She hand selected her daughter-in-law Queen Falaise in the hopes that she could train her to be a fitting successor, able to temper the reckless excesses of her son.
Originally a studious, pensive young woman, she was selected to be the future queen by Ravenna, who had hopes of molding her as a protégé, able to temper the excesses of Roland and provide wise counsel.
Also known as Princess Katherine Fontainon, she is the bastard daughter of King Fulstan and Moire, the Queen of Air and Darkness, a powerful fay ruler in her own lands.
Half-human and half-fay, Kade is a talented natural sorceress, and was reared in the royal palace in Vienne until she inadvertently unleashed her magic in a most destructive manner.
As the invasion progresses, and the conquest of Vienne seems imminent, the queen makes arrangements to relocate the government and set up in exile in neighboring Parscia.
Fearful of being able to safely make her escape, she separates the royal family, sending her children away via different routes, along with various government documents and items of regalia.
In The Ships of Air, it was revealed that the Queen, fearful of being able to escape to Parscia to establish a government-in-exile against the onslaught of the Gardier, separated the royal family.
In The Ships of Air, it was revealed that the Queen, fearful of being able to escape to Parscia to establish a government-in-exile against the onslaught of the Gardier, separated the royal family.
Princess Olympe was sent with trusted ministers such as Count Delphane and Lady Aviler, her duenna, to escape aboard the Queen Ravenna.
In later books, they have developed into an intelligence gathering agency, as well as remaining the bodyguard of the queen and her chosen designees, often guarding them covertly.
A family of wealthy commoners in the beau monde of Ile-Rien, they are descended from the infamous exiled traitor, Denzil, Duke of Alsene.
Nicholas ends up at Lodun, studying to become a doctor, until Edouard is arrested, tried, and eventually hung for necromancy, despite the fact that he wasn't even a sorcerer.
Knowing that his foster father was innocent, Nicholas becomes obsessed with killing Count Rive Montesq, the man who framed Edouard.
The sullen, moody yet highly intelligent daughter of Nicholas and Madeline, she is the main character in the Fall of Ile-Rien trilogy, as a researcher in a covert government project trying to unlock the secrets of Gardier weaponry.