Vanyel Ashkevron
The protagonist and hero of this novel and the entire trilogy. He is also the title character given to the name of the trilogy as a whole: “The Last Herald-Mage Trilogy.” The book opens with his return from a prolonged absence spent leading a campaign along the border separating Valdemar from their bitter enemies in Karse. As a result, Vanyel quite notably is remarked to “look like hell” and he would like to spend some time getting his life back to normal. Since this is the middle entry in the trilogy, however, don’t count on it being a relaxing break between extremes.
Medren
Medren is Vanyel’s young and illegitimate nephew. Part of the troubles that Vanyel faces which makes getting things back to a semblance of normality difficult is the widespread assumption that comes with the open secret of his homosexuality: that he must, by nature, be a sex fiend who preys not just on young boys, but even family members. Forced to explain this to his young nephew, Medren and Vanyel then defy all expectations by proceeding to develop a close and intimate bond based not without reason upon their similarities external to sexuality.
Jervis
Vanyel’s bond with Medren is quite specifically instigated by suspicions that Jervis, the Armsmaster of his manor home, has been bullying him the way that Jervis had bullied the younger Vanyel. This Jervis did at the bidding of Vanyel’s own father, Withen, who encouraged Jervis to beat a sense of manliness into his sensitive son. Vanyel’s suspicions are turned on their head when he Jervis confesses to regret over his bullying of Vanyel and ultimately both Medren and Jervis wind up becoming close and trusted confidants of the Herald-Mage.
Savil Ashkevron
Vanyel is not quite the last Herald-Mage by the end of this middle entry. Vanyel’s aunt and mentor, Savil Ashkevron, also holds the distinction of bearing that title. Since the trilogy is about the last Herald-Mage, one could spend their time reading this second novel in the series doing worse things than looking for foreshadowing that Savil may not last through to the end of the third novel.
Tashir Remoerdis
The main plot thread of the entry in the series can effectively be described as following the events in which Vanyel assists the very much put-upon Herald-Prince Tashir to take his rightful place as king of Lineas and then some. Tashir’s family is the stuff of a soap opera—or Jerry Springer—and provides much of the fuel driving the plot mechanics of the story. By the next book—the third in the trilogy—Tashir is no longer quite as significant.
