Characters

Lord Jean-Paul died just a few years back in a duel with Duke Vincent Gaulle dul Motte, of all people. He was a guest of the Duke's at the time and apparently abused that hospitality in some awful way. The going gossip is that a lady's virtue was probably involved - Jean-Paul was a notorious womanizer.

Odessa is working on her reputation as the Wickedest Woman in Theah.

Gianna Mondavi is a miserable creature. She is a typical Senzavista, a "sightless" Vodacce noblewoman with no Sorte powers. Gianna dociley stood by for her husband's numerous liasons and affairs; so long as she said little, he was content to leave her largely alone. She did not protest when her children were taken from her early to be handed over to nurses and tutors. Now the frequent target of her own son's vindictive violence, she lives in fear on her own estate. Her near invisibilty has always been her shield, and it seems to have failed at last.

Adrien took up rulership of the family lands after Jean-Paul's death. He's not the womanizer his father was, but more than makes up for it with a cruel and brutal tempermant. Lord Adrien is utterly lacking in sorcery (for which he blames his mother), and had apparently made up for it by studying the arts martial. He prefers to duel Porte sorcerers. His other studies were not neglected; he spent several years in Vendel at university, where he became interested in the study of the night sky. He should be seeking a wife, but at the moment refuses to consider anyone less than the daughter of a marquis. As the St-Laurents are not especially wealthy nor possessed of other interesting qualities, he is not unduly bothered by suitors. Adrien has his father's proud nose and his mother's dark hair, but the cold set of his eyes dominates his face.

Giselle is Adrien's twin sister. She has no Porte, either - but the rumors run that the Sorte powers that skipped her mother have appeared again in her. Lady Giselle denies the rumors when she hears them. She cultivates the appearance of a pleasant and intelligent, but somewhat bland, young woman - she finds that it helps to soothe the feathers that are inevitably ruffled when her brother speaks to anyone. She frequently accompanies him on his trips, and is perhaps the only person to whom he shows genuine, uncoerced respect. Her mother's dark good looks and her father's aquiline features have combined to make her a striking beauty.

Madame Ottavia is now quite an old woman. A Vodacce, she was hired years ago as Giselle's nurse - and Sorte teacher, if you believe those rumors. Giselle maintains that it was simply a kindness her father showed to her mother, bringing someone from her native land to give her company (while he was out philandering, of course). These days, Ottavia is more the lady of the manor than either of the two noblewomen - no one, not even the servants, takes Gianna seriously, and Giselle has only begun to shoulder some of the responsibility of managing the estate. (In theory, she should have been betrothed or married by now and be helping to manage her husband's estate.) Brisk and efficient in the great tradition of Vodacce peasant grandmothers, Ottavia has found herself slowing down in recent winters. She contemplates moving back to her sunny homeland for her final years - but is afraid of broaching the subject with Lord Adrien.