Lightlark

Grim, the 500-year-old ruler of the Nightshade realm, is the primary romantic interest in Lightlark. He is an imposing warrior with dark hair, a handsome but “cruelly cut face” (8), and a past shrouded in mystery, making him an archetypal Byronic hero. Despite his intimidating looks, he often teases and flirts with Isla, complimenting her body and enjoying her discomfort with his seductive advances.

Grim can read emotions and transport himself anywhere with a thought. In addition, he can wield the powers of night and death. When he shows Isla his powers, it is “like life had been ripped away” from the area his powers touched (218). This makes everyone else see him—and all Nightshades—as inherently evil. He alternately struggles with and fosters this reputation for wickedness, seeming content to be a pariah among the rulers but longing for Isla to relate to him: “I have no interest in winning the Centennial. Or forming alliances. Or playing this game at all” (119). Despite this statement, he helps Isla many times throughout the contest. Each time, Grim shares self-deprecating tidbits of his own story such as revealing his powers, calling himself a “monster,” and claiming that Isla cannot trust him. These attempts draw her closer to him, and ultimately Grim wins her love and they share a sexual encounter. However, while Grim seems sincere in his love of Isla, his calculated manipulation and betrayal reveal that he is not—at least at present—a redeemable “bad boy” love interest for Isla.

The king of Lightlark and ruler of the Sunlings, Oro is Isla’s secondary romantic interest and Grim’s rival. He’s an Origin, which means that he can wield several Lightlark powers, including healing, manipulating and creating gold, and sensing lies. Oro has golden hair and “eyes as amber and hollow as honeycomb” (23). His coldness hides a wariness about falling in love since anyone he falls in love with can steal his power. His concern about power is not selfish, though; the island of Lightlark is magically linked to Oro’s energy, and a mysterious wasting illness means that both Oro and Lightlark are under threat of collapse.

Oro senses himself falling in love with Isla early in their alliance, but he suspects that his feelings are only a result of her Wildling seduction. He holds back information from her, not because he is trying to manipulate her like Grim, but because he wants to make sure she is trustworthy. When she reveals that she has no power, Oro realizes that his feelings for Isla are genuine. His actions from then on, even if they are not initially transparent, are to protect her and save the realms from the curses. At the end of the novel, Oro and Isla are mutually in love, their attraction and growing trust leading them into a union that expands both of their powers.

At the beginning of the novel, Celeste seems like an earnest and kind young woman. The ruler of the Starlings, she is the youngest and most vulnerable participant in the Centennial aside from Isla, which makes the two of them natural friends and allies. Celeste comes up with a strategy to break the curses by working together, and she stays loyal to Isla even in moments when Isla deviates from the plan. However, moments of high-handedness belie her meek persona: She is determined to find the bondbreaker artifact despite several setbacks, including a few physical attacks.

In the climax of the novel, Celeste betrays Isla and steals her powers, and then she reveals that the identity of Celeste has been a facade all along. She is actually Aurora, an ancient ruler of Starling and the originator of the curses. In this backstory, Aurora’s fiancé rejected her in favor of Violet, a Wildling ruler and Isla’s ancestor. In her jealousy, she decided to find the heart of Lightlark for herself and seduced Grim to get it. But when she tried to wield it, she accidentally cursed the realms. Her goal for the past 500 years has been to gain all the powers of Lightlark by making Oro fall in love with her, but she was never successful. When she found out that a child had been born of Wildling and Nightshade blood, she hatched a complicated plan with Isla’s guardians and Grim, ensnaring Isla in a bid to get all six Lightlark powers at once. After Isla defeats her, Aurora dies and her body is swallowed up by the island.

Cleo, the ruler of Moonling, functions as Isla’s perceived antagonist throughout the novel. A coldly beautiful woman who wields ice powers, she makes a bad impression on Isla by insulting her several times in their first meetings, calling her a “fool” and throwing her Wildling heritage in her face (24). But in the demonstrations, Cleo does intimidatingly well, coming in second.

Cleo’s active role in the plot is limited. Other than a few chance encounters and one actual attack wherein Cleo freezes Isla in a block of ice, she stays largely on Moon Isle surrounded by her own nobles. However, her psychological impact on Isla is great; Isla feels certain that Cleo knows about her search for the bondbreaker and the heart of Lightlark. She thinks Cleo is actively trying to kill her and the people she loves and suspects the ruler of a hidden agenda when she learns that Cleo has a fleet of ships and is forming her own army. Ultimately, the narrative is unclear about Cleo’s true motives regarding Lightlark or Isla, but she is poised at the end of the novel to become a potential threat, having moved her people and her ships away from the Mainland.

Azul is friendly to Isla initially, a welcome change from the suspicion others hold for her. The ruler of the Skylings, he is a handsome, smiling man who loves jewelry. He can wield the power of air and shares with Isla a part of the island where his powers create beautiful tunes out of giant tunnels carved in a mountain. He is a democratic king, having abolished the nobility and offered to step down if the Skylings are unhappy with his rule. But, like their ruler, the Skylings appear to be a happy people. Azul shares a story with Isla about King Egan and Aurora that makes her think about the value of unity.

Later in the novel, Azul seems more suspicious. Isla overhears him telling Oro that “a realm has to die” (183), and she interprets this statement as a threat. When Celeste is attacked, Isla finds the diamond ring she gave Azul clutched in Celeste’s fist, indicating Azul as the likely poisoner. However, these clues turn out to be red herrings. Oro tells Isla about Azul’s tragic backstory—the loss of his husband—and says that Azul too obsessed with his grief to be a threat to anyone.