One Dark Window

The dark creature in Elspeth’s mind, the Nightmare, is both ally and antagonist to her. He is the monstrous soul of the Shepherd King, the creator of the Providence Cards who was sacrificed to the Spirit to create the Nightmare Card:

Its fur was coarse, traveling across its limbs and down its hunched spine to the top of its bristled tail. Its fingers were eerily long, hairless and gray, tipped by great, vicious claws. Its face was neither man nor beast, but something in between. […] Its eyes captured me. Yellow, bright as a torch, slit by long catlike pupils (24).

The Nightmare’s relationship with Elspeth is complex, both parasitic and symbiotic: The more Elspeth uses his magic, the more she fades and he grows in power. However, this arrangement is not of his volition, and he expresses genuine affection for Elspeth, having cared for and protected her for years. Still, the Nightmare is ambitious, cunning, and vengeful toward the Rowans due to being usurped by Brutus Rowan. The novel ends with the Nightmare in full control of Elspeth and promising to help the Yews form a Deck.

The Rowan King is one of the antagonists of the novel. Though he rarely appears, often residing in Stone, his presence is felt throughout Blunder. He is the father of Hauth and Elm, and commands Physicians and Destriers to capture infected. Despite the Rowan King’s hatred for infected, he proves a hypocrite and often employs infected with useful magic, like Ravyn Yew, Captain of the Destriers, and Orithe Willow, head of the Physicians. Furthermore, he seeks to complete a Deck to lift the Spirit’s mist.

High Prince Hauth Rowan is one of the antagonists of the novel. He abuses his position and Scythe Card to control others’ emotions, even harming Elspeth’s cousin—his fiancée Ione Hawthorn. He is antagonistic toward his cousin Ravyn, as he is jealous of his position as Captain of the Destriers and often undermines him. As an extension of this longstanding hostility, Hauth targets Elspeth—as she initially feigns courtship with Ravyn—and pieces together her part in the team.

Second Prince Renelm “Elm” Rowan is a reluctant ally to Elspeth. He has an antagonistic relationship with his father, who thinks him weak, and brother Hauth, who brutalized him during childhood. His chosen family are the Yews, whom he is related to through his aunt Morette Yew (formerly Morette Rowan). Elm is Ravyn’s cousin and right-hand man, and often voices caution in their mission to gather Providence Cards. A Scythe Card-wielder, he is one of the few who can slow an infected Emory Yew’s degeneration. He is tense around Elspeth, as he prioritizes the Yews’ safety and knows she keeps secrets.

Ravyn Yew is Elspeth’s love interest, the son of Fenir Yew and Morette Rowan— sister of the Rowan King—as well as brother to Jespyr and Emory—the latter being an infected whom the Rowan King plans to sacrifice to lift the Spirit’s mist. Furthermore, he and his siblings are cousins to Hauth—with whom Ravyn shares an antagonistic relationship—and Elm, Ravyn’s right-hand man. He is Erik Spindle’s successor as Captain of the Destriers, and to Elspeth, “his eyes were gray and stood out brilliantly against smooth copper skin. He watched me down a long, formidable nose, his eyes searching my face” (51). Like Emory, he is infected: Ravyn’s magic grants him near-immunity to the Providence Cards, but his degeneration causes him to lose usage of one Card per year. By the time he meets and feigns courtship with Elspeth, he can only use three Cards: his own Nightmare Card, the Mirror Card, and presumably, the Twin Adlers Card. Though under his uncle’s thumb, Ravyn leads a rebellion that seeks to form a Deck before the Rowan King so Emory can be spared from sacrifice.

Jespyr Yew is Fenir and Morette’s daughter, as well as Ravyn and Emory’s sister. Though she is the cousin of Hauth and Elm, she is the only female Destrier and thus the subject of unsavory opinions. Like the rest of the Yews, she is a participant in Ravyn’s mission to form a Deck before the Rowan King so Emory can be spared from sacrifice. Jespyr and Elspeth become friends through their missions, with both women coming to each other’s rescue.

Emory Yew is Fenir and Morette’s infected son, as well as Ravyn and Jespyr’s brother. Though he is the cousin of Hauth and Elm, he is chosen by the Rowan King to be sacrificed for a mist-lifting ritual. He is sequestered in Stone, as his degeneration often makes him erratic—especially during changes in seasons. Emory’s magic allows him to read people, such as the Nightmare’s presence in Elspeth’s mind.

Tyrn and Opal Hawthorn (formally Opal Whitebeam) are the parents of Ione, Lyn, and Aldrich, as well as Elspeth’s uncle and aunt. When Elspeth’s father Erik approached the pair to take care of an infected Elspeth, Opal accepted out of love, while Tyrn accepted out of greed. While she loves her uncle, Elspeth suspects he has a darker side due to having seen him with a bloody sword and the Nightmare Card years ago. She is proven correct when he engages Ione to the brutish Hauth and betrays her to Hauth.

Ione Hawthorn is the daughter of Tyrn and Opal, sister to Lyn and Aldrich, and cousin to Elspeth. She is betrothed to High Prince Hauth in exchange for Tyrn’s Nightmare Card. She is described as honest and loving, but upon her betrothal, she uses the Maiden Card to amplify her beauty—and gradually erases her emotions to the point of disinterest and later, a desire for power. Still, Ione tries to protect Elspeth from Hauth’s suspicion, which elicits his violence and infidelity.

Erik Spindle is Elspeth’s father, who was first married to Iris Whitebeam and then Nerium—with whom he has two daughters, Nya and Dimia. Nerium hates Elspeth—due to fear of repercussion should Elspeth’s infection be discovered and jealousy toward Elspeth’s deceased mother—but Erik loves her, despite creating distance by entrusting her to the Hawthorns. He is the former Captain of the Destriers, who still longs for Iris and protects Elspeth, despite having once hunted infected. Late in the novel, he admits he would change the past if he could, as he knows young Elspeth was likely hurt by his actions.