Barin

Mialla

Master Barin

**Barin** is the Master Scholar of The Crown, the highest rank a scholar can achieve. He is the tutor to the princess, Valha, and was rescued from death as an infant by his sister, Severin. He believes in the mythic magic of the lifeblood that runs through Oeriad and has been studying flora in the region. His full name is unknown.

## Appearance

Barin is a duskcrawler. He has extremely pale, papery, nearly blue skin. He is described as tall, wirey, and lanky but with defined muscles. His eyes are an icy glacial blue and his hair is wavey, shoulder length, and white like snow, he usually keeps it ties up in a ponytail.

Like other duskcrawlers his features are angular and his ears are sloped downward to enhance his hearing in the snow.

He has a scar on his cheek from where his skin burned in sunlight, a scar on his rib from where he was stabbed, and small scars on his back following a romantic encounter with Rorik.

In Warren it is described that he wears a tight shirt with a button on the collar, a scholar's robe that seems to be synonymous with The Crown royalty that is white and gold, and a suncloak which is a sheer covering that both he and his sister wear when they have to be exposed to sunlight.

## Personality

Barin is a man of science however never puts that above his compassion. He has empathy towards everyone and is very protective to the princess. He is very naive when it comes to social interactions which causes Valha and his sister to berate him. He is extremely smart as shown by his many accolades but still makes irrational decisions. He is extremely patient and tries to hide his emotions on many occasions.

## Background

Barin was born in Fearinn Ghaetar as a twin. He was dubbed "mialla," which is Fearinn for "parasite," and was meant to be sacrificed to ensure the stronger twin survived and thrived. His older sister stole him away and took him to The Crown to give him the best life possible. He quickly because the best scholar in his class and went on to become Lord Scholar.

## Relationships

### Valha

Barin is Valha's tutor and has been by her side since birth. He cares for Valha as though she is his little sister. He puts himself in peril to save her on multiple occasions and she in turn rescues him from near death twice. Barin is aware of her romantic attraction to him yet turns her down and calmly explains his love for her brother. He writes her letters after they part well into her adulthood.

### Rorik

Barin is Rorik's best friend and confidant. They met as children and Barin was instantly smitten. Their relationship turns complicated when Barin takes Rorik's spiralling mental state as a implication of shared attraction and kisses him. Rorik hires a mercenary to make an attempt on Barin's life and hunts Barin along with Severin when he and Valha escape. Rorik loses his temper when they intercept at an inn and admits his confusion. When they meet again Rorik actively persues Barin romantically, although comes across as quite toxic, and they make love before both parting ways for good. Barin falls into painful shock when learning of Rorik's death.

### Severin

Barin is Severin's younger brother. He admires her and blames himself for her choosing him over her destiny. She knows he is gay quite early but does not bring it up until Rorik's coronation, saying that if he were straight he would have glanced at her nude body once and stating, " -  you were also a blossoming man, and any breast might be a good breast." Even knowing she may kill him after abducting Valha he says goodbye to her and asks her to do her job when she catches him, she offers him a drunken head start and pulls a guard away from him. When she eventually catches him she approaches him without her army and asks him to kill her to drive them away, stating that she is under orders and if he does not the army will hold him guilty of treason. She also reveals that she has been writing letters to his twin sister and has given her updates her whole life to ensure Barin's safety. Barin begrudgingly kills her.

### Avalai

Barin is Avalai's twin brother and parasite. She is quite civil to him, despite being chairbound, and they share a laugh over both having turned out quite weak. She calls him little brother, referencing his frailty and tells him he is always welcome however he presumably never returns to Fearinn Ghaetar.

### The Queen

The queen trusts Barin with Valha's protection and initially panics at his injury. Barin also demands that Valha be compassionate as the queen mourns.

### Mica

Mica is briefly mentioned in a story by Severin. She was another scholar who pursued Barin although he did not notice.

## Trivia

* Barin's orientation is explored throughout the novel, he states to Valha that he is gay.
* Barin's full name has not been revealed.
* Barin is immortal due to being exposed to the "Elderblossom Tree" in the Bloodsea.
* Baron loves storytelling.
* Barin breaks the "Bury Your Gays"[1] trope in which the gay character in a predominantly straight story is seen as more expendable than the straight characters and is killed off.
* Barin's name is a homonym of Baron, and he is a lord, however Barin seems to be a word in the Fearinn language.
* Barin was one of the first two characters designed.
* Chelsea seems to have a sketch of Barin above her desk in one of her Instagram posts. [2]