Teela

## Books

### Books Appeared In

Cast in Moonlight, Cast in Shadow, Cast in Courtlight, Cast in Secret, Cast in Fury, Cast in Silence, Cast in Chaos, Cast in Ruin, Cast in Peril, Cast in Sorrow, Cast in Flame, Cast in Honor, Cast in Flight, Cast in Deception, Cast in Oblivion, Cast in Wisdom, Cast in Conflict, The Emperor's Wolves, Cast in Eternity, Shards of Glass

## **History**

An'Teela of Danelle holds the title of Barrani lord, and Corporal in the Groundhawks; both of these are misleading of her true power. Among the Barrani, she is respected as one of the most intimidating and fearsome warriors in a martial and trecherous race. Among the Hawks, her skill and connections make her the go-to agent on the ground in most crucial situations. She carries Kariannos, one of the three dragon-slaying swords, a fact that implies a very high body count of people who have tried to take it from her over the centuries.

Like most Barrani, Teela is described as six feet tall, "ethereal, delicate and just ever-so-slightly too perfect", with hair "gorgeous, long, black as the proverbial raven's wing." She wears no armor.

As a child, she was chosen as one of twelve to take part in a special Regalia that would use True Words to turn them into super-soldiers, turning the tide in the second Draco-Baranni War. Her father was behind this plan, and was unwilling to abandon it despite the substantial risks, as much of his prestige in court was tied to it. The children themselves, resentful of being instrumentalized and risked by their families, took the unprecedented step of sharing their True Names with each other, creating the Cohort of linked minds and experience.

When it became clear that the Regalia was failing, Teela's mother Vivienne intervened, causing a minor civil war among the supporters and opponents of the plan, saving Teela, and preventing the shadow-possession and/or death of the other 11 at the cost of imprisonment within Hallionne Alsanis and her own life.

Teela spent centuries training, gaining support, and finally taking her revenge by murdering her father. This included considerable training as an Arcanist, though she dropped out before taking the title. She also spat in the face of Barrani society by taking a "commoner's" job with the Hawks. She partners with fellow Barrani warrior Tain, who follows her for his own reasons.

## **Books**

Within days of Kaylin's arrival at the Halls of Law as a 13-year-old would-be assassin, Teela takes her under her wing. Though it is possible some of this was pragmatic, as she would be one of the few combat and magically trained people who would have recognized the Marks of the Chosen, she soon becomes genuinely big-sisterly to the girl from the wrong part of town with a massive chip on her shoulder. Throughout the books, she refers to Kaylin affectionately as "kitling", a sly acknowledgement of the Leontine Sgt. Marcus and Marrin's gruff surrogate parenting of her. They are roommates for many of Kaylin's teen years after she moves out of Caitlin's home and before she gets her own place. Even after, Teela comes over so often that when Kaylin gets a lock for her door and doesn't give her a key, Teela assumes that the door has become stuck and breaks it down.

Teela accompanies Kaylin on every major expedition throughout the arc of the novels, a confident and lethal shadow. She is also the only character who gets a point-of-view chapter other than Kaylin, an epilogue to Cast in Deception, where she holds Terrano as he tries to adjust to living with, but telepathically separate from, the rest of the Cohort.

1. ↑ Ch. 1, Cast in Shadow