In the Veins of the Drowning

Theodore Ariti is the love interest of Imogen and a primary character in the novel, introduced as the 27-year-old King of Varya and the grandson of the Great God Panos. This grants him the magical power to grow and mend.

According to Imogen, Theo has “skin a golden brown, eyes the color of dark leaves” and inky black hair: “He was regal, towering and straight, well-built and graceful, but it was the way he looked at [her] down the length of his ever-so-slightly crooked nose that made [her] certain he was of noble birth” (7). This initial depiction of Theo positions him as temptingly attractive yet the very picture of power and entitlement that Imogen has come to resent, effectively setting the characters up for a hate-to-love romance arc.

Nonetheless, Imogen doesn’t perceive him as overly arrogant or impatient, instead finding a sturdy sense of self and an unwavering security in his principles. Though his dedication to his duty is highly irritating to Imogen, this correlates to the steady and reliable aspect of his personality that Imogen begrudgingly admires. He represents an anchor in the rather unmoored life she’s led.

Nemea perceives Theo as a “boy-king […] too haughty, too good, too loved, too honorable to be a ruler that Nemea could ever respect” (15). Theo holds similar sentiments, not deigning to respect Nemea, whose blasphemous rituals to honor Eusia disrespect the real gods. Theo’s lack of fear in antagonizing Nemea publicly is another source of admiration for Imogen; he comes off as extremely powerful and self-assured, which provides Imogen the opportunity she needs to escape Seraf.

The differences between Theo’s values and Imogen’s, combined with their forced proximity following the blood bond they make with each other, introduce the theme of Choosing Between Self and Duty that both characters’ arcs revolve around. Through their relationship with each other, Theo learns that there are some things (such as love) that he’s not willing to sacrifice for duty, and Imogen learns that excessive self-indulgence is not empowering but selfish and could have consequences well beyond herself.

Agatha is a secondary character and Imogen’s friend and former governess. Prior to her time on Seraf, Agatha grew up in Varya, where she fell in love with Lachlan Mela. Lachlan has since become Theo’s right-hand man and commander of his naval forces. They forced a blood bond to solidify their connection and assure their mutual protection, but they were forced by Theo’s father to visit the Mage Seer and have the bond broken. The pain of the severance nearly killed Agatha and left her traumatized. Afterward, she fled on a ship bound for Seraf, leaving her former life—and love—behind. Though Lachlan has routinely sent her letters, unable to move on from their romance, Agatha has maintained distance to better focus on Imogen’s safety and survival.

A decade Imogen’s senior, Agatha is described as “Impossibly youthful, warm brown skin, curls as shiny and dark as the ink in a pot. Soft lines did not even crease the high edges of her cheekbones, but [Imogen] supposed one must smile often to earn them” (3). The lack of smile lines around Agatha’s eyes despite being in her mid-thirties implies how difficult their life has been at Fort Linum for the past decade.

Agatha is the only person who has ever cared for Imogen without expecting something in return; she also understands Imogen and her circumstances better than anyone else. This places Agatha under additional stress because not only is she a Siren in hiding, like Imogen, but she is Imogen’s primary protector and advocate. While this is useful for Imogen to have, it also enables her avoidant tendencies: “Agatha had kept me safe. I was not so alone with her as my confidant. And so, I’d shoved the ugly, rearing head that was my true self below the surface” (32). Rather than learning more about her Siren identity, should she ever need her abilities for self-defense, Imogen remains ignorant and favors relying on Agatha for protection.

Captain Evander Ianto is Imogen’s fiancé at the start of the novel and a Siren-hunter for King Nemea. Evander is initially introduced as a surprisingly witty, well-mannered, thoughtful, and affectionate partner for Imogen. His gentle kindness is directly contrasted with the aggressive cruelty of King Nemea. When Nemea grabs Imogen hard enough to draw blood at her engagement feast, Evander expresses how he’d have defended Imogen valiantly and killed Nemea for his actions if the man were not his king.

Eventually, it is revealed that Evander is not as benevolent as Imogen first thought. As a Siren-hunter, his hatred for and fear of Sirens is nearly too much to overcome when he first learns of Imogen’s nature. The only reason Evander is able to move past this revelation is by utilizing Imogen as a tool to give him the power he’s always craved. Evander thus becomes the first cautionary tale about The Corrupting Pursuit of Power. His own arrogance in taking the power he wants from Imogen through forcing a blood bond backfires on him. He unwittingly gives her access to the uncontrollable power she then uses to accidentally lure him into drowning in her bathtub.

Though appearing only briefly before his death, Evander acts as a foil to Theo. Evander is the only love interest Imogen has prior to her entanglements with Theo, and his disgust with her identity and desire to use her for his own ends sets the standard of what Imogen doesn’t want in a partner. Initially, Theo also uses Imogen. He bargains with her, only helping her escape in exchange for a bond to ensure his own protection and her promise to aid him in hunting down Eusia. However, Theo eventually promises not to make any more bargains with Imogen and places her needs before even his own sense of duty, positioning him as the more favorable love interest and the opposite of everything Evander symbolized.