History Literature / Murderess

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: [[spoiler:Cleareye Fullmoonnight, princess of Ciaró.]]

* GreenEyes: Several characters and/or races/species have grey or grey-green eyes:
** Lu has grey-green eyes that change to black-green after [[spoiler:the first time she kills]].
** The [[spoiler:Derobus cat that saves Lu’s life]] has grey-green eyes.
** Elves have slanted green eyes.
** The [[HellHound Ephalius wolves]] have these, and they have a human look to them.
** The girl in Lu’s vision before meeting Cleareye has grey-green eyes.
** [[spoiler:Tyler Killer has grey-green eyes, implying that as dangerous as she might be, she still hasn’t killed anyone.]]
** [[spoiler:Aucasis has black-green eyes, implying she already has; similarly, Hallwad’s are black-blue. Both of them are [[ObliviousAdoption adopted]] [[LukeIAmYourFather Killers]].]]

* MysticalWaif: Lu fits this trope partially--she had sandy hair and GreenEyes and a [[TheSnarkKnight cynical]], [[DeadpanSnarker sarcastic]] demeanour, but she wears only black clothes, is [[BrokenBird vulnerable]] and prone to [[SelfDeprecation hating herself]] BeneathTheMask, and is [[PursuedProtagonist sought after]] for her ancestry by the villains.

** Marnin is in a few [[OneOfUs geeky]] British fandoms, so those get some {{Shout Out}}s and homages, and the plot is set in part in England.

* AwesomeMusic: In-Universe example. Lu is so amazed by Cleareye’s singing voice she’s embarrassed to talk about the music she listens to.

* HumansAreDivided: While other races seem to be united in their individual kingdoms, the human Kingdom of Ciaró is divided into TheKingdom (the Royal House of Ciaró) and LaResistance (the Killers).

* TheKingdom: Ciaró, home to Hallwad and Aucasis.

''Murderess'' (רוֹצַחַת, ''rotsakhat'') is a 2014 fantasy novel by Israeli writer Daya Marnin. It is the first in the six part''The Exiles of Greywall’d Saga''. Marnin began writing it from the ages of 13 to 15 and is currently working on the next book in the series, ''Priestess''.

* AManIsNotAVirgin: The narrative poem about King Roythebrune mentions that ‘many wives did he husband, as proof of his might’.

->''‘…And listen: now they know who you are. They think you’re here and will look for you obsessively, so it is dangerous for you to come back here. You must be careful, because you mustn’t be caught. And there is something of utmost importance you must know: the war will exterminate everyone. You might be the only one able to stop it. When you come back here again, go north straight away, to the Refugee Camp. Do not delay, and most importantly:'' let no-one know who you are.''’''

'''Murderess''' (''רוֹצַחַת, ''rotsakhat'') is a 2014 fantasy novel by Israeli writer Daya Marnin. It is the first in the six part''The Exiles of Greywall’d Saga''. Marnin began writing it from the ages of 13 to 15 and is currently working on the next book in the series, ''Priestess''.

* {{Badass}}:
** Lu, who manages to defeat Professor Cole, an apparently skilled fighter in a magic fight (despite her PowerIncontinence) and [[spoiler:two men who try to kill her]], and later on [[spoiler:outwit the Dark Ones and pull off a heroic rescue in their tunnels, killing any of them who stand in her way at the end]], and, most impressively, [[spoiler:take on a pack of [[{{Determinator}} Ephalius wolves]] and killing and injuring a significant amount of them, [[{{Determinator}} ignoring the deep wounds they inflict on her]]]].
** Hallwad, who [[spoiler:joins Lu in fighting the Dark Ones despite being tortured by them shortly beforehand]].
** Aucasis, who [[spoiler:goes hunting almost immediately after being rescued]], despite being [[spoiler:even more injured than Hallwad, [[HandicappedBadass physically]] and [[BrokenBird emotionally]]]].

** While Lu has proven herself quite a {{Badass}} back on Earth, ‘Hat Lad’ teaches her how to control her powers, she gains more powers once she crosses over to Greywall’d, Hallwad teaches her some survival skills, and she practices her knife skills [[spoiler:while she’s staying in with Cleareye]], further honing her skills.
** Humans who manage to cross over to Greywall’d and make it to the Refugee Camp are more likely than not somewhat {{Badass}} to begin with, and the Camp itself is meant to hone their survival skills further.

'''''Murderess''''' (''רוֹצַחַת, ''rotsakhat'') is a 2014 fantasy novel by Israeli writer Daya Marnin. It is the first in the six part''The Exiles of Greywall’d Saga''. Marnin began writing it from the ages of 13 to 15and is currently working on the next book in the series, ''Priestess''.

''Murderess''[[note]]רוֹצַחַת, ''rotsakhat''[[/note]] is a fantasy novel, published in 2014, and is the first novel by Israeli writer Daya Marnin, the first in ''The Exiles of Greywall’d Saga'' series of six parts in total; Marnin started writing it when she was 13 over the course of two years, and is currently working on the next book in the series, ''Priestess''.

* BlondesAreEvil: [[AlphaBitch Bridget]]. Lu’s status is still undetermined, but so far she’s [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]].

* FishOutOfWater: Lu, once she reaches Greywall’d, [[PlayingWithATrope in a sense]]; while [[LockedOutOfTheLoop ‘Hat Lad’ gives her little information about Greywall’d and she has trouble learning more]], she feels much freer and more at home there, and [[spoiler:was in fact [[MosesInTheBullrushes born there and sent to Earth by her parents]]]].

** ‘Hat Lad’ gives Lu an ellipse-shaped pendant, with a burning eye was carvedand in its centre that merges with a jagged knife, with the letter K in the background. She notices that the chain is made of the same substance, condensed ivory and seashells, as the silvery string connecting the feathers and diamonds to the earrings [[spoiler:that her parents equipped her with before [[MosesInTheBullrushes sending her off to Earth]]]], which have the letter K engraved on them. While [[spoiler:[[ChekhovsGun the pendant undoes]] the AntiMagic the [[TheFairFolk Dark Ones]] use]], [[spoiler:this also foreshadows that ‘Hat Lad’ is actually [[LukeIAmYourFather related to Lu]]]].

* [[spoiler:MosesInTheBullrushes: Lu was sent by her parents to Earth just before they were murdered.]]

* OrphansPlotTrinket: Lu has several mementos from her past beyond the point she can remember, that [[spoiler:her parents equipped her with all of these before [[MosesInTheBullrushes sending her to Earth]], shortly before they were killed]] and were given to her by the headmistress of the first boarding school she attended, who refused to tell her where they came from:

* DreamSequence: Lu has several, in which she can see [[spoiler:[[ThoseTwoGuys Shadow and Déaspor]]]] bickering from a distance, or revealing [[spoiler:the night her parents [[MosesInTheBullrushes sent her to Earth from Greywall’d]]]].

* InMediaRes: The book’s prologue, narrated by Lu, is uttered at some undetermined time after she [[spoiler:kills the two men who try to kill her in London]].

* PursuedProtagonist: The prologue opens InMediaRes and seems to imply this.

** Before going into the Dark Ones’ tunnels, Lu says to Hallwad, ‘[[ArcWords May your endeavours prove successful, and fortune your ally.]]’ He pauses, then says them back to her. [[spoiler:It turns out [[LukeIAmYourFather Hallwad and Aucasis are Killers as well]].]]

* TheUnfrozenCavemanLawyer: Lu adapts and survives skilfully after crossing to Greywall’d, despite some [[FishOutOfWater initial hurdles]] and [[spoiler:not having been to Greywall’d since she was a baby]].

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Mostly [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Lu remarks that the [[TheFairFolk Dark Ones]] are beautiful, but they are clearly evil; Cleareye Fullmoonnight is beautiful, like all Moonfolk, but Lu has to hide from any other member of her race; and Hallwad comments that Lu herself is beautiful, although she denies it. On the flipside, Mrs. Eastry Cairns, the headmistress of James Centre Boarding School, [[CorruptCorporateExecutive doesn’t care about the school]], only about [[OnlyInItForTheMoney money]] and [[SlaveToPR her own image]], and is described as ‘a fairly corpulent woman with a slender aquiline nose, thinly plucked eyebrows, a mean-looking face riddled with acne’, but [[{{Nerd}} Mike]], who is dressed awfully, is [[NoSocialSkills very awkward]] but benign enough for Lu to prefer his company over that of [[ValleyGirl Essex girls]]’.

** King Bagid (roughly translated to ‘betrayable’ in Hebrew), in the poem recited at the Dark Ones’ banquet, who [[YourCheatingHeart slept with his soldier’s wife]]; his name was translated as Roythebrune (from the Icelandic ''rauðbrúnn''[[note]]The <au> is read like the German <eu> and the <ð> is read like the English <th> as in ‘this’[[/note]], ‘red-brown’), [[RunningGag a ‘man of copper’]].
** In the English translation, [[spoiler:Cleareye Fullmoonnight’s father]], Kuningas, the Ciaró Crown Princess’ consort, whose name derives from Proto-Germanic *''kuningaz'', ‘king’. The Hebrew version names him Konigs, although [[NoPronunciationGuide the orthography is unclear]], and the translator seized this opportunity to be creative.

* OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame: Lu sees a group of them at the Chopped Tree Inn and described them thus:

*** Being a linguistics student with a passing knowledge of various European languages, some of the [[NoPronunciationGuide outlandish orthography]] used to avoid awkward English spellings were based on other European languages, e.g. Ciaró and Lady Lias were based on Irish[[note]]They had somewhat of an Irish phase in high school and now have a special affection that comes and goes towards the language and the culture.[[/note]], Déaspor was based on French and {{Con Lang}}s by Creator/JRRTolkien, and Roythebrune’s derives from his favourite language, Icelandic (see MeaningfulName below).

* RainRainGoAway: The rain in Greywall’d becomes so heavy at one point that Lu has to [[RainRainGoAway stop her quest]] and stay at the Chopped Tree Inn until it passes.

* UriahGambit: King Roythebrune in the narrative poem (see ShowWithinAShow above) resorts to this when his original plan to avoid his affair with Eleonora, a married woman, being discovered. The whole story is actually a ShoutOut to the TropeNamer.

* BlondesAreEvil: Bridget. Lu’s status is still undetermined, but so far she’s [[DefiedTrope defying this trope]].

* GothGirlsKnowMagic: Averted. Lu is a competent magic-wielder, but this has nothing with her being goth―even Bridget, an Essex girl, is one too.

* TheUnfrozenCavemanLawyer: She adapts and survives skilfully after crossing, though.

* EasyEvangelism: Invoked [[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]. Apparently, the people of the Land of the Sea [[BlueAndOrangeMorality worship gingers]], believing them to grant good fortune. Lu comments in jest about how the fun rhythm of the narrative poem at the Dark Ones’ banquet makes her toy with the idea of worshipping gingers herself.