To Kill a Kingdom

Elian, the deuteragonist of the book, is the prince of Midas—the Golden Kingdom and crown jewel of the 100 human kingdoms. He is a siren hunter and prefers to sail the ocean rather than stay in his kingdom. Elian is the captain of the Saad, the pirate ship which he sails with his fiercely loyal crew. Elian’s goal is to end the war with the sirens, but he initially feels that the only way to do so is to kill all of the sirens in the ocean. He parallels Lira in that they both hunt and kill each other’s kind; however, unlike Lira, he feels remorse for killing the sirens. He doesn’t kill because he enjoys it or because it thrills him. He kills because it’s a necessary part of war.

His character growth comes from meeting Lira in her human form. Though neither of them trusts each other at first, they slowly develop a reluctant friendship. Elian struggles with trusting strangers because of his life as a pirate as well as his life as a prince. In both of his worlds, people often have ulterior motives, and he’s learned to be on guard because of this. Unlike Lira, Elian has close relationships with his family and his crew. Though he doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with King Radames, his father, he respects him and cares deeply for him. His crew members—especially Kye, Madrid, and Torik—are his found family. With Lira, they form a “five-man band”: a group of characters, especially in adventure stories, who each display a different attribute that strengthens the group.

Elian’s best friend and bodyguard, Kye was raised as the son of a diplomat. He became Elian’s bodyguard after his parents disinherited him. He is a member of the crew of the Saad, and he follows Elian everywhere as his sidekick. Kye is loyal to Elian and suspicious of outsiders, especially Lira. Kye has a romantic relationship with Madrid and communicates with her through witty banter and playful arguments. In the story, he serves as a supporting character to deuteragonist Elian but an obstacle for protagonist Lira. Kye challenges Elian’s decision to keep Lira around and remains suspicious of Lira’s motives throughout most of the work.

Madrid is the second mate of the Saad and the only named female crew member. She is part of Elian’s inner circle and is the romantic interest of Kye. Madrid is from Kléftes and was enslaved on a pirate ship from an early age. She has a lot of tattoos, which are part of her culture, and prefers to use a crossbow rather than a sword. When Lira first comes aboard the Saad, Madrid is the only person who is kind to her, as everyone else is suspicious of her.

Torik is a 40-something man, older than Elian and the rest of his core circle. He serves as the first mate on the Saad. He is from the mining nation of Ánthrakas and is a skilled fighter with a sword and a pistol. Torik was the first man to join Elian’s crew when the young prince was just starting out as a pirate, and he has been by his side ever since.

The Sea Queen is Lira’s mother and the ruler of all of the oceans. The book never gives her another name in the book, implying that she lost whoever she was before becoming queen a long time ago. She is a ruthless and brutal ruler who will hurt and kill her subjects—including her own daughter—to scare them into loyalty. The Sea Queen resents the seed of humanity that Lira possesses and sees her as an unfit heir because of it. She is the main antagonist of the book because her treatment of Lira creates the obstacle that Lira has to overcome—namely, becoming human.

Khalia is Lira’s cousin and a young siren. She has blonde hair and one milky eye, and she is fiercely loyal to Lira. Her mother, Crestell, was killed by Lira at the behest of the Sea Queen when Lira was only 12 years old; Crestell sacrificed herself to save Khalia from the Sea Queen’s demand that Lira kill Khalia. The incident, which was traumatic for both Khalia and Lira, bonded the two young sirens forever.

Princess Yukiko is first introduced as “Sakura,” the mysterious owner of the Golden Goose. She is later revealed to be the long-lost princess of Págos, an icy cold kingdom in which the Crystal of Keto is hidden. She makes a deal with Elian in which she gets to marry him in exchange for helping him climb the Cloud Mountain, something only Págese royals are able to do. Yukiko has no desire to marry for love and only sees marriage as a way to align herself with power; she is the younger sister of King Kazue and as such will never be queen. She later takes Elian’s deal to marry Queen Galina of Eidýllio instead (it’s implied that she may be attracted to women and therefore better suited to marry Galina anyway).

Tallis is a rival pirate and the captain of the Xaprár. He is a conniving villain who tricks Elian into meeting with him and then captures the prince and Lira. His character is a typical villain with very little honor, and he is rumored to have ships full of enslaved people.

Crestell is the Sea Queen’s sister and Khalia’s mother. She volunteered to die in her daughter’s place when the Sea Queen ordered Lila to kill Khalia. Crestell was the first person that Lila killed and also the first person who suggested to Lila that she could be different from the Sea Queen: “Become the queen we need you to be” (126).

Galina is a queen descended from a royal family whose female members carry an ability to make any man become devoted to them with just one touch. The gift ultimately becomes a curse, because any men affected by their touch becomes so devoted that he loses all sense of self and eventually loses his mind. She becomes a solution for Elian, who asks her to marry Yukiko so that he won’t have to: Yukiko would still become a queen, and her savvy would help Galina keep Eidýllio afloat. Galina agrees and eventually does marry Yukiko.