A sensitive and nonviolent person by nature, Antain struggles as he navigates the forest, though he does emerge alive and victorious. This leads him to question the Day of Sacrifice as a whole and vow to kill the Witch and save the Protectorate’s children. Antain begins to suspect that hope and love are extremely powerful when he recognizes that despite his scarred face, Ethyne loves him anyway-something he thought impossible.
Antain continues to develop his devotion to his family as he marries his childhood crush, Ethyne, and the two have a son, Luken. Following the attack, Antain focuses on his real love, woodworking, and becomes a renowned furniture maker in both the Protectorate and the Free Cities. While he never gets along well with his own mother or most of his brothers, Antain recognizes that they are more of a family to him than the Sisters were. After this, Antain begins to think differently about family. However, in his late teens he visits the imprisoned Adara (referred to as the “madwoman” by the people in the Protectorate) in the Tower, and her paper birds attack him, badly scarring his face. As a young boy, Antain was the servant for the Sisters of the Star and he regards the Sisters, especially Sister Ignatia, as family. Though Antain knows that he has to follow the rules, his sense of horror in regards to the Day of Sacrifice means that he quietly tries to stand up for what’s right by pretending to be sick or otherwise occupied so he won’t have to participate.
Watching a woman ( Adara) be forced to sacrifice her baby ( Luna) is an experience that breaks Antain’s spirit and haunts him for the rest of his life. His uncle Gherland, the leader of the Council of Elders, paints Antain as troublingly idealistic and curious, which is shown clearly when Antain expresses disbelief that the Elders just leave the sacrificed baby in the clearing, rather than making sure that the Witch takes the baby. As a teenager, Antain is an Elder-in-Training. The novel follows him from about age 13 into his mid-20s.
A young, idealistic man from the Protectorate.
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