Jaslyn Wayward is the Queen of the Mountain Realm. She has a white lion named Kai, who is her best friend. She is a primary POV in A Death at Dawn.
Appearance and Personality[]
At the start of the series, Jaslyn Wayward stands out as a distinct character with her unique Wayward golden eyes. She is short and athletic, with short brown hair and a flat nose, which sets her apart from the typical highborn girl. Her independent and tomboyish nature further adds to her unique personality.
Jaslyn exudes independence, a quality that sets her apart. She is a girl who can hold her own against most, unafraid to fight, hunt, and help others. Her self-perception as a commoner rather than a highborn further underscores her resilience and strength.
Jaslyn shares a strong and friendly bond with her siblings despite occasional bickering. This relationship is a testament to her caring nature and ability to maintain relationships, even in disagreements.
History[]
Jaslyn with Kai
Jaslyn Wayward was born in Maryere, the Mountain Realm, on the third day of the Lightning Moon during the four hundred and ninety-fourth year after the Secession of Man. She is the second child of Lord Borin Wayward and Lady Gloriana Thoren. A member of House Wayward, she has two siblings: an older sister, Alice, and a younger brother, Josef. She has spent her entire life in Maryere; however, most days, she played and hunted outside the city in the Dense Pines. Maiden Barda raised her, and she loves the old woman deeply, seeing her as a grandmother figure. She has twin handmaidens named Violet and Evergreen Terrace.
Recent Events[]
A Death at Dawn[]
At the story's beginning, her father Borin returns to Maryere along with her uncle Falk Osmont from the Northern Kingdom of Valley Pines. After greeting her father, she goes to the Dense Pines to hunt, accompanied by her mother's new handmaiden, Asterin. In the Dense Pines, she finds a weak and freezing white lion. She decides to keep the lion and names him Kai.
The time comes to return to Maryere for dinner to celebrate her father and uncle's safe travel. On the way back, Asterin makes Jaslyn travel through a peasant village, and Jaslyn is frightened by how awful the living conditions are. The peasants surround them, and Asterin demands that those who would not move out of their way to be killed. In response, Jaslyn tells the knights not to assault the peasants, and the peasants call her queen. She later attends the dinner but leaves after her mother accidentally insults her older sister, Alice, whom no one had seen in moons.
The early autumn snow destroyed the peasant village - which she named Queen's Cove - forcing Jaslyn to return to examine the conditions. She is shocked to learn how the economy in the Mountain Realm works. Angry with her parents, she accepts the peasants' declaration of queen and plots to take control of the Mountain Realm. Unfortunately, all that pauses for Jaslyn when she learns Alice is betrothed to Doran Osmont and must leave Maryere within a fortnight. Eventually, Jaslyn creates a plan to work on the peasants' needs so that she can become a more powerful queen to bring Alice home. Her parents learn of what she is doing, and her father begs her to stop, but she doesn't. She meets Lord Asten Dawphrey, a fourteen-year-old lord, and begins to have feelings for him.
One day, when visiting Queen's Cove, she learns that her father is sick. She rushes back to Winter's Keep and sees her father. After a conversation, her father, Borin, tells her he is dying and to show him mercy by suffocating him. Sobbing, Jaslyn does what she is told, but a Savant catches her doing it. With Lord Protector dead, the Savant calls for the guards, forcing Jaslyn to run away with Kai, Evergreen, Violet, Syrah, and Ser Lyon Millister.
WTFBT Anthology[]
Jaslyn appears at the end of Evergreen's 505 SM anthology chapter and is the central topic of the chapter. The chapter happens slightly after Jaslyn starts her moonblood during A Death at Dawn. Evergreen walks through Maryere with a basket of Jaslyn's favorite sweet cakes. A strange man approaches Evergreen and introduces himself as Lord Jasper Payne. After Evergreen promises she won't tell Jaslyn, Lord Jasper tells her that Ser Lyon Millister is a skinchanger working for the Citadel. He then hands her a scroll and tells her that when the time is right, he will show Ser Lyon the scroll, confirming that he is a skinchanger. Lord Jasper tells Evergreen that his grandson was Lord Asten Dawphrey, Jaslyn's crush. Evergreen hides the scroll in her basket and rushes back to Winter's Keep. When she enters Jaslyn's bedchamber, she sees her twin sister, Violet, staring out the window. Violet greets Evergreen and says Jaslyn is in Myburn Garden talking to Lord Asten. Evergreen rushes to the window to see and notices that Jaslyn is holding a scroll. Evergreen's mind races as she thinks about the scroll. Violet asks Evergreen what the scroll in her basket is for.