A Tempest of Tea

Jin Casimir is the deuteragonist of the work, serving as one of three primary narrators and counterbalancing the perspective of his adoptive sister, Arthie. He additionally serves as Flick’s love interest. Jin is cunning, flirtatious, and intelligent; his abilities are often key to the progression of the plot, whether through his charismatic ability to persuade and befriend people or through his skills with crafting and weaponry. Like Arthie, he is also heavily shaped by a traumatic past; he tragically lost his parents to a house fire when he was a child, but because he never saw their bodies, he believes that they may still be alive. Because he was injured in the fire, Jin has a fear of fire that occasionally hinders him, and it is clear that just like Arthie, he too needs to let go of his past in order to grow.

Jin carries an umbrella as a weapon and an emotional support, and this quirk symbolizes his deep need for protection and safety. Additionally, his tattoo of a heron symbolizes his attachment to his parents. These two details embody Jin’s ultimate strength and flaw—his loyalty. Jin’s need for security and a home affects him so deeply that when he loses Spindrift and learns that Arthie has lied to him, he is shaken to his core. Above all else, Jin is someone who needs the support of others to live, despite his efforts to appear independent.

Felicity, who goes almost exclusively by the nickname Flick, is the tritagonist and the third narrator in the novel, as well as Jin’s love interest. Flick is an upper-class Black girl who was adopted by Lady Linden (the white owner of the EJC and secretly the Ram). However, Flick began a life of forgery after her mother began to neglect her and the household staff in favor of her own business.

Flick enters the story as a recently discovered criminal who is determined to win back her mother’s favor, but she grows into a fully independent person who recognizes her mother’s crimes and chooses to remain loyal to her found family and her new morals rather than seeking to regain the regard of a mother who never truly loved her.

Flick is characterized by her femininity, innocence, intelligence, and determination. She wears fancy dresses and constantly comments on feeling inappropriate or out of place in situations that do not suit an upper-class Victorian woman, such as seeing Matteo with an open shirt or when she’s wearing pants. Most important to Flick’s characterization is her name. For much of the book, Jin, Flick’s love interest, insists on calling her Felicity; this habit indicates his inability to see her as anything more than an untouchable upper-class girl despite his feelings for her. When they finally kiss near the novel’s end, however, he calls her Flick repeatedly when she asks him to. This scene symbolizes both his recognition of who she is and her own acceptance of who she wants to be. Flick’s inner turmoil is vital to her development, since she has no idea who she is outside of her mother’s influence and demands. By choosing to be “Flick” rather than Felicity, Flick demonstrates her newfound resolve to become a better person and to choose her own path rather than remaining trapped in the harmful environment of her upbringing.

Laith Sayaad is a primary character and antagonist in the novel, as well as—to some extent—Arthie’s love interest. Laith is calculating, overprotective, and almost self-destructive; his primary motivation is vengeance, and he will do anything to achieve his goals, even if it leads to his own death or Arthie’s. Laith’s lack of loyalty to anyone—whether to his homeland, Arawiya, to his current home, Ettenia, or even to his own allies—isolates him, emphasizing the novel’s message that only a unified front can stand against violence and hatred. Laith inexplicably has white hair despite his young age and is repeatedly described as attractive, and his unique appearance renders him as alluring to other characters. However, his appearance conceals his murderous need for vengeance. Unlike Arthie, who has people to fight for, Laith has no plan for himself after he achieves his goal. Instead, he simply wants to destroy everything in his path until his sister is avenged.

Laith’s role as Arthie’s love interest ultimately exposes his real goals and personality, yet their tense love-hate relationship is not entirely a lie. While Matteo serves as Arthie’s foil, Laith serves as her mirror, reflecting all of her best and worst qualities and allowing her to see the costs of revenge. Laith’s knowledge of Arthie’s secrets also empowers him to cause further harm, and he tries to steal Calibore even as he encourages Arthie to give in to her more animalistic half-vampire need for blood. Ultimately, the story portrays Laith sympathetically, but he does not grow throughout the narrative. Instead, he serves as a tool for Arthie’s growth, and he ultimately loses his own life due to his unwillingness to move on from his past and accept his mistakes.

Matteo Andoni is one of the primary characters in the novel, serving as Arthie’s foil, but the exact details of his life and secrets are never explored. Matteo is a vampire painter from Velance, an analogue to Italy, and he has a reputation in Ettenian high society as a rake and a seducer. He is charismatic, elegant, and mischievous, as shown when he flirts with Arthie despite her dislike and uses his words to manipulate situations to his benefit and that of others. Despite his dramatic veneer, Matteo reveals himself to be caring and protective of the Casimirs, encouraging Arthie to grow past her need for blood and offering to turn Jin into a vampire in order to save his life. Matteo is an aesthete and a bit of a dandy, and although he hides a dark secret, he never actually harms himself or others.

Matteo serves as a foil to Arthie because the narrative heavily implies that he is a half-vampire himself and may possibly be the legendary Wolf of White Roaring; this gives him unique insight into Arthie’s perspective. Like Arthie, he also has a close relationship with Penn Arundel and even goes so far as to break into the Athereum to make sure that Penn is safe. Matteo is relatively open about his feelings and approaches life with good humor—unlike Arthie, who keeps her issues and plans unspoken in order to protect herself. Matteo’s growth therefore contrasts with Arthie’s; while she grows into someone who finally recognizes her own emotions, the narrative also reveals that Matteo is more serious and trustworthy than she first believed him to be.

Penn Arundel is a secondary character in the work, serving as a father figure and ally to Arthie and representing the cause of the vampires within the novel. Penn is kind, gentle, and protective; he is also lawful and wants to oppose the Ram through legal means. In his view, the theft of the ledger is part of a legal case rather than a tool for blackmail. However, Penn’s many good qualities are counterbalanced by his neglect of Arthie when she was a child and his flawed leadership of the Athereum, which failed to protect lower-class vampires from exploitation. This complexity is detailed partially through his appearance; although he is a person of color, he passes for white, and this allows him to access the privileged tiers of Ettenian society more easily than most.

Penn’s death stands as another tragic loss for Arthie and shows that he was a loving father to Arthie, even if she never accepted it until his death. Penn sacrifices himself willingly for Arthie, demonstrating that family—like her relationship with Jin—extends far beyond blood.