The Bridge Kingdom (The Bridge Kingdom, #1)

Aren Kertell is the other protagonist in the narrative and one of the novel’s main narrative voices. The son of the deceased king and queen of Ithicana, Aren is the 37th ruler of Ithicana and took the throne a year prior to the events of the narrative. As part of the Fifteen-Year Treaty signed by his parents and Maridrina’s king, he takes part in an arranged marriage with a Maridrinian princess of Silas’s choosing to formalize an alliance between their countries. Like most, if not all, other citizens in Ithicana, Aren was raised as a soldier and has become an exceptional archer and fighter. He would prefer a simple life to the responsibilities of being king and often acts without decorum. Nevertheless, Aren is a dutiful monarch who deeply cares for his people. A smart and cunning man, he is persistently suspicious of Lara when she first arrives in Ithicana, though he always gives her the benefit of the doubt. By the end of the narrative, Aren has genuinely fallen in love with Lara but has suffered from her unintended betrayal. Captured by the Maridrinians, he is imprisoned in Vencia as bait for Lara.

Silas and Serin are two secondary characters within the story and the narrative’s main antagonists and villains. Silas is the king of Maridrina. He seeks to conquer the nations that surround his kingdom, namely Valcotta and Ithicana. He is the father of Lara, Marylyn, and their other 10 sisters, and Keris is his son and heir. Fifteen years prior to the events of the narrative, Silas waged a war against Ithicana to take control of the bridge but ultimately failed. Silas uses the stipulations of the Fifteen-Year Treaty to train his daughters to serve as spies and overthrow the Ithicanians. Silas has proven that he has little love for his daughters or his people, as he is willing to kill anyone whom he sees as an inconvenience. By the end of the narrative, Silas’s manipulations have resulted in his invasion of Ithicana, and he takes possession of the bridge.

Serin, also known as the Magpie, is Silas’s Master of Spies. He acted as the lead tutor during Lara and her sisters’ 15 years of training in the desert compound, and he often subjected the women to torture under the guise of education. A masterful coder, Serin is the one who communicates with Lara and pressures her to produce an invasion plan.

Ahnna Kertell is Aren’s sister and staunchest ally. The next in line to the Ithicanian throne and the kingdom’s only princess, Ahnna has also been sworn to a political marriage to solidify an alliance for Ithicana. In her case, her intended is the crown prince of Harendell, but Aren has promised her that he does not intend to force her to marry if she does not wish to do so. Ahnna is trained as a soldier and is part of Aren’s War Tides council. As the Watch Commander of Southwatch, Ahnna overseas the largest market in the bridge as well as one of its main boat docking stations. She doubts Lara’s intentions, and though she is friendly with her new sister-in-law, her suspicions never abate. By the end of the narrative, she becomes Ithicana’s leader in her brother’s stead, and while she does not trust Lara, she finds that she has no choice but to rely on her in order to save Aren from Silas.

Jor is Aren’s right-hand man. As captain of his guard, he is charged with protecting Aren and Lara. He is much older than Aren and used to serve as a guard for his father. Often, Jor acts as the voice of reason when Aren is faced with a difficult decision, and despite their difference in station, Jor will be one of the few people who feels he can be honest with him. It is insinuated that Jor holds great respect from other Ithicanians, specifically the Watch Commanders. Like other Ithicanians, he initially treats Lara with a shallow friendliness because he thinks her a spy. At the end of the narrative, they have the beginnings of a true friendship, at least until Silas’s invasion and Lara’s inadvertent betrayal are revealed.

Taryn is Aren and Ahnna’s cousin and a granddaughter to Nana. She is one of the only Ithicanians who befriends Lara. As part of Aren’s guard, she defends him and Lara and goes to battle with them in Serrith and Aela. An expert in handling shipbreakers, Taryn unknowingly reveals secret information to Lara by showing her some of the weapons used to defend against raiders and detailing her kingdom’s defense strategies. Unlike her family, Taryn had never wanted to remain in Ithicana. She had dreams to study music in Harendell, but due to Ithicana’s laws, she was forbidden from attending school there. By the end of the narrative, she is killed by the invading Maridrinians.

Nana is Aren, Ahnna, and Taryn’s grandmother, but she is not a member of the royal family by blood, as she is the mother of Aren’s father. Aren’s mother is the one born to the royal Ithicanian line. An eccentric wise woman with pet snakes, Nana is described by Lara as an “old witch” and “an obnoxious, bullying harridan” (150). Though the two share an antagonistic relationship, Lara must nevertheless defer to Nana, whom the Ithicanians respect for her healing abilities. Nana is also the authority of the kingdom’s seasons, as she is the one who announces when War Tides has begun and ended each year.