Briallen Emeraldleaf

The younger twin sister of Seren Emeraldleaf, Braillen spent the first eleven years of her life not even knowing who she really was.

It was during the evacuation of Linwood that Briallen learned that she was the daughter of Ash Emeraldleaf. Andraste, the Emeraldleaf family's maid, had claimed to be her mother, and had stayed behind in Linwood during the evacuation that followed the invasion of Bhimar's army.

Briallen spent much of her time feeling lost, at that point, and rarely spoke to anyone, though Ash, Adamina, and Seren all tried to bond with her. She finally began to bond with her father, however, in Yewsel, when she encountered and was entrusted with the care of an injured meadowlark. Ash had experience with birds and helped her to build a nest for the little bird that Briallen named Eirian.

Briallen expressed her doubts about the existence of true love to her father. Her words triggered something in him, and he took her to Agrona, who found and removed the spells that had been placed on both of them, as well as Adamina and Seren. Andraste had actually kidnapped Briallen when she and Seren were born, taking advantage of both Ash being at court and Enid being sick, herself. Andraste had then hidden Briallen away for six months and used spells to make her appear six months younger than she really was.

Feeling less lost and better connected to her family with the truth now known, Briallen decided that she might want to follow in her father's footsteps on the council. Toward that end, she began speaking with the other members of the council, asking them for advice. It was during her discussion with Torin Moonhaze that she learned that he had aided in her kidnapping and hiding, and that he was the one who had named her out of the belief that she was the reincarnated form of his dead fiancee.

Two years after the Battle of Hearts, Briallen attended her first real ball, one celebrating the twenty-fifth anniversary of Queen Tesni's reign. While there, she met Treasach Swiftfoot, whose family was in a feud with Torin's. Treasach told her about the Royal Academy in Oak Dale, and Briallen decided that she wanted to go.

At the Academy, Briallen studied hard. She took Seosan, knowing it would one day come in handy, both because Princess Nia and her husband spoke it fluently and also because Seren was now betrothed to Tesni's son, Eogan, who now sat on Seos' throne. In addition to subjects that everyone took, she also studied dueling and falconry. It was in this last class that she bonded with a kite named Storm. She also spent time helping Treasach's sister, Jocosa, with her forbidden romance with Torin's cousin, Ramsay.

As Briallen grew into womanhood, she found herself drawing the attentions, and random gifts from, various young men at the Academy. Chief among these were Treasach and his cousin, Alwyn. She had no desire to be courted by any of the young men she met, though.

Despite her lack of interest in him, Treasach remained Briallen's friend and helped her to unravel a plot against the queen, the proof of which Briallen had delivered to her father.

That winter, the plot taken care of, Briallen witnessed Seren get her bow and the marriage of Tesni to one of the Shadow Guards, Gareth. It was also at this point that she realized that she and Torin were more enntranced by the idea of her being his reincarnated lover than actually in love, and she returned to the academy, more than ready to move on.

Moving on meant learning that Treasach had felt the tingle of true love with her, previously. Now that her obsession was gone, she could feel it, herself, and she and Treasach agreed to wed, though he did not go with her to Seos to witness Seren and Eoghan marry.