Three Dark Crowns

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of graphic violence, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and death.

Arsinoe has long been considered the weakest of the triplet queens because her gift—which should include an animal familiar—has not yet manifested by her 16th birthday. Even the naturalists at Wolf Spring don’t respect her for this reason, and across Fennbirn, she is known as the “weak” queen. Despite this, she has always been defiant, something Mirabella remembers from their childhood, and she even attempted to escape the island with Jules and Joseph when they were 11. Later, when she is caught trying to escape once again with Billy, “her eyes do not waver. They are red, and weary, full of hatred and despair, but they remain fixed on [Luca’s] face” as she accuses the High Priestess of plotting murder (322). 

Arsinoe is also fiercely loyal and protective of her loved ones. She destroys a love charm that she knows Jules wouldn’t want, she leaps in front of Billy to protect him from a bear attack, and even takes the blame for an escape attempt that he planned without her knowledge. She also completely rejects the aesthetics associated with queenship, which shows her independence.