Cast of Characters
Humans
Cara and Her Family
Beloved - matriarch of the Hunters; greatest human enemy to the unicorns; ancient ancestress of Cara; kept alive for centuries by a piece of unicorn horn embedded in her heart, which is both ever-wounding and ever-healing
Cara Diana Hunter - granddaughter of Ivy Morris, who became the unicorn queen Amalia Flickerfoot; Queen Arabella Skydancer's great-great-granddaughter; she is the only being in whom the bloodlines of Hunter and unicorn are merged
Ian Hunter - Cara's father; a direct descendant of Beloved; recruited by her to the Hunt until he switched sides and joined the unicorns to be with his daughter
Ivy Morris - born Amalia Flickerfoot, but transformed when young to the human Ivy Morris; recently restored to her true form; now Queen of the unicorns
Jacques the Tumbler - a melancholy older man; possibly Cara's grandfather since he was once married to Ivy Morris
Martha Hunter - Cara's mother; her own mother is Ivy Morris, from whom she is estranged because Ivy kidnapped Cara to save her from Hunters, but never had a chance to explain why
The Humans of Luster and Earth
Aaron - a magician who helped open the way to Luster for the unicorns
Alma Leonetti - the oldest human in Luster; as a girl she persuaded Arabella Skydancer to establish the "Guardians of Memory"
Armando de la Quintano - leader of the Queen's Players
Bellenmore - the other magician who helped open the way to Luster for the unicorns
The Blind Man - a repository of arcane information, he told Ian how to enter the Rainbow Prison in return for occasional use of Ian's sight
Felicity - former wife of the Blind Man; now held captive in the Rainbow Prison
Feng Yuan - one of the Maidens of the Hunt, which are girls used by Beloved to entrap unicorns
Kenneth Hunter - one of Beloved's chief helpers
Li Yun - a petite tumbler who performs with the Queen's Players
Martin Hunter - a servant of Beloved who was on the track of Ivy Morris
M'Gama - the Geomancer (earth-magician); her considerable magic is linked to the stone and soil of Luster
Old Nell - old wisewoman who assisted Graumag
Rajiv - a street boy who Ian took on as a guide in New Delhi and who traveled with him thereafter
Thomas the Tinker - an itinerant mender of broken things; travels across Luster with a magical cart that can be expanded or shrunk to pocket size; his pocket watches have a variety of odd powers
Wu Chen - one of Beloved's Hunters; a student of Sun Tzu's The Art of War and mentor to Feng Yuan
Great Powers
Allura - a beautiful female who has been in contact with Namza
Elihu - Fallon's long-lost friend; a mysterious but powerful presence in Luster
Fallon - an exile who joined forces with Ian in New Delhi in order to further his search for Elihu
Unicorns
Amalia Flickerfoot - Queen of the Unicorns; spent decades in human form as Ivy Morris; mother of Martha Hunter and grandmother of Cara
Arabella Skydancer - the former unicorn queen; Cara's great-great-grandmother
Belle - one of the fiercest of the unicorns; a leading member of the Queen's Guard
Cloudmane - first female Guardian of Memory
Finder - explorer of Luster; killed in a delver attack
Fire-Eye - member of the Queen's council
Goldenwords - wanted to purge darkness from the unicorns
Guardian of Memory - formal title of the unicorn who volunteers to spend twenty-five years on Earth to keep the memory of unicorns alive
Laughing Stream - one of the Queen's messengers
Lightfoot - Prince of the Unicorns; Cara's special friend
Manda Seafoam - member of the Queen's council
Moonheart - Lightfoot's uncle
Silvertail - member of the Queen's council
Whiteling - tried to heal Beloved's illness when she was a child; killed in fight with Beloved's father; a piece of his horn remains lodged in Beloved's heart
Windfoot - first Guardian of Memory
Dwarves
Flensa - M'Gama's servant; killed in a delver attack
Grimwold - Fourth Keeper of the Unicorn Chronicles
Delvers
King Gnurflax - The Delverking
Metzram - Namza's teacher; previous wizard to the Delverking
Namza - the Delverking's wizard
Rocky - previously known as Nedzik; rebel delver who became Cara's friend
Rocky's Cousins
Erkza, nicknamed "First"
Gergga, nicknamed "Waterfall"
Gratz, nicknamed "Pebble"
Razka, nicknamed "Diamond"
Rendzi, nicknamed "Hammer"
Wurtza, nicknamed "Wart"
Zagrat, nicknamed "Lizard"
Dragons
Ebillan - a fierce and bad-tempered dragon; one of the last to arrive in Luster because he did not want to leave Earth
Firethroat - dragon who gave Cara the "gift of tongues" as a boon in return for releasing her from an enchantment
Graumag - dragon with a mysterious past; she came to Luster because she did not fit in on the world the dragons fled to when they had to leave Earth
Other Dragons of Luster
Bronzeclaw
Fah Leing
Master Bloodtongue
Red Rage
Centaurs
The Chiron - King of the Centaurs
Princess Arianna - a centaur princess
Arkon - leader of the centaur guard
Basilikos - friend of Arkon
Danbos - a guard in the Chiron's court
Kallista - beloved of Basilikos
Other Creatures
The Dimblethum - a bearish humanoid; an early inhabitant of Luster
The Squijum - Cara's monkeylike companion
Medafil - a sensitive and loquacious gryphon
The Whisperer - the unicorns' worst enemy; created from their own darker urges after they performed the Purification Ceremony
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