Known as Liath in the Faerie realm, Wendell is one of the protagonists of the novel, a professor of dryadology at Cambridge and the monarch of the Irish Faerie kingdom of Silva Lupi. Wendell, who is described as stunningly handsome by his wife Emily, has wavy golden hair that often falls in his eyes. Wendell has arresting green eyes, which lean more toward the yellow than the cool-blue spectrum. Like most Faerie nobility, Wendell likes the pomp and ceremony of dressing well, and he often wears magnificent cloaks and a crown of silver-plated leaves and flowers. Wendell is inseparable from Orga, his magical cat. His favored colors are black and silver. As Emily notes, Wendell is a genius at sewing and tailors his clothes and boots to perfection himself. Amongst Wendell’s most striking garments is a black cloak whose hem is alive and hungry, often devouring small creatures unless otherwise instructed. Preferring to keep the spaces around him clean, Wendell dislikes mess and clutter. In Lilja and Margret’s cottage, he often longs to clean their cheerfully chaotic kitchen.

While Wendell’s name in Silva Lupi is Liath, it is suggested that he has another, true name. He offers to give Emily that name, which would grant her power over him. Though Emily refuses the offer, Wendell’s willingness to share his name shows the depth of his love for Emily. Wendell loves Emily greatly and respects her keen intelligence and research skills. Early in the novel, he assures Emily that she can achieve anything if she has the right stories. While Wendell wants Emily with him always, he respects her need for a break from Faerie. Thus, he installs a door between his realm and mortal Ireland so Emily can visit the mortal realm as she pleases. Seen through Emily’s eyes, Wendell is confident, charming, and playful, but it is clear that he is not as self-assured as Emily believes. Wendell tends to be insecure about Emily and her desire to be with him in Faerie. When Emily is in Corbann, Wendell writes to her every day, entreating her to return.

This intensity is not the only surprising aspect about Wendell; the other is his tremendous—and at times frightening—magical power. Emily, who has mostly viewed Wendell in an academic, mortal setting before their visit to Silva Lupi, senses deep reserves of power in Wendell. As she ventures deeper into his realm, Emily can sense his magic grow, with Wendell able to make the land move with the smallest of flourishes. Such power can potentially have a dark side: Emily notes that Wendell is seized by a fury in the cursed grove and kills the wraiths as if on sped-up autopilot. Wendell’s challenge as a character is to balance his power with restraint. As the novel proceeds, Wendell does exercise restraint and kindness, sparing Arna and listening to the concerns of the common faeries. Wendell also values the importance of teamwork and partnership: He values Emily’s opinion and understands that she may provide a balanced, fresh view where he is biased. In his ability to accept the views of others and his great capacity for love and sacrifice, Wendell is a dynamic character with an evolving character arc.

The chief antagonist of the novel and a variation of the archetype of the wicked stepmother, Arna is the former queen of the Faerie realm of Silva Lupi, the mother of Deilah, and the stepmother of Wendell. Arna is a half-mortal with limited magical powers, but what she lacks in magic, she makes up for in cunning and trickery. Capable of great violence, Arna murdered Wendell’s father and his older children for the throne, exiling 19-year-old Wendell from the kingdom. After Emily poisons her in book two, Arna flees the castle and is believed to be dead. However, she does not formally abdicate the throne. Instead, she leaches her poison into the realm, knowing that only the blood of Wendell can truly heal the land. Arna’s actions show that she is canny and strategic.

Wendell, Taran, and those who know her often describe Arna as untrustworthy. In previous novels, Arna has sent assassins to Cambridge to kill Wendell. When Arna dies by suicide instead of letting Wendell kill her and end the curse, Wendell notes that vengeance is so important to her than she cannot escape its lure even in death. In symbolic terms, Arna represents the first Macan of the Smith story, the one who appropriated a land that did not belong to him. Like the first Macan, she represents greed, unlawful inheritance, and vengeance. However, the text presents another side of Arna after she is brought back from the Veil. In fact, this is the character the reader meets first-hand. This Arna is pale, weak, subdued, and covered in ash. She agrees to Emily’s suggestions about scrubbing herself or sleeping in Emily’s tent and assumes a penitent’s persona. Arna tells Wendell that having spent days in the dark, sandy Veil chased by ghastly creatures, she now only longs for sunshine and a cottage. Wendell grudgingly grants her request, though he, Niamh, and Taran are sure the show of contrition is another of Arna’s ruses. If the change in Arna is real, she represents the power of forgiveness and repentance. In her chameleon-like, ambiguous personality, Arna can be said to represent the Faerie realm itself.

Called the eldest in Silva Lupi because he may truly be the oldest living noble in the realm, Taran is Arna’s half-brother and Wendell’s step-uncle, as well as the lifelong partner of the mortal Callum Thomas. Although Taran is at least centuries old, he presents as young. Like all Faerie nobles, Taran is beautiful. Emily describes him as having an imposing presence, though she sometimes detects a skeletal creature lurking under Taran’s exterior, possibly denoting his great age. Taran is sarcastic and droll but disinterested in power. He often reminds Emily that his lack of interest in power has kept him alive in the murderous realm of Silva Lupi.

After Wendell bests him in a duel, Taran pledges his allegiance to Wendell. Though he helps Wendell and Emily navigate many difficult situations in the realm, Wendell reminds Emily that Taran can be deeply violent and unpredictable. An example of Taran’s cruel streak is his callous murder of Lord Wherry in the cursed grove. An ambiguous character with shades of grey, Taran is somewhat redeemed by his love for Callum. He even appears to harbor a soft spot for Emily and Wendell as the novel progresses, as evinced by his disapproval of the duo heading off to Arna’s island by themselves. One of the running jokes in the novel is the enmity between Taran and Wendell’s cat Orga. Because Taran challenged Wendell to a duel, Orga has developed a permanent vendetta against the noble, tripping and scratching him. Taran is a three-dimensional character because of his understanding of love.

Shadow is a Grim or a guardian-faerie that takes the form of a dog. In English folklore, a church grim protects churchyards and graveyards from foul entities. Shadow’s portrayal in the novel may also be inspired by the Black Dog, a faerie who watches crossings, such as between life and death. In the novel, Shadow is described as an aging dog of an “intimidating bulk” (7). He has a black coat, a friendly, gentle manner, and is sightless in one eye. Though Shadow has pain in his joints and has trouble walking great distances, he insists on accompanying Emily wherever she goes. Thus, he embodies loyalty and love.

Shadow is shown to be the foil to Wendell’s capricious, vicious cat Orga; however, Shadow himself likes the cat, which illustrates his friendliness. One of the important aspects of Shadow’s nature is his ability to sense death and travel the realms between death and life. Thus, Shadow travels both to the afterlife and the Veil, rescuing Wendell and Arna, respectively. At the novel’s end, Wendell finds a remedy that will slow down Shadow’s disease and ageing, thus giving him many more years with his family. Shadow’s relationship with Emily is one of the most heartwarming elements in the book.

Known as the Beast of the Elderwood, Orga is a cat with powerful, magical abilities and a vicious temperament. Orga is devoted to Wendell and has black fur and golden eyes. Emily describes her fur as having a rippling quality. In the previous book, Emily fetched Orga to Cambridge so the cat could heal Wendell. Wendell’s many brushes with danger have left Orga fiercely protective of him. Emily notes that she often wakes up with Orga at her throat, the cat’s claws nearly at her jugular vein. Orga appears to be jealous of Emily’s claim to Wendell’s affections. She also disdains all of Shadow’s attempts at friendliness. Like Shadow, Orga too embodies loyalty and protectiveness.

The daughter of Arna, Deilah is the half-sister of Wendell and is a princess of Silva Lupi. Deilah is in her mid-teens and described by Emily as beautiful, with “jewel-blue eyes” (122) and long, golden hair the same color as Wendell’s. Deilah tends to be theatrical, often expressing her sorrow and rage by rending her clothes and wandering barefoot through the forests of the realm. Wendell and she barely know each other as Wendell was exiled from the kingdom when Deilah was very young. Thus, Wendell tends to think of Deilah as an extension of her mother, the cruel and power-hungry queen. Deilah looks the part at the beginning of the novel, when she disdains Emily for being a mortal. However, her disdain is soon revealed to be a result of her isolation: She has been imprisoned since her mother fled the kingdom, and she fears for her life.

After Emily shows Deilah kindness, the teenager warms up to Emily and Wendell, and she saves Emily’s life in the cursed grove. When Emily goes to Corbann to research the Macan stories, Wendell writes of Deilah following him around, moping and complaining. Emily notes that after receiving news of Arna and Wendell’s deaths, Deilah takes off for the forest, weeping showily rather than proving of any use. Deilah soon reverses Emily’s judgment, as it is she who comforts a weeping Emily and suggests a way to bring back Shadow. Thus, Deilah shows intelligence and resourcefulness.

A mortal resident of Silva Lupi and the royal scribe, Niamh is a dryadologist from the University of Connacht who went missing three decades ago. Emily describes Nimah as tall and pretty, with brown skin and closely cropped black hair. Nimah has a warm laugh and an animated manner of speaking: Emily immediately recognizes her as the sort of teacher students love, in contrast to Emily herself. Niamh has survived as a mortal with some status in Faerie owing to her personable nature and her intelligence. She tells Emily that she survived Arna’s “purge” (75) of the court by staying out of the queen’s way.

Niamh is a comforting presence not just for Emily, but also for Wendell, who remembers her as one of the few people in the court who treated him kindly as a child. Thus, Niamh functions as a mentor-like figure for both protagonists. Additionally, she represents the mortal realm in Silva Lupi, providing sanctuary to Emily. Niamh does not shy from speaking her mind: When Emily is unable to think of a solution beyond the Macan story, Niamh points out that Emily’s focus is too narrow. By the end of the novel, Niamh has become part of Emily’s community of friends.

Lilja and Margret are a young couple from Ljosland (off Norway) whom Emily first met in Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries. The two are kidnapped by the Hidden Folk after Emily cleaves the tree in which the king is trapped. Later, they are rescued by Emily and Wendell. Because of their traumatic experience with faeries, Lilja and Margret are highly skeptical of the beings. In Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales, Wendell magicks a cottage in Ireland for the young women so they can spend the winter away from their cold homeland. The cottage also serves as a safe house for Emily so she can periodically escape the chaos of Faerie.

Often seen creating things, such as exquisite wooden carvings and elaborate meals, Lilja and Margret symbolize warmth, friendship, and sanctuary for both Emily and Wendell. They also provide a corrective to Emily’s overriding passion for Wendell, as well as her tendency to go too far in her pursuit of knowledge. To this end, the women often remind Emily of the magnitude of the change she will be inviting in her life by marrying Wendell and taking a throne in his realm. Thus, they act as a voice of caution and prudence in the novel.

One of the oiche sidhe, or the reticent common faeries who run the homes of Faerie nobility, the head housekeeper is “so grey and unexceptional […] he blended into the flagstones” (113). The housekeeper has many-jointed fingers, dust-colored wispy hair, and is neat in appearance. Since Wendell’s mother was an oiche sidhe, he often refers to Wendell as one of his own. As is typical of his kind, the housekeeper uses economy in words and action, which Emily likes. Though he is diminutive in appearance, he is capable of great heroism, as evident when he enters the Door to Death to save Wendell. When Emily visits the Lady in the Crimson Cloak, the housekeeper accompanies her, blending into the surroundings so he can keep an eye out for Emily.

Despite his courage and resourcefulness, the housekeeper is frequently overlooked by nobility. Emily notes that after he saves Wendell, people forget about him completely. However, Wendell reverses this pattern at the end of the novel by including the housekeeper in his royal council. The character of the housekeeper establishes that courage comes in all forms, highlighting the need for a more egalitarian society.