Tanar Xarre

**Lady Tanar Xarre** (Lady Tanar Arisaydia after the end of *The Assassins of Thasalon*) was the betrothed (later wife) of General Adelis Arisaydia, the daughter of Lady Xarre, and the beloved mistress of Surakos Bosha. She was highly intelligent, loyal, enthusiastic, and determined to the point of being headstrong.

Tanar was the sole heir to the Xarre shipping fortune, a business run, with great success, by her mother, Lady Xarre. (Tanar's father died when Tanar was around four or five, leaving the business to his wife, Lady Xarre.) She was an intelligent and curious child, always interested in learning new skills. At various points, she learned to make medicines, dyes, and poisons, how to navigate and captain a ship, how to perform first aid, how to cook, sew, and weave, and even how to nail a horseshoe back on a horse. Ironically, the one skill she found boring was running the business empire she was heir to. Her mother supported her in her interests, hiring a professional apothecary, a farrier, and others to tutor young Tanar in exchange for Tanar attending to her mother's lessons on business and bookkeeping. Other than the horseshoeing, Tanar proved skilled at most of the tasks she turned her hand to, eventually becoming more skilled than Bosha at making medicines, poisons, and other drugs. Bosha once described her as "a shockingly quick study."

"*My physician was six, and had never sewn anything but a hem before, but she did her best. I can still picture the charmingly intense look of concentration on her face as she bent over me. Stabbing me repeatedly.*"
―Bosha describing Tanar saving his life[src]
At age six, she had an unexpected chance to use her sewing skills when Surakos Bosha landed in her treehouse, near death, bleeding from multiple life-threatening wounds. She dived enthusiastically into the project of keeping Bosha alive, sewing up his injuries, smuggling him food and bandages, and keeping him hidden from his pursuers and her servants. She kept him hidden for two weeks, only revealing him to her mother when Bosha's fever got too severe for her to handle.

"*A person might observe that every other name out of her month was not 'Adelis'*"
―Penric, noting Tanar's feelings for Bosha[src]
Once Bosha recovered, he became Tanar's bodyguard and secretary. She and he were nearly always together after that. As she grew to adulthood, she came to like and eventually love Bosha, feelings reciprocated by Bosha. While the difference in their stations and Bosha's castration made marriage impossible, she was emotionally closer to Bosha than to her eventual husband Adelis.

As she grew to a young woman, her title and fortune attracted multiple suitors, among them the rising general Adelis Arisaydia. While Tanar did not profess to love Adelis, exactly, she did find herself attracted to him and caring about him. She also bonded with Adelis twin sister, Nikys. Lady Xarre approved of the match, hoping that Adelis' fame and military support would protect her daughter from the inevitable attempts to strip her of her fortune. For all these reasons, Tanar was on the verge of accepting Adelis's proposal when Adelis was accused of treason, blinded, and forced to flee Cedonia. Despite his downfall, Tanar decided to remain loyal to him and wait for him to be restored to his place in Cedonia.

Both before Adelis' exile and during it, Tanar was harassed by several other suitors, most notably Lord Bordane, the nephew of the powerful Minister Methani. Fortunately for her, shortly after Adelis' exile, Lord Bordane found a different rich noblewoman who was more receptive and married her; unfortunately, after his first wife died, Lord Bordane once again began pressuring Tanar.

"'*Oh,' said Lady Xarre faintly, "dear."*"
―Tanar's mother, upon learning exactly *how* Tanar had decided to help her betrothed.[src]
After five years, Adelis decided to return, despite the dangers. Tanar, determined to help clear his way, decided to eliminate Minister Methani, his chief threat. Under the pretense of discussing Lord Bordane's suit, she got him alone and stabbed him with two poisoned needles, killing him. With Methani removed, Adelis was able to return safely under the patronage of Princess Laris and Lord Nao, and Tanar was finally able to marry him. Tanar's chief bridesman at the wedding was, of course, Bosha.

She was slender and somewhat shorter than Nikys. She was quite attractive, with auburn-black hair and hazel eyes. She was about 10 years younger than her husband, Adelis, his twin sister, Nikys, and Tanar's brother-in-law, Penric.

Until she married Adelis at the end of *The Assassins of Thasalon*, she lived with her mother on their estate outside of Thasalon.

## Appearances

* The Prisoner of Limnos
* *The Assassins of Thasalon*