Meet the characters from ‘Sword Catcher’
Cassandra Clare’s very first adult fantasy novel Sword Catcher hits shelves tomorrow, so now is a great time to have a look at the different characters she has introduced us to over the past months. I have also compiled a list of snippets that Cassie has shared on Instagram.
Let’s meet some of the characters of Sword Catcher! (Click on the names for beautiful artwork by Sasha Coleman.)
Kel Saren was taken from the orphanage where he had spent most of his childhood and brought to the palace of Marivent in Castellane in order to be the Sword Catcher, the body double for the Crown Prince, Conor Aurelian. (There’s only one prince, Conor, not an heir and spare — so it’s especially important that he stay alive!) Kel and Conor grew up side by side — living in the same room — from age eight. They’re best friends, and yet it’s Kel’s job to die in Conor’s place. What does that do to a relationship?. What must it be like to have the person you love the most be the person who will get you killed?
When we meet Kel, he’s about twenty-three and for the first time in his life, he’s wondering what his future really holds. He would die for Conor, but he’d rather not die, all things being equal. Conor is the most important person in his life, but what about when Conor gets married? Becomes King? Kel knows marriage and family are off-limits to him. But what can he do?
And then the Ragpicker King rolls up in his famous carriage and makes Kel an offer that’s hard to refuse. Spy on the nobles and report back what he sees — and the Ragpicker King will guarantee him a future. But is it a future he wants, and can Kel betray the people he’s known all his life for a chance at freedom?
Conor Darash Aurelian is the first and only son of the King and Queen of Castellane, part of the Aurelian dynasty. He was born with plenty of advantages, something Lin notes the first time she meets him.
Adult Conor — the one we spend the most time with! — has grown into someone for whom the facade of his perfect life is starting to crack. He’s under pressure to get married for the good of the kingdom. He’s stepping in more and more for his father, who is prey to a mysterious illness, essentially doing the work of the King without the support or credit. And some mistakes he’s made in the past are starting to catch up with him in a way that throws him into conflict with Kel — and into the path of Lin who really, really dislikes him.
In most cities, the Ashkar are second-class citizens, shut away in walled neighborhoods and subject to curfews and other restrictions.
But Castilaine needs the Ashkar, for two reasons. First, they are well-known as the greatest of doctors and medics, and second, they are still able to do a bit of magic.
Nothing like the magic of the old days, of course. They can weave tiny spells—protections, illusions—and instill them in amulets. Small magic. But magic nonetheless.
Lin Caster is Ashkar. Pursuing her passion for healing and medicine has caused Lin to push against resistance from all directions, and even as she has earned grudging respect for her work, she is also considered a bit peculiar, and more than a bit of a troublemaker.
But that’s Lin: she sees a problem, she goes at it until she finds a way through, no matter how intimidating it might be. That’s always worked for her. But now her closest friend Mariam is dying, and no matter how frantically Lin searches for treatments, no matter how great her skill and her insight, there seems to be nothing she can do.
But Lin is not going to stop. And maybe finding herself among forbidden books was always going to happen eventually.
The Ragpicker King (who wishes to introduce himself)
Well, hello there. I’m the Ragpicker King. What’s your real name, I hear you ask? Well, I’d tell you, but then I’d have to kill you. It’s not a joke by any means. I once invited three well known criminals to dinner, as I needed advice regarding a thorny problem (nothing you’d be interested in as it involved a shipload of stolen poppy powder and avoiding the ill-tempered tax officials at the customs house) – anyway, we had a jolly time, but at the end of the whole affair, just as the flaming custard tart was being served, I had them all executed. They knew far too much about my business for me to let them live. Hard to have friends in my line of work, you know.
And what is my line of work? Well, crime, obviously. You needn’t act as if I’m ashamed of it. I’m not some grubby Crawler, clambering up people’s walls and through their windows to steal their jewels while they sleep. I’m a businessman, as much as any merchant or trader. As important to the running of the city as the nobles living high up on the Hill. They call me the King in the City, just as Markus Aurelian is the King on the Hill. He comes to his place by blood, while I took mine with skill and cunning. But we are far more alike than we are different. We each have power. We are each feared in our city. And we each protect our people fiercely. The lowest pickpocket knows he walks beneath the protective shadow of my outstretched hand. Just as the King’s son, Conor, walks wrapped in the shielding armor of the Aurelian name.
Like I said. We are more alike than different. Markus knows it, though I shouldn’t say more about Markus. My job is not an easy one to get, but it is an even more difficult one to keep. And things have been uneasy in the city these days, what with young criminal upstarts like Prosper Beck thinking they can seize my place. Others have tried and failed, my boy. And this time I have a new weapon on my side, someone who knows everything there is to know about the secrets of the royals and the activities on the Hill. They call him the Sword Catcher….
Heir to the wealthy silk charter, her mother dotes on her, dressing her in lace and ruffles and grooming her to marry Prince Conor. She and Kel barely speak, but things weren’t always this way. When they were children, they were the best of friends. She, Kel, Conor, and several sons of the wealthy Charter Families formed an unbreakable group — or so Kel thought. He even gave Antonetta an engagement ring woven from grass one day when they were playing at being pirates.
But everything comes to an end. Antonetta’s mother whisked her away from her friends, determined to turn her into a proper young lady. Now she hardly acknowledges Kel. Though when she does, he can’t help but feel she’s hiding more than one secret . . .
Cassie also shared a video about Antonetta on her Instagram.
Joss is the youngest of the Charter holders. His mother was from the country of Shenzhou, his father from Castellane; both died when he was younger. Joss has been friends with Conor and Kel since they were all small children. Like Conor’s other friends, he loves parties, a good time, and ridiculous exploits, but there may be rather more to him….
Jerrod is a criminal — a master thief, the head of the Crawlers, an organization of thieves who have trained themselves to crawl up walls, over roofs, and into tunnels into order to steal valuables and sell them for a profit. Jerrod is a bit of a mystery even to his friends — the left side of his face is covered in a steel mask, though no one knows why. He and Kel have an unpleasant run in early on in the book when Jerrod mistakes Kel for Prince Conor, and Kel is none to happy to find out he has to work with Jerrod later on the orders of the Ragpicker King.
Vienne is our first character who isn’t from Castellane. She is a member of the Black Guard, the elite warriors who protect the royal family of Sarthe — the kingdom over the border from Castellane. She accompanies a princess of Sarthe to Castellane, only to find herself drawn into intrigues and conflicts involving Kel and the royal family of Aurelian.
Ji An is an assassin, and the Ragpicker King’s right-hand lieutenant. He trusts her to kill anyone he needs killed, and she’s extremely good at it. Ji An fled her own country after a mysterious incident in which a whole family was murdered — but exactly what her connection to what happened, or why she trusts the Ragpicker King with her life, are secrets she keeps closely held.
Merren Asper looks like an angel, but his skillset is considerably darker. He’s a chemist and a poisoner, who works out of a laboratory in the Black Mansion. He meets Kel early in the book when Kel is seeking the antidote to a rare poison, and Kel soon learns that under Merren’s gentle exterior is an iron drive for revenge.
Other notable mentions are Mayesh Bensimon, Lin’s grandfather and also the counsellor to the King, and Lin’s best friend Mariam.
And now for the snippets (from newest to oldest):
Mariam smiled faintly. “He is the Prince,” she said, just as Conor Aurelian stretched out his hand to the crowd and began to speak.
“I greet you, my people, in the name of the Gods,” he said, and though Lin knew better, though she hated him, it seemed that when he spoke the sun shone out slightly brighter.
His voice was rich and deep and soft as the pomegranate velvet he wore.
“You are wondering, Sword Catcher, why I have an interest in you. Your business is Palace business, and my business is with the streets of Castellane. Yet sometime—more often than you might guess—they intersect. There are things I wish to know. Need to know. And I could use your help.”
“We could all use something,” Kel said. “That doesn’t mean we’ll obtain it.”
“Go ahead, then,” Lin said. “Throw me in the Trick. Call the Castelguards. Put me in a cell.” She held her hands out, wrists crossed, as if ready for the shackles. “Bind me. If that is what you want.”
The Prince’s glance trailed from her wrist to her face, lingering on her mouth for a moment before he flicked his eyes away. He was flushed, which surprised her. She would not have thought it possible to shock him.
“Stop that,” he said, still not looking at her.
Kel wanted to say,
I know what it is like to love someone and be sworn to protect them, someone who has so much more power than you do, but whom you cannot save from the consequences of that power.But Vienne would simply have thought he was mad.
His hood was up, drawn close about his face, but Kel could see that he was frowning.
“Jerrod,” Kel said.
“I thought they taught you better manners than that,” Jerrod said, “up at the Palace.”
Lin paused, the tip of the blade against the expensive fabric.
“Between this shirt and your cousin, which one would you say you like better?”
“Speaking of Conor … If I may share a thought …”
“You will, whether I give you permission or not,” said Kel, and Falconet grinned. Joss was among those rare nobles who treated Kel as a person separate from Conor.
We also got two excerpts from the book, which you can find here (Entertainment Weekly) and here (Tor.com). 😀
That’s it! Are you looking forward to meeting these new characters? Sound off in the comments!
Sword Catcher is published on October 10 – make sure to come back tomorrow for our review and an exclusive interview with Cassie!
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