King Ramsey Wolfe

Ramsey has dark-brown hair and wears a thick, intricate silver circlet woven into it. His first direct appearance is on a large gray stallion, accompanied by at least fifty armed soldiers.

Ramsey speaks and acts with a deep, dominant superiority that reminds Odessa of her own father. His authority is immediately coercive: he questions Tillia about Zavier's absence, orders his soldiers through Treow, and oversees the seizure and burning of books.

Ransom is uncertain why Ramsey burns books. He thinks the destruction may keep information about the Voster and Lyssa away from invaders, punish Ransom's hidden mother, or serve both purposes.

Ramsey uses threats, fire, and physical force to compel obedience. At Ravalli his soldiers burn Samuel Hay's home while blocking townspeople from fighting the fire, and at Ellder he seizes Odessa, pulls Luella by the hair, and threatens to kill Luella for information about Evangeline.

Skore says Ramsey may be burning books at the High Priest's direction to conceal pre-Voster history and the history of magic. Odessa does not know whether Ramsey is also hiding the truth of Lyssa.

Ramsey knows the royal double deception: Dray continues to be presented as Zavier, while Ransom is the true heir and the Guardian. Ransom had not spoken to Ramsey for four years before their confrontation in Ravalli and had already indicated that he had a serious problem with Ramsey.

After Ramsey found Luella with Mikhail in Allesaria, he beat Mikhail to death and strangled Luella until Ransom stopped him with a dagger. Ransom says Ramsey still wants Luella dead because he regards her affair as a queen's betrayal.

Ransom believes Ramsey would take and ruin Evangeline if he gained control of her.

Ransom believes Ramsey would defend the Voster if Odessa's father attacked them and is certain of Ramsey's loyalty to the brotherhood, though he does not know whether blood magic binds that loyalty.

Ramsey is Luella's husband and the father of her children. Ransom says Ramsey once loved her intensely and faithfully, while Luella describes him as a friend and companion whose undying affection became suffocating.

Ransom decides that he must leave Odessa and try to stop Ramsey's human Lyssa experiments. He wants to persuade Ramsey to stop the experiments and provide soldiers to hunt infected monsters, but he considers confronting or killing his father if necessary to end the danger.

Odessa identifies King Ramsey Wolfe as Evangeline's biological father, but Evangeline does not know this and Odessa delays telling her.

Odessa continues concealing from Thora that Evangeline is King Ramsey Wolfe's daughter, preserving the dangerous family secret around Ramsey's family and succession.

Ransom intends to go to Allesaria to stop Ramsey but will not take Odessa or Evangeline there because he does not trust his father and considers the capital too dangerous.

Ramsey can command a substantial armed escort and direct soldiers to search Treow and its buildings.

By the time he reaches Ellder, Ramsey commands an entire legion, orders troops toward Allesaria, and commands Ransom to accompany him.

Ramsey also negotiates across kingdoms when it serves his purposes. By the time he reaches Ellder, he has bargained with the Gold King and Banner for Banner to take Odessa back to Quentis while Ramsey reclaims Luella.

Ramsey withdrew the army protection previously assigned to exposed towns. Cathlin suspects he wants people to move into cities, but the reason is unconfirmed.

Ramsey's soldiers burn Cathlin's library at Treow and destroy Ashmore's library entirely, leaving rubble and ash. Cathlin expects Luella's hidden books to suffer the same fate if Ramsey finds the dungeon hideaway, but his motive for destroying books is not yet explained.

Ramsey is recruiting for a militia said not to have existed in an age. Recruits enlist and then effectively disappear from their families, failing to write home, answer letters, or return, and Samuel Hay investigates the pattern because former soldiers also find it abnormal.

Ramsey's confrontation with Ransom in Ravalli ends with Samuel Hay's home burned and the Hays forced to leave for Ellder. Ramsey gives Ransom a one-month deadline to join him in Allesaria as his general, but Ransom refuses and believes Ramsey will try to force his obedience.

Ramsey has been constructing catapults for every major city for nearly a year while leaving exposed towns vulnerable. Ransom considers whether this policy is meant to strengthen the kingdom before the crux migration.

Ramsey learns about Luella's alchemical work when one of her alchemists betrays her. Luella does not know whether Ramsey's violent attack that day came from discovering the elixir, discovering her affair with Mikhail, or both.

Ramsey is attempting to reproduce Lyssa in his men, apparently by injecting them with blood from infected monsters. The experiments are killing the recruits because he has not recognized that the elixir and a later bariwolf bite were both required for Ransom's condition.

Ramsey reaches Ellder with a legion after a crux scout was seen on the western front two days earlier. He orders troops toward Allesaria, demands Ransom's obedience, identifies Luella as his wife after years of searching for her, and threatens her while trying to learn who Evangeline is.

During the crux attack on Ellder, Ramsey shelters near a wall and shouts for Luella to run before the creature kills her. He survives the attack and leaves through the damaged gates with his surviving soldiers while Ransom is unconscious.

After Ellder, Odessa keeps Evangeline away from Ramsey because Ransom instructed her to put the whole continent between them if he did not return.

Ransom refuses to take Odessa or Evangeline into Allesaria because he does not trust Ramsey and considers the capital too dangerous.

Odessa explains that Ramsey is attempting to give Lyssa to militia recruits to recreate the Guardian's abilities, but the experiments are killing the men. She conceals that Ransom's blood comes from the Guardian because she fears another king could imitate Ramsey's work.