Orthallen was Lord of Wyvern Reach, uncle to Herald Kris, a close personal friend of King Sendar and Queen Selenay of Valdemar, and a treacherous manipulator with greedy aspirations.
As an adolescent with an eye for opportunity, he befriended the lonely, "grubby little child" Prince Sendar before he was even Chosen by his Companion.[1] As King, Sendar put him on the Council, where he eventually became the most senior member. However, Orthallen had loftier goals than that of senior councilor: he wanted to be King. To that end, Orthallen had already began plotting his takeover.
Although Orthallen was careful to keep up his facade as a benevolent person who only wanted the best for Valdemar, Companions didn't like him. Unfortunately they had no specifics, so they could not present it to their Heralds. Alberich and Kantor had the same problem.[2] (It was Alberich who later warned Talia and then Elspeth to be suspicious of Orthallen's intentions.[3])
For the final battle of the Tedrel Wars, he sent an assassin to kill Sendar.
Once Selenay became queen, he got her to confide her personal feelings and romantic ideals, and sent that information to actor Norris Lettyn to devise a campaign to woo her. Those instructions were passed on to Prince Karathanelan, whom he sponsored. Once Selenay and the prince were married and Elspeth was born, he helped Karathanelan try to assassinate her. This plot failed.
Later, he promised Ancar of Hardorn that he would deliver Selenay and Elspeth to him if he could be King of Valdemar. Orthallen is the suspected sponsor of Elspeth's manipulative nurse Hulda and the mastermind of several illicit industries in Valdemar, including the slave trade. In addition, it is possible that he had a role in the death of Talamir, and the attempted murder of Talia by "Blues" (unaffiliated students) while she was a trainee.
After assuming some of the duties of Queen's Own, Talia noted that Orthallen didn't like her overmuch, and she felt uncomfortable around him. He continually undermined her, reminding everyone of her youth and inexperience, and patronizing her. He tried to get her friend Skif sent away.[4] Later he started rumors that Talia was misusing her Gift to manipulate people, and passed them on to Kris. On her internship under Kris, the rumors and his suspicions nearly broke her. She was certain that Orthallen started them, and this led to fights with Kris. Orthallen was also responsible for the attack on Hevenbeck during Talia's internship; the bandit raiders refused to surrender and had to be slaughtered.[5]
Orthallen next arranged for Elspeth to spend more time with young nobles, hoping they could get her into a compromising position so that she would be forced to marry someone of his choosing.[3]
During Talia's captivity, Ancar revealed that Orthallen was their informant.[6] Eventually Talia brought back the news of Orthallen's treachery. Realizing he was trapped, he tried to kill Talia. Instead, Elspeth killed him with throwing knives gifted to her by Skif.[7]
In the series[]
Orthallen appears in the following works:
- Exile's Honor, Exiles of Valdemar, volume 1
- Exile's Valor, Exiles of Valdemar, volume 2
- Take a Thief, Exiles of Valdemar, volume 3
- Arrows of the Queen, Heralds of Valdemar, volume 1
- Arrow's Flight, Heralds of Valdemar, volume 2
- Arrow's Fall, Heralds of Valdemar, volume 3
References[]
- ↑ Exile's Honor, Chapter 13
- ↑ Exile's Honor
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Arrow's Fall, Chapter 4
- ↑ Ironically, Orthallen's household was a frequent target of Skif's as a hungry young thief in Take a Thief.
- ↑ In an interview with a tor.com columnist, Mercedes Lackey agreed that Orthallen was involved with the attack on Hevenbeck.
- ↑ Arrow's Fall, Chapter 8
- ↑ Arrow's Fall, Chapter 10