Legendary characters

Also known as Tella

Appears from the start

The younger Dragna sister and this book's narrator. She came out of the last Caraval with a secret her sister knows nothing about: to find out what became of their mother she promised a stranger something no player has ever obtained, and the debt is now due. Bold, impatient and a practiced liar, she is more comfortable gambling than explaining herself, and she is prepared to play a second Caraval on someone else's terms to settle what she owes.

Appears from the start

Tella's older sister, who won the last Caraval and has not forgiven anyone involved in how it was run. Careful, protective and still unpicking what was real about those five nights, she comes to the new game with her own unfinished business - with Legend, with Julian, and with the marriage her father arranged for her.

Appears from the start

The sailor from the first book, revealed there to be one of Legend's performers. He is still close to the sisters and still selective about what he says. Scarlett does not know how to place him now that she knows his role in the last game, and he is not in a hurry to make it easier for her.

Appears from the start

The master of Caraval, who has never been seen without a role to hide behind. His performers protect him absolutely and his real name is the one thing the game has never given up. He is staging his next game in the imperial capital, and Tella needs something from him that he has no reason to hand over.

First appears in chapter 4

A striking young man with pale hair who attaches himself to Tella and makes no secret of wanting something from her. Locked doors do not inconvenience him, threats do not impress him, he is rarely without an apple, and nothing about him obeys the ordinary rules of the world Tella knows. He is willing to be useful, and every time he is, it costs her.

First appears in chapter 11

One of Legend's performers, tall and covered in tattoos, whom Tella already knows by sight from the last Caraval. Inside the new game he helps her further than a man following a script would need to, and Tella cannot decide whether that is genuine or simply a better-written part.

First appears in chapter 11

A Caraval performer, cheerful and theatrical, who works alongside Dante and Nigel. He plays whatever part the game assigns him and is friendly to Tella within the limits of the performance.

First appears in chapter 11

A tattooed fortune-teller among Legend's performers, who reads cards for players. His readings are staged as part of the game, which makes them impossible to separate from the show, and Tella consults him anyway.

First appears in chapter 8

The elderly ruler of the Meridian Empire, whose birthday celebrations are why Caraval has come to Valenda. She is shrewd, unexpectedly informal for a monarch, and takes an interest in Donatella that Tella cannot account for.

Appears from the start

The sisters' mother, who vanished from Trisda when they were children. Tella has never accepted that she simply walked away, and finding out what became of her is the reason Tella agreed to the bargain she is now trying to pay off.