The Heir characters

Appears from the start

The eldest child of King Maxon and Queen America and the first woman named heir to Illéa's throne, born seven minutes before her twin brother. Raised from birth to expect the crown, she is disciplined, formidably self-possessed, and dismissive of other people's opinions of her, including her family's. She regards marriage as a trap that would cost her the authority she has been trained for, and she takes the country's obedience as something owed to her rather than earned.

Appears from the start

Eadlyn's twin brother, born minutes after her and therefore not the heir, which suits him. Warm and easy where his sister is guarded, he is the one person willing to tell her the truth about how she behaves, and he has been in love with Camille, the princess of France, for years.

Appears from the start

King of Illéa, who came to the throne after his parents were killed, married a girl from the lowest caste of his own Selection, abolished the caste system, and changed the succession so his firstborn would inherit regardless of gender. Twenty years on he is exhausted and the country he freed is angry: with the castes gone, money and old prejudice have quietly taken over the same work, and protests are spreading.

Also known as America Singer

Appears from the start

Queen of Illéa, who arrived at the palace as a Five in Maxon's Selection and has spent her reign pushing the monarchy toward the people it governs. She is the one member of the family her daughter will speak honestly to, and she is worried by how isolated Eadlyn has made herself.

Appears from the start

The elder of Eadlyn's two younger brothers, bookish, observant, and far more at ease with the palace's other residents than his sister is.

Appears from the start

The youngest of the four royal children, boisterous, badly behaved, and impossible to keep in a schoolroom.

Appears from the start

Queen America's oldest friend, once one of the Selected herself, who was publicly punished for loving a guard in the old regime and has lived and worked in the palace ever since with her husband Carter. Her children have grown up alongside the royal children.

Appears from the start

Marlee and Carter's son, raised inside the palace and therefore a permanent fixture in Eadlyn's life whether she wants him or not. He wants to be an architect and has no interest in court ceremony, and he and Eadlyn have spent years needling each other.

Appears from the start

Marlee and Carter's daughter, who has grown up in the palace and behaves as though she belongs to the royal family, borrowing Eadlyn's things and inserting herself wherever she is not wanted.

First appears in chapter 3

One of Eadlyn's maids, competent and unafraid to speak plainly to her. She is the closest thing Eadlyn has to a friend outside her own family, though Eadlyn is slow to recognize it.

First appears in chapter 5

The princess of France and a long-standing friend of the Illéan royal family. Ahren writes to her constantly, and their attachment is well known to everyone at the palace except, apparently, to Eadlyn, who has never taken it seriously.

First appears in chapter 12

One of the Selected, a young man of Finnish descent who is delighted by nearly everything and speaks almost no English. He cooks, he is entirely without guile, and every conversation he has with Eadlyn passes through the friend who translates for him.

First appears in chapter 12

A young man employed to translate for Henri and therefore present at every conversation Henri has with the princess. He is not one of the Selected and holds no rank at court, which makes him one of the very few people who speak to Eadlyn without wanting something from her.

First appears in chapter 12

One of the Selected, easy company and far more interested in fabric, tailoring, and design than in politics. He and Eadlyn talk about clothes rather than about the throne.

First appears in chapter 12

One of the Selected, open and affectionate, and one of the first of the thirty-five whose company Eadlyn genuinely enjoys rather than tolerates.