Empire of Storms

Known as the most powerful full-blooded Fae, Prince Rowan Whitethorn is also Aelin’s romantic interest in Empire of Storms. He has silver hair and green eyes and sports many tattoos. Centuries ago, Rowan grew up in Wendlyn, in the house of his uncle and cousin Endymion. Two hundred years before the events of Heir of Fire, an earlier installment of the Throne of Glass series, Maeve tricks Rowan into believing that a woman named Lyria is his mate, then engineers a reason for Rowan to leave his home and arranges to have the pregnant Lyria killed. She then uses Rowan’s heartache to manipulate him, and Rowan swears a blood oath to serve Maeve in her cadre. During the events of Empire of Storms, Maeve reveals that Rowan’s true mate was never Lyria; Aelin is his mate.

Due to his Fae lineage, Rowan has wind magic and ice magic and is immortal. He is hundreds of years old and has cultivated deadly combat skills, which he learned while serving Maeve. He also has the ability to shapeshift into a hawk. Rowan is entirely devoted to Aelin and her cause, swearing the blood oath to her and forming a “carranam” bond with her that makes their magic “sing” together. Rowan’s magic is complementary to Aelin’s, as his wind can either cool or amplify her fire. When he marries Aelin, he agrees to become King Consort of Terrasen and takes her surname, becoming Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius.

King Dorian Havilliard, the monarch of Adarlan, is a friend of Aelin and the romantic interest of Manon. In Queen of Shadows, he killed his father, the King of Adarlan, and destroyed his glass castle. Dorian is described as having dark black hair and piercing blue eyes. He wields several magical abilities that he discovered in Crown of Midnight, including ice magic, fire magic, wind magic, super strength, and shielding magic. He can also wield magic hands that function as an extension of himself. He begins the series as a carefree prince, but once he discovers the truth of the Valg and becomes possessed by a Valg demon after his father murders his lover, Sorscha, he starts to participate in the efforts against Erawan. When he meets Manon, he flirts with her even though he is still under the influence of the Valg, showing that his human self is still somewhat conscious. In Empire of Storms, he must deal with the traumatic aftermath of his Valg possession and of Sorscha’s death and carries the pain of his past with him, unable to fully let it go as he continues his journey toward healing and learns to master his magic with Rowan’s help. Throughout Empire of Storms, his relationship with Manon deepens as the two share emotionally vulnerable moments and become physically intimate. Although he begins to experience feelings of romance for Manon, he still harbors grief for Sorscha, and he deems human women “too breakable,” a statement that demonstrates the lingering presence of the “deep, aching wound” (456) within him.

As the granddaughter of the current Blackbeak Matron (leader of the Ironteeth witches), Manon Blackbeak is the heir to the Blackbeak Ironteeth Witch Clan. She is the Wing Leader of the legion of witches and wyverns that form Erawan’s aerial legion, and she acts as the head of an elite group that she calls the Thirteen. Manon is also the romantic interest of Dorian Havilliard, a romance that began with flirtation when Dorian was Valg possessed and culminates in emotional and physical intimacy aboard the ship as Aelin’s court sails for Eyllwe. She is described as having silver hair, yellow eyes, and retractable iron teeth and nails. As a witch, Manon is immortal and has strong combat abilities. Manon first appears in Heir of Fire as a witch who is loyal to the Blackbeak clan, and by extension, to Erawan. However, as she notices the breeding experiments inflicted upon Yellowlegs Ironteeth witches, who are impregnated with Valg soldier babies, her loyalty begins to falter. She becomes even more conflicted when she discovers that the Blackbeak Matron has beaten and branded her second-in-command, Asterin, after the woman became pregnant by a human hunter and gave birth to a stillborn child: a child that the Matron then burned. 

Many years ago, when the Valg first bred with Fae, their offspring became witches and were divided into two species: the Ironteeth, who bear more Valg traits and are more vicious, and the Crochan, who bear more Fae traits and are generally peaceful. Upon learning of Asterin’s death sentence and of her own secret Crochan heritage, Manon’s allegiance shifts entirely, and she joins Aelin and her court. Manon struggles with her Crochan heritage and is mortified by the revelation that she unknowingly killed her half-sister in a past conflict. Her Crochan heritage stems from the last Crochan, Queen Rhiannon, which makes Manon the current Crochan Witch Queen. The curse that Rhiannon Crochan placed on the Ironteeth witches after the fall of the Crochan city, which turned the Witch Kingdom into the Wastes, could potentially be broken by Manon, restoring the witches to their former glory.

Elide Lochan is the niece of Lord Vernon Lochan and the heir to Perranth, a territory in Terrasen. She is short and has long dark hair and dark eyes. She grew up with her parents in the court of King Orlon, but after Adarlan’s invasion, her parents were killed, and she was taken by her uncle Vernon, moving to Morath once Duke Perrington/Erawan sets up his base there. As a child, Elide fell down a flight of stairs and broke her ankle and foot, and Vernon refused to let anyone heal her, so she has a pronounced limp that is exacerbated when Vernon forces her into chains in Morath. The chains leave her with “a mass of scars, a white band” around each of her ankles (275). Elide cannot read, because Vernon never allowed her to be educated by anyone except her nursemaid, who was also illiterate. As a child, Elide prayed frequently to the goddess Annieth, and the goddess often gives her guidance. Because Elide’s heritage is of the Ironteeth witches, Manon makes her part of the Blackbeak clan and offers her protection at Morath, eventually helping her to escape before her uncle can force her to become part of the breeding experiments.

In Empire of Storms, Elide spends most of her time journeying toward Aelin in the company of Lorcan Salvaterre, a member of Maeve’s cadre. During this time, Elide starts to fall in love with Lorcan, even telling him that she would hide him from Maeve in Perranth with her. They kiss, but their romance is halted when Lorcan crawls after Maeve, and Elide tells him that she hopes he spends “the rest of his miserable, immortal life suffering” (673). Even though Elide almost dies to save Lorcan, their relationship remains unresolved.