History Characters / HeraldsOfValdemarArrowsTrilogyAndRelatedBooks

%%* SwornBrothers: He and Talia pledge this when their attempt at romance fails.

%%* SwornBrothers: With Skif, after a very brief and completely failed try at a teenage romance.

* BloodBrothers: He and Talia pledge this when their attempt at romance fails.

* BloodBrothers: With Skif, after a very brief and completely failed try at a teenage romance.

* LovableRogue: In the ''Arrows'' books and ''Take a Thief''. Skif is a thief but chooses targets who won't starve if he takes something, won't steal from shops, and in the normal course of events won't hurt a mark. He's largely grown out of rougery by ''Mage Winds''.

* RealMenWearPink: Skif gets a certain amount of teasing from the other male Trainees over his chore assignments of laundry and mending (both of which he learned during his thief days.) They stop teasing him when he points out he's the only male in a room full of women.

* SafetyWorst: As Elspeth's escort out of Valdemar he becomes less her friend and more controlling and critical of her choices, to a degree that she finds rather insulting.

* BewareTheMindReader: The question of psychic ethics is asked in ''Arrow's Flight'', and Talia is quite dismayed when Kris conveys that there are people who don't trust her, as an Empath, and think she's been either directly manipulating their emotions or else monitoring and acting on what she finds to manipulate them.

* DirtyMindReading: Her Empathy lets her know when her neighbors are ''entertaining''. She also 'shares' her Companion Rolan's escapades to the point of being able to identify individual Companions and their personalities. She would really rather ''not'' experience his sex life, but she can't shield him out, and she doesn't want to ruin his fun by telling him how much she can 'overhear', but she does complain about this in his hearing in ''Arrow's Flight''.

* FriendsWithBenefits: Kris is her mentor when she's a new Herald going out on her first circuit, and they wind up sleeping together regularly and with great enthusiasm. Their friendship even beyond that is quite strong and passionate - enough so that Dirk assumes they're in love - but their physical relationship ends after her internship (not least because Kris realizes Talia loves Dirk).

* MindOverManners: Rolan is a bit cavalier about this. At the beginning of ''Arrow's Flight'', Talia helps a traumatized Skif by slowly whittling down his fear [[EpiphanyTherapy while he tells her what happened]]. He's too relieved to notice that she didn't ask his consent before doing it, but she does spend much of the rest of the book considering the ethics of her Gift. It's noted that a telepath can't plant thoughts in someone else's head, but an Empath can.

* SexByProxy: Unavoidably, due to her empathy and the fact that Rolan is, ahem, quite a mare's stallion. She's not happy about this but can't prevent feeling what he feels during sex. It [[IDidntMeanToTurnYouOn interrupts her sleep and gets her... excited]], which she finds very aggravating when she doesn't have a partner.

* TookALevelInKindness: Or TookALevelInJerkass, depending on how you look. Rolan is somewhat on the aloof side with Talia. She goes into a panic when he takes her through Haven for the first time and he doesn't so much as nuzzle her when they part, for example. In earlier-set books written later, Rolan appears partnered to several different Heralds and seems more compassionate. Rolan is quite kind to Lavan in ''Brightly Burning'', and Lavan's not even his Chosen. It's likely EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.

* FarmBoy: She starts out as an inexperienced girl from the insular world of the Holderkin. She serves the usual purpose of TheEveryman, being an unschooled view into the world of Valdemar. In addition, she wasn't Chosen as the Queen's Own only because of her latent and immense empathic abilities (though they certainly help and are common to the Monarch's Own Heralds), but also because she [[SimpleMindedWisdom knew how to deal with]] [[SpoiledBrat spoiled little girls]].

* FriendsWithBenefits: Kris is her mentor when she's a new Herald going out on her first circuit, and they wind up sleeping together regularly and with great enthusiasm. Their friendship even beyond that is quite strong and passionate - enough so that Dirk assumes they're in love - but they do consider each other as friends.

* MindOverManners: Rolan is a bit cavalier about this. In ''Arrow's Flight'' Talia responds to a traumatized Skif by going into his head and rearranging his emotions to make him fine. He's happy about this even though she didn't ask, but she does spend much of the rest of the book considering the ethics of it. It's noted that a telepath can't plant thoughts in someone else's head, but an Empath can.

* SafetyWorst: As Elspeth's escort out of Valdemar he becomes less her friend and more controlling, to a degree that she finds rather insulting.

* InformedAttribute: Talia is said to be unusually close to Rolan, and certainly she can [[SeeingThroughAnothersEyes share his senses]], but most later-written Companions are as close or closer to their Heralds, wheras Rolan is a bit aloof sometimes, not reassuring her in her moments of crisis the way, say, Cymry would talk to and reassure Skif.

* MindOverManners: Rolan is a bit cavalier about this. In ''Arrow's Flight'' Talia responds to a traumatized Skif by going into his head and rearranging his emotions to make him fine. He's good with this even though she didn't ask, but she does spend much of the rest of the book considering the ethics of it. It's noted that a telepath can't plant thoughts in someone else's head, but an Empath can.

* TookALevelInKindness: Or TookALevelInJerkass, depending on how you look. Rolan is somewhat on the aloof side with Talia. She goes into a panic when he takes her through Haven for the first time and he doesn't so much as reassure her when they part, for example. In earlier-set books written later, Rolan appears partnered to several different Heralds and seems more compassionate. Rolan is quite kind to Lavan in ''Brightly Burning'', and Lavan's not even his Chosen. It's likely EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.

* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Border children don't get much of a childhood; she had adult responsibilities before she was thirteen, and going into Heraldic training was more of the same.

* ActionMom: In ''Arrow's Fall'' (after a tryst with Rolan in ''Arrow's Flight'') Cymry gives birth to a colt. He's never mentioned again, but Cymry goes on to be instrumental in some great deeds, including killing Mornelithe Falconsbane.

* LikeBrotherAndSister: Talia again, though not for lack of trying. Because of their closeness and various failed attempts to tryst, the Collegium assumes there was more between them.

* SatisfiedStreetRat: He can play this role cheerfully, though his love for Baize was real and his heartbreak at his mentor's murder means he doesn't casually discuss that part of his life.

* PowerIncontinence: In ''Arrow's Flight''. Ironically, she was doing pretty well to control her Empathy until she heard rumors that she ''didn't'' have control of it, creating a feedback loop of self-doubt that resulted in her Gift going rogue.

* BoobsOfSteel: One of the toughest fighters in the whole series. Her appearance doesn't get a whole lot of description, but Karal notices she has "a quite spectacular figure" even in her late forties.

* FightsLikeANormal: Notable in the series for being a Herald whose main skillset is the one he picked up on the streets. He has just enough Mindspeech to talk to his Companion, and some kind of undertrained [=ForeSight=], but he gets by with effectively no Gifts at all.

* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: Or of drama, anyway. In ''Winds of Change'' Skif relates some experiences he had trying to help refugees flee Hardorn. After growing close to a family of helpful farmers running a safehouse, the adults of which promptly became {{Parental Substitute}}s for him, Skif connected with a refugee who'd had a similar background to his and took him to that safehouse. The unnamed man charmed the family and then killed them basically as soon as Skif was out. Against orders Skif went on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge and doesn't regret ''killing'' the man, but reflecting on it later with his new friend Wintermoon he's disturbed by the depths he sunk to.

* MindlinkMates: She and Eldan can speak mind-to-mind, and can open their minds to each other while making love, but they are ''not'' permanently connected to each other like a Lifebonded couple.
* MindOverManners: She scrupulously avoids using her Mindspeech whenever possible out of fear that her fellow mercenaries won't be able to trust her otherwise. She also refuses to learn how to use mind powers offensively, out of a sense that it isn't fair, which marks her out as Herald potential very early in the story.

* NotStayingForBreakfast: She purposefully exhausts Eldan with a night of lovemaking and leaves while he is still asleep in order to avoid a confrontation about her decision, fearing that he might convince her to change her mind.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Companions aren't supposed to talk to humans aside from their Chosen. This rule is broken [[OddlyCommonRarity quite often]] but usually in a moment of real need or by one very far outside of Valdemar. Sayvil, on the other hand, just really wants to tell people about magic the moment teaching magic in Valdemar becomes possible, lecturing all and sundry. Lots of people are unhappy about this, but she is a Companion herself after all.

* AgonyOfTheFeet: Her feet are crushed at the apex of Ancar's ColdBloodedTorture session. Even after months of healing, she still walks with a limp.

* TookALevelInKindness: Or TookALevelInJerkass, depending on how you look. Rolan is somewhat on the aloof side with Talia. She's panicking when he takes her through Haven and he doesn't so much as reassure her, for example. In earlier-set books written later, Rolan appears partnered to several different Heralds.
* TheVoiceless: Rolan. He ''can'' Mindspeak anyone he chooses, but for whatever reason he only speaks to her once, when he Chooses her.

* HeroOfAnotherStory: When Kris tells Talia of his and Dirk's history as partners, it's implied that a lot of their previous missions would make good SpyFiction.

* DirtyMindReading: Her Empathy lets her know when her neighbors are ''entertaining''. She also 'shares' her Companion Rolan's escapades to the point of being able to identify individual Companions and their personalities. She would really rather ''not'' experience his sex life, but she can't shield him out, and she doesn't want to ruin his fun by telling him how much she can 'overhear'.

* MindRape: In an unusual heroic example, Talia can and ''will'' inflict MindRape on a few select people who deserve it. In other cases (crippling phobia, for example), she can go into someone's head and rearrange their emotions. Initially she did this without any degree of informed consent, but during ''Arrow's Flight'' she starts considering the ethics of it.

* NeverAcceptedInHisHometown: She was completely disowned by her Holding for "running away" and getting Chosen as a Herald.

* OlderAndWiser: In the ''Mage Winds'' trilogy.

** His Earth-sense does serve as a ChekhovsGun for the climax of the Mage Storm trilogy where Tremaine gains Earth-sense, it's revealed that at least one of the rulers of each country has it and the ability becomes crucial for protecting the nodes during the Final Storm.

* OlderThanTheyLook: Between her short stature and her heart-shaped face, she looks like a teenager well into her adulthood. This makes it harder to fulfil her political role as the Queen's chief advisor, especially when Lord Orthallen repeatedly reminds everyone how young she is.

* InformedAttribute: He barely appears in the first two books, but Kris talks about him extensively in the second, hyping him up as selfless and kind and very like Talia. In most of the third book, where he appears more and has some POV segments, he is lost in self pity; at one point after being asked to stay with a badly-injured Talia in case she needs emergency attention, he ''still'' believes she's in love with his best friend and nearly ''walks out and leaves her alone'' after giving a quietly-AnguishedDeclarationOfLove. She has to use Rolan's strength to boost her Empathy enough to get through his self absorption.

* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: When he thinks Kris and Talia are in love he is twisted between this and jealousy and avoids both of them. It ends poorly.

* HonestAdvisor: Part of her job as Queen's Own. Part of her success with [[RoyalBrat Princess Elspeth]] is to use BrutalHonesty as necessary -- which works wonders after years of manipulation from Hulda.

** She is [[TheSocialExpert really good at knowing which people will 'click' socially]]. In ''Storm Warning'', she correctly assesses that An'desha and Karal will be good friends after a brief conversation with the latter.

* RapeAsDrama: In ''Arrow's Fall'', she's captured by Prince Ancar and is raped by several of his men. Later Ancar and Hulda personally torture her and both have [[UnsexySadist sadistic sexual pleasure in doing so]], and she describes being forced to feel the pleasure they derive from her pain to be far worse than the physical rape.
* RunawayFiance: Preemptively: she flees the Holderkin in a panic at the thought of getting married off and then is carried to Haven by Rolan before they can find her.

* WorthIt: She considers being Chosen for a life of hard work and combat a small price to pay for finding people who actually respect her.

* HiddenDepths: Kris suggests to Talia that he and Dirk have been frequently used for under the table intelligence missions. When Kerowyn meets him in ''By the Sword'', she observes that he looks like a farmboy and moves like an assassin.

* EvilChancellor: Close personal friend and high-ranking adviser to three generations of the Royal House... while plotting against them all along.