About The Characters: Meet the Minor Players in “The Wall Of Night” Series — Meet Jarna
The About The Characters post series focuses on the minor characters in The Wall Of Night series, in large part because:
“I think it’s the presence of the smaller characters that “makes” a story, creating texture around the main points of view.”
~ from my Legend Award Finalist's Interview, 2013
Initially, the series focused exclusively on characters from The Heir of Night, but now I’m continuing on with minor characters from both The Gathering Of The Lost and Daughter of Blood — in alphabetical order, of course!
(The quotes, together with the covers, indicate the books in which the character appears.)
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Jarna: an Emerian knight-in-training, hailing from the Northern March of Emer
Carick nodded, looking around the forge and then back to the horse, which was a tall, red roan destrier, bred to carry the weight of its own armor as well as that of a knight into battle. “Is this a great horse? The breed for which Emer is famous?”
“The finest in all Emer,” said Hamar. “But that’s because Jarna trained him.” He grinned at the lad holding the horse, and Carick, looking more closely, realized that the boy was in fact the girl squire who had formed part of his escort to Normarch.
“Hello,” he said, and the girl nodded back. “Did you really train him? What’s his name?”
For a long moment he thought Jarna was not going to answer, but then she met his eyes, a quick shy look. “Madder,” she said finally. “It’s another way of saying ‘red.’” Her voice was low-pitched, almost husky, and with a cap over her thick plait, she was broad-shouldered and flat-chested enough to pass as a boy. She smiled now and stroked the horse’s nose again. “We all have a gift for horses, in my family. That’s what my grandfather says. Although Hamar has the gift, too,” she added.
Hamar shook his head. “No. I’m good with horses, but you are something more, Jarn.”
This time Jarna did just shrug and look away, but Carick noticed that she flushed as well.
~ from © The Gathering Of The Lost, The Wall of Night Book Two: Chapter 13 — Normarch
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Eventually both horses had adjusted to the enclosed space and the movement of the ship, but Kalan had still needed to spend a great deal of time with them, especially when a squall blew up a day out of Port Farewell. “Because Jarna,” he murmured to the roan destrier now, “would curse me in this life and into the next if I let any harm come to you.”
~ from © Daughter of Blood, The Wall of Night Book Three: Chapter 5 — Blood Warrior
Jarna was a favorite! I love shy, brave girls with big hearts. Her story broke my heart a little, and I really hope we get to see her again.
I am very fond of Jarna, too, Kristen — which might be why I gave her a slightly longer than usual ‘About the Characters’ quote. 🙂
And although Jarna’s not really an entirely minor character, she’s not a main point-of-view character either, which is the main differentiation I’m using for who gets an entry in this post series and who does not.