The Stolen Heir

Suren, or Wren, is the 18-year-old protagonist and first-person narrator of The Stolen Heir. Wren’s voice is raspy from years of screaming, having been tortured by her parents Lady Nore and Lord Jarel of the Court of Teeth. She has primrose-colored hair, a thin face with large green eyes, a pointy chin, and skin “the pale blue-gray of hydrangea blooms” (85). When describing herself, she sees a monster with sharp teeth, which “make even the Folk flinch” (85). This is indicative of her negative self-perception, which is worsened when Wren discovers she is “something made like a doll, from snow and sticks” (198). She was created by the storm hag Bogdana for Lady Nore and Lord Jarel, who couldn’t conceive a child, and given her own daughter Mellith’s heart. Wren is oblivious to her origins, believing herself the couple’s biological daughter, Suren, until she learns of Oak’s betrayal at the Ice Needle Citadel.

Wren has lived in the wilderness of the mortal realm since fleeing the Court of Teeth at the age of 11. She spends her time observing her human unfamily and breaking curses plaguing other humans. Her extended time among humans makes her compassionate toward their plights, often attacking the Folk, her own kind, to protect the less fortunate.