witty toungue, adventurous aspirations, humility, and an elegant poise, Ixia mirriors her mother. Her sisters envy her sometimes in that they wish they had some physical features of their mother. Only Ixia has it. Most people feel comfortable around her and as she gets older she becomes more of a social butterfly than even Jasmine. Eventually I'm thinking of having her become the first woman lawyer in Nyress too, but I haven't thought that far with this story. When Iris becomes a knight and goes off to war, Ixia starts to recent her. Yes, she does consider Iris an inspiration, but at the same time she (more than anyone eles) sees how jaded Iris becomes and feels like she lost a very valued sister. However, Ixia does come to terms with the person Iris becomes and learns to accept the changes they all have made through the series.
Marc is obviously the youngest of all the Henners. His birth, however, caused Leial to die in childbirth. He doesn't remember her nor their father and grows up considering Braeg and Rose as his parents. When he does grow up, like Iris and Wryn, he pursues knighthood and wants to have a family. Marc is a smart mouth jokster that follows Iris' path of troublemaking. He is often restless and would be considered ADHD. He and Anar have a special bond in that when Braeg lacks in fatherly comfort, Marc looks to Anar for that male reassurance. Also he and Lillie have a good relationship because out of anyone in the family she has the most paitience. He feels he can be more himself around her, and it isn't unlikely to see these two running in the fields wildly.
Ok so thats it for the character mini bios. Overall this family is far from perfect, but it will be obvious in the story how all of them are very close, even Jacsen who eventually learns to stop being a rogue.
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