Jase Ballenger

Karsen (father) †

Vairlyn (mother)

Priya (eldest sister)

Gunner (eldest brother)

Titus (brother)

Samuel (brother)

Aram (brother)

Mason (adoptive brother)

Jalaine (sister) †

Nash (brother)

Lydia (sister)

Lukas (brother)

Micah (brother) †

Sylvey (sister) †

Uncle Cazwin †

Paxton (cousin)

Jase Ballenger is the main character in Dance of Thieves (Book 1) and Vow of Thieves[1]. He is Patrei of the Ballenger Empire. He becomes Patrei in Dance of Thieves, after the death of his father. He has eleven siblings. His love interest is Kazi.

## Appearance

Jase is described throughout the book mainly by his love interest Kazi. He has thick dark blonde hair that hangs over his eyes (Page 41). Jase also has the Ballenger Family crest tattooed on his right arm, chest, and shoulder (Page 78). He also has four freckles on his left arm that if connected for a J (Page 92).

## Personality

* Family oriented
* Perceptive; good at spotting lies
* Dutiful
* Very Protective over his loved ones
* Stubborn
* Fairly Egoistic

## History

Jase Ballenger was raised by his Mother, Vairlyn, and his Father, Karsen. He was raised in Tor's watch with eleven of his other siblings.

At the age of fifteen there is a plague that kills his brother Micah and his little sister Sylvey. He is heartbroken over Sylvey because he held her on her deathbed. He made her a promise to not bury her in the family crypt, but bury her near the mountains. This was illegal of him to do, but one night he takes her body and buries in under the waterfall. This is his greatest secret and one that causes him great shame throughout his life.

After the death of his siblings he decides to get the family crest tattooed on him at fifteen. He does this to prove to his family that good things are still happening.

## Relationships

### Family

Jase was born to Karsen and Vairlyn Ballenger, who had eleven children together, nine still living, and one adopted son. At the beginning of Dance of Thieves, Karsen dies of a sudden heart attack and has named Jase the next *Patrei*. Jase's eleven siblings consist of:

* Priya: Eldest of the Siblings
* Gunner: the eldest brother of the Ballengers; impulsive, quick-tempered; tall and angular, with dark-brown wavy hair
* Titus: stout and muscled, sandy hair
* Jalaine
* Samuel & Aram: identical twin brothers; most people have trouble telling them apart except for Wren
* Mason: Jase's adoptive brother and his closest friend; taken in by the Ballengers when he was three and lost his parents; same age as Jase (19, Dance of Thieves) Mason has dark hair pulled back into braids and Dark brown skin.
* Lydia: the youngest sister; seven years old
* Nash: the youngest brother and youngest of the Ballenger family; six years old
* Micah & Sylvey: Jase's brother and sister who died from a fever four years ago; Sylvey was eleven years old

### Friends:

* Mason
* Wren
* Synové
* Paxton

### Romances:

#### Kazi

Jase and Kazi first meet in 'Dance of Thieves' when he sees her stealing oranges from a smarmy merchant in the Hell's Mouth markets. Their relationships gets off to a rocky start as he confronts her about stealing and she dismisses him and overpowers him, not realising he is a Ballenger, let alone the new *Patrei*. While Jase is trying to lure Kazi down an alleyway for payback, they are both kidnapped by labor hunters and must work together to escape from the transport wagon.

In the wild, they relied on each other's strengths to survive, bound by the chain around their ankles. Jase keeps them afloat in the river and Kazi shows him how to use wish stalks to treat their wounds. Although both of them know once they get back to the "real world" they have to go back to being enemies. While they are together in the wilderness thought they decide to "Make the best of it." This starts with both of them just being friends. Kazi tells Jase riddles at night and Jase tells Kazi history of his family throughout the day. Then after a near death experience with water they decide to become more than friends, while making the best of it. They slowly start to fall in love together as they are making their way back to civilization.

Unknown to Kazi instead of Jase taking her to a Vendan settlement he takes her Back to Tor's watch. She is furious at him for lying to her, but decided for herself that it's the best place to get information. Here they get cleaned up quickly to make it to Jase's fathers' entombment. He decides to use Kazi as his excuse for being missing for two weeks.

On their way there to the entombment Jase tells Kazi to trust him and just to go along with what he says. He does this because no one can know where he was while he was gone. When they get to the entombment Jase's cousin, Paxton, asks him where Jase has been for the past two weeks. He holds his hand out to Kazi who reluctantly follows along. Jase then tells Paxton that he was ensuring future generations of Ballengers.

## Quotes

> "Then hold on to me," he said. "Let me show you the stars." (Page 111)
>
>