Holland Vosijk

* Current
* Former

**King Holland Vosijk** is an *Antari* from White London. Prior to Athos Dane's death, Holland was bound to him by one of his runes.

Holland was sent to Black London by Kell Maresh, but after making a deal with Osaron, he could return to White London and become the new king of Makt.

## Physical description

Holland is a tall man with charcoal black hair and very pale skin. His left eye holds the *Antari* mark while his right one is greyish green. Like most White London residents, Holland has a "strangely faded appearance," and smells like woodsmoke. After letting in Osaron, Holland loses his faded appearance and looks more natural and healthy.

He has very deep and visible scars along his forearms and wrists, due to the torture he suffered at the hands of Athos Dane. Athos also carved a soul seal into Holland's body to control him; it rests over his heart and runs through to his back. It was regularly reapplied and, thus, always looked silvery and fresh.

After trapping Osaron within the Inheritor and losing his magic, his hair becomes stark white and both his eyes turn a normal green.

## Personality

Holland is normally very calm and collected, revealing very little as to how he felt in certain situations. However, he is not completely able to hide his feelings and frequently shows that he feels very strongly about his London and world.

When he was younger, Holland could feel and express emotions like everyone else; however, he lost the capacity of showing emotions when he was under the Danes' command.

## Biography

### Early life

Holland lived a difficult childhood, growing up in the slums of White London. Growing up hearing stories of the someday king, Holland thought he might be it when his left eye turned black and marked him as an *Antari*. At a young age, Holland learned to fight and became very powerful. His brother Alox attempted to murder him when he was nine years old. Holland then slaughtered his brother in an act of self-defense.

When Holland was eighteen, his first girlfriend Talya tried to kill him because someone in the market offered to pay her in silver. He killed her, also in self-defense, and never dated anyone ever again.

He later became a knight for King Ros Vortalis. During Vortalis' rule, Holland met Kell Maresh, who was twelve or thirteen at the time. He generally disliked Kell for most of the time they knew each other, but they formed an unsteady friendship when they had to leave a bespelled Red London to find the way to defeat Osaron.

When the Danes took the throne from Vortalis (they poisoned him and he died in Holland's arms), Athos Dane carved a soul seal into Holland's chest, taking away his free will. If Athos says jump off a cliff, Holland jumps off a cliff. Once they had made sure Holland was their permanent *Antari* pet, they forced him to murder everyone who had ever worked for Vortalis, and most of them knew Holland, so they died with confusion and fear in their eyes.

Holland was then their personal slave for seven years.

### Deliveries

In October 1819, Athos and Astrid Dane send Holland to Red London to bring a letter to Maxim Maresh and give an early birthday gift to Rhy Maresh. Holland heads to the prince's chambers and dismisses the guard stationed in front of them. He then hands Rhy a necklace, promising that he has purchased it in Red London as not to violate the transfer laws.

When he leaves Rhy's bedroom, Holland runs into another guard, Parrish, and gives him a spelled coin to erase his memories of his and Rhy's conversation before he returns to White London.

The next day, Holland brings Kell Maresh to Astrid before he goes to inform Athos that they have a guest. Holland and Athos join Kell and Astrid in the throne room where Athos commands Holland cut his arm and fill a goblet with blood; unable to refuse, Holland complies. Holland then remains in the throne room while the twins drink his blood and Kell alcohol.

### The black stone

Later, Holland travels to Grey London to search for Kell and finds a young woman who bears traces of Kell's magic. Holland approaches her in the Barren Tide and the woman tells him her name is Lila Bard. He asks her about Kell's whereabouts, and although she tells him she does not know where Kell is, Holland drags her out of the tavern and forces her to remove all her weapons. He then sends lightning through Lila's body and orders her to scream because he knows this will lure out Kell; he is correct.

Not long afterward, Kell arrives and tells Lila to run, but Holland does not let go of her until Kell says he can try taking the black stone from him if he does. Lila hurries away, and Holland and Kell fight. Holland easily overpowers Kell and takes the talisman. He immobilizes Kell with the stone's power and then enchants Kell to bleed from his pores. Kell pleads with Holland and tells him that he can use the stone to break his seal and free himself. Holland informs him that the iron seal does not bind him to Athos, a mark that is burned into his body does; not even the black stone could sever that bond.

Just when Holland stands over Kell and asks if he is afraid of dying, Lila reappears and knocks him out with an iron bar. Lila secures the black stone and binds Holland to the ground before she and Kell escape. In the morning, Holland wakes up and dispels the bindings. He searches for Kell and Lila and eventually ends up at the Stone's Throw.

There, Holland does not find them though; he only encounters Barron who attacks him with a shotgun. Holland stops the pellets and disarms Barron before he pins him in place with bone magic and asks him where Kell and Lila went. Barron tells him that he does not know; not liking his answer, Holland cuts Barron's throat.

Holland then travels to Red London where he tracks down Lila and Kell to the Ruby Fields which he burned down earlier. They used the black stone's magic to obscure themselves from view, and Holland taunts them by detailing how he killed Fauna and Barron and that it is their fault they died so miserably. When Kell and Lila still do not reveal themselves, Holland whirls up the ashes and lets them rain upon them, but the stone made them incorporeal as well and the ashes simply fall through them. Acknowledging defeat, Holland leaves.

### The Black Night

That night, when Kell and Lila are about to travel to White London, Holland pulls Kell back so that Lila goes through the door alone while Kell remains in Red London. Holland was ordered to retrieve the stone and bring Kell to Astrid alive; while they fight, he changes his mind, however, and becomes set on killing Kell. Kell then chains Holland by manipulating metal; and although Holland predicts what Kell is planning, he does not fight back and allows Kell to pierces him with a metal pole from behind, close to his heart.

Kell takes a White London token from Holland and carries the dying Holland through the door and to the White Castle where Kell leaves him on a stone bench before fighting Athos.

After the Dane twins are defeated and the black stone's magic dispelled, Kell sends Holland, who is still alive, with the stone to Black London.

### Kingship

Holland does not die after arriving in Black London; instead, he falls unconscious for a month before he awakens. He wanders around the city until he arrives at a palace where he encounters Osaron. Osaron tells him that he saved him and offers him a deal: If he allows him to live in his body, he will save White London. Though Holland is hesitant to bind himself yet again to someone, he accepts.

Holland—with Osaron within him—returns to White London and becomes the new king. With the *oshoc'*s power and his own blood, he slowly revives his world; for example, he feeds his blood to White London's Blood Square, transforming its stone flooring into soil and its pillars into apple trees with marble trunks. Holland also tries to create artificial *Antari*. All test subjects perish, except for Ojka who becomes Holland's loyal knight.

## Relationships

* Talya
* Ros Vortalis
* Ojka
* Lila Bard

Talya is Holland's ex-girlfriend. He was madly in love with her, and they even attempted to build a life together in the slums of White London. However, their romance ended when Talya was paid to murder Holland, only to be killed by him instead.

Although Vortalis initially attempted to kill Holland due to his magical and fighting prowess, he later asked him for his help to kill the king and take the throne. They both succeeded and Vortalis became the new king and Holland became the new knight of White London.

Ojka is a knight serving under Holland during his rule of White London. Ojka has great respect for Holland and vice-versa. Ojka has very strong feelings for Holland, although it is difficult to tell whether she respected Holland as a superior or had a romantic attraction to Holland. While Holland greatly cares for Ojka, especially after Osaron possesses her corpse, it is unknown whether he harbored romantic feelings for her.

Lila and Holland's relationships gets off to a rocky start after Holland murders Barron, the closest thing Lila had to a family. Lila swears revenge, making numerous attempts on taking Holland's life throughout the series. Later, however,Holland saves Lila's life after she is stabbed in the chest. After this event, Lila begins to slowly trust Holland more and more and he eventually earns her respect.

## Skills and abilities

* **Fighting:** Holland is a highly skilled and calculating fighter who uses his magic reflexively and with precision to defeat his enemies.
* **Magic:** As an *Antari*, Holland possesses great magical power. Furthermore, he has a deep knowledge of magic and knows *Antari* spells unknown to even Kell Maresh who studied under *Aven Essen* Tieren Serense.

## Possessions

* **Curved blade:** Holland's weapon of choice. He loses it in Red London when fighting Kell.

## Appearances

* *Winner Takes All*
* *A Darker Shade of Magic* (first appearance)
* *A Gathering of Shadows*
* *A Conjuring of Light*
* *The Fragile Threads of Power*

## Gallery

*See more here*
Holland, on the US paperback of *A Conjuring of Light*.Full body.Holland by Lokoba.Holland, with his acolyte Kosika.
## Trivia

* General
* Etymology

* Holland never had cake.

### Out of Universe

* Holland is V. E. Schwab's favorite *Shades of Magic* character.

* Mads Mikkelsen was the basis for Holland.

* Schwab tried to keep Holland alive; however, his survival did not fit into his storyline as the someday king which demanded his sacrifice.

* Holland's Starbucks order would be black coffee. If Rhy were to order him a drink, it would be a mocha "just to watch his face." He would also be the one who scowls at people who use their laptops.

* If Holland had to live through lockdown, he would sulk and stare out of windows.

- Holland is a region in the Netherlands. The name "Holland" comes from the Old Dutch word *holtlant*, meaning "wood land."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, II: Red Royal, I
2. ↑ "I'd written [Holland] as the Someday King"
(*A Conjuring of Light* — Kindle notes and highlights)
3. ↑ "[Holland] was the prophesied Someday King."
(V. E. Schwab on Goodreads Q&A)
4. ↑ "Jan 15/Capricorn"
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
5. ↑ "Holland is 37."
(V. E. Schwab on Tumblr)
6. ↑ "How tall are the characters?" — "Holland: 6′"
(V. E. Schwab on Tumblr)
7. ↑ "Holland['s scent] would be woodsmoke."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 *A Gathering of Shadows*, IV: Londons Calling, V
9. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IV: White Throne, IV
10. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, VII: The Follower, II
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 *A Gathering of Shadows*, VI: Impostors, I
12. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IV: White Throne, II-IV
13. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, VII: The Follower, I-II
14. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, VIII: An Arrangement, III
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XI: Masquerade, IV
16. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XII: Sanctuary & Sacrifice, III
17. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XII: Sanctuary & Sacrifice, V-VI
18. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XIII: The Waiting King, II
19. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XIV: The Final Door, I
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 *A Gathering of Shadows*, II: Prince at Large, V
21. ↑ "does holland like cake" — "He's never had it."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
22. ↑ "who's your favorite shades of magic character?" — "Holland."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
23. ↑ "Authors are often asked if they write their characters with certain actors in mind, and 9 times out of 10, my answer is no. Holland (no, there's no special meaning behind his name, he simply came with it) is the one exception. When I first put pen to paper on this highly guarded character, I based him on Mads Mikkelsen, aka Hannibal."
(*A Darker Shade of Magic* — Kindle notes and highlights)
24. ↑ "When I started ADSOM, I thought I knew how ACOL would end. I thought I knew where each character would be. And it worked. Except for Holland. I tried so hard to save him. I wrote it a dozen times. And in the end, it wasn't right. The book was out of balance. I'd written him as the Someday King, and he had a role to play, but it couldn't happen without sacrifice. It had to be bittersweet, and selflless, since selfishness is what made magic withdraw from White London in the first place. But it hurt. Oh, it hurt."
(*A Conjuring of Light* — Kindle notes and highlights)
25. ↑ "Holland would order a black coffee [from Starbucks] but only bc no one has ever showed him how good sugar tastes. If Rhy could order for him, he'd get him a mocha just to watch his face."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
26. ↑ "Holland: Scowls at those using laptops"
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
27. ↑ "I've found myself wondering how my characters would handle [lockdown]. [...] Authors, what you got?" — "Holland would stare sulkily out a window"
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
28. ↑ Wikipedia:Holland
29. ↑ Oxford Dictionary — Holland
30. ↑ Dictionary — Holland