The Importance of Relationships

There are many relationships among the various characters of the book and these become important in understanding the dynamics that are going on with families and between individual characters. Stara and Reece are one example of this theme. They are cousins though the exact kinship is not readily apparent from this book. This cousin relationship means the two are not actually permitted to enter into a romantic relationship, though they ignore that taboo as children and seem ready to ignore it again as adults. The fact that they are related makes Tirus believe that Gwen would be compelled to free him if Stara and Reece married. Gwen has several siblings, including Reece, who are important characters in the book. Luanda has been exiled and her jealousy of Gwen makes her a formidable adversary though Luanda has been formally exiled. Equally important is the...