Youngest daughter of Roxane and Dustfinger; died of a fever while Dustfinger was stranded in our world.
Rosenquartz
Fenoglio's peevish, put-upon, pink-colored glass man. Appreciative of Elinor's frankness toward the author once she arrives in the Inkworld!
Roxane
Dustfinger's wife, and a great beauty, with raven hair and alabaster skin. Mother of Brianna, Rosanna, and Jehan. Once a minstrel woman, she is now a healer and herbalist.
Sandro
One of Violante's child- soldiers.
Shadow
Known as Capricorn's Hound in Inkdeath. A being whose touch, and even breath, brings death.
Slasher
Formerly Capricorn's fire-raiser, now the Adderhead's henchman.
Snapper
Robber, writer, and follower of the Black Prince. Saves Doria and Luc from hanging in Inkdeath.
Sootbird
Strolling player and unconvincing fire-eater. An informant to the Adderhead in Inkspell; serves the Milksop in Inkdeath.
Spelt-Mill
Scene of a terrible act of treachery in Inkspell.
Strong Man
Strolling player and robber, named Lazaro. One of the Black Prince's most loyal companions; accompanies Resa on her dangerous journey to the Castle in the Lake. Older, half brother of Doria.
Sugar, also known as the Wardrobe-Man
Servant of Mortola and then of Orpheus. A huge hired thug with rotten teeth.
Susa
Dead sister of Doria and Lazaro, buried in the graveyard of the strolling players.
Taddeo
Librarian in the Castle of Night.
Thumbling
The Adderhead's bodyguard, notorious for cutting a thumb off every man he kills and turning the bone into a little pipe to mock the Piper.
Tullio
Furry-faced page of the Laughing Prince; loyal to Violante.
Violante, also known as Her Ugliness
Daughter of the Adderhead, widow of Cosimo the Fair, mother of Jacopo. Her cruel nickname can be attributed to a large birthmark on her left cheek. Once heir to the realms of both Lombrica and Argenta, she despises
her immortal father and plots his demise, recruiting an army of child-soldiers and enlisting the aid of the Bluejay in her scheme.
Vito
The eldest of Violante's child- soldiers.
Wayless Wood
The forest south of Ombra, the place where Meggie and Farid arrive in the Inkworld.
White Book, also known as the Book
Bound for the Adderhead by Mo in Inkspell to give him immortality.
White Women
The servants of Death.
Woodenfoot
Robber with a stiff leg – not a fast runner, but a good cook.
1. NOTHING BUT A DOG AND A SHEET OF PAPER
Hark, the footsteps of the night
Fade in silence long.
Quiet chirps my reading light
Like a cricket's song.
Books inviting us to read
On the bookshelves stand.
Piers for bridges that will lead
Into fairy land.
Rainer Maria Rilke, "Vigils III," from Sacrifice to the Lares
Moonlight fell on Elinor's bathrobe, her nightdress, her bare feet, and the dog lying in front of them. Orpheus's dog. Oh, the way he looked at her with his eternally sad eyes! As if asking himself why, in the name of all the exciting smells in the world, she was sitting in her library in the middle of the night, surrounded by silent books, just staring into space.
"Why?" said Elinor in the silence. "Because I can't sleep, you stupid animal." But she patted his head all the same. This is what you've come to, Elinor, she thought as she hauled herself out of her armchair. Spending your nights talking to a dog. You don't even like dogs, least of all this one, with his heavy breathing that always reminds you of his appalling master!
Still, she had kept the dog in spite of the painful memories he brought back. She'd kept the chair, too, even though the Magpie had sat in it. Mortola… how often Elinor thought she heard the old woman's voice when she went into the quiet library, how often she seemed to see Mortimer and Resa standing among the bookshelves, or Meggie sitting by the window with a book on her lap, face hidden behind her smooth, bright hair…
Memories. They were all she had left. No more tangible than the pictures conjured up by books. But what would be left if she lost those memories, too? Then she'd be alone again forever – with the silence and the emptiness in her heart. And an ugly dog.
Her feet looked so old in the pale moonlight. Moonlight! she thought, wiggling her toes in it. In many stories moonlight had magical powers. All lies. Her whole head was full of printed lies. She couldn't even look at the moon with eyes unclouded by veils of letters. Couldn't she wipe all those words out of her head and heart, and see the world through her own eyes again, at least once?
Heavens, Elinor, what a fabulous mood you're in, she thought as she made her way over to the glass case where she kept everything that Orpheus had left behind, apart from his dog. Wallowing in self-pity, like that stupid dog rolling over in every puddle.
The sheet of paper that lay behind the glass looked like nothing special, just an ordinary piece of lined paper densely written in pale blue ink. Not to be compared with the magnificently illuminated books in the other display cases – even though the tracing of every letter showed how very impressed Orpheus was with himself. I hope the fire-elves have burned that self-satisfied smile off his lips, thought Elinor as she opened the glass case. I hope the men-at-arms have skewered him – or, even better, I hope he's starved to death in the Wayless Wood, miserably and very, very slowly. It wasn't the first time she had pictured to herself Orpheus's wretched end in the Inkworld. These images gave her lonely heart more pleasure than almost anything.
The sheet of paper was already yellowing. To add insult to injury, it was cheap stuff. And the words on it really didn't look as though they could have spirited their writer away to another world right before Elinor's eyes. Three photographs lay beside the sheet of paper – one of Meggie and two of Resa – a photo of her as a child and another taken only a few months ago, with Mortimer beside her, both of them smiling so happily! Hardly a night went by when Elinor didn't look at those photographs. By now, at least, the tears had stopped running down her cheeks when she did so, but they were still there in her heart. Bitter tears. Her heart was full to the brim with them, a horrible feeling.
Lost. Meggie.
Resa.
Mortimer.
Almost three months had passed since their disappearance. In fact, Meggie had even been gone a few days longer than her parents…
The dog stretched and came trotting drowsily over to her. He pushed his nose into her bathrobe pocket, knowing there were always a few dog biscuits in it for him.
"Yes, all right, all right," she murmured, shoving one of the smelly little things into his broad muzzle. "Where's your master, then?" She held the sheet of paper in front of his nose, and the stupid creature sniffed it as if he really could catch Orpheus's scent behind the words on the page.