The Court of Venus Characters

A Moonborn magician and former apprentice of Prospero, also known as Mouse, the Moonborn girl, and sometimes Bess Hampton when using the maid Bess's likeness. She receives a letter in the night, burns it, and returns to court for the coronation tournament, where she seeks answers about Prospero's and Hal's deaths. She can shapeshift, enter memories, and manipulate emotions, and she conceals her gifts while moving through the palace.

Arc: She moves from isolated grief and suspicion to infiltrating the court by impersonating Joan Rockford and spying on the Guildfords. She confronts Roland, enters his memory of Hal's death, and learns that a Marsborn woman will be her tournament opponent and will try to kill her. She remains driven by the need for proof and revenge.

• Roland — childhood friend and rival; fellow apprentice under Prospero; he calls her Mouse; she suspects him in Hal's death
• Prospero — tutor and father in all but blood; she would have knelt on the scaffold in his stead
• Prince Hal — childhood companion; his death haunts her
• Gregory Stafford — her dead patron; her oath died with him
• Oliver — fellow magician she rides with to court
• Bess — Queen Cecily's maid whose likeness she takes to move through the palace
• Queen Cecily — she spies on her while disguised as Bess/Joan
• Ambrose — new acquaintance who calls her a friend; she watches him die
• Marsborn woman — her tournament opponent who plans to kill her
• Joan Rockford — she impersonates her at the masque

Lord chancellor and former apprentice of Prospero, Roland is Bianca's childhood friend and rival. He presides over court from the king's throne, manipulates the king through lies, spies, and magic, and bears the strain of keeping the king's decay hidden. Mouse calls him the most dangerous person in the kingdom.

Arc: He denies responsibility for Prospero's and Hal's deaths, shares his memory of Hal's funeral, and bargains with Bianca to impersonate Joan Rockford and spy on the Guildfords. He remains a manipulator who moves courtiers like pieces and warns Bianca about the tournament and her maid.

• Bianca Mortlake — childhood friend and rival; fellow apprentice under Prospero; he calls her Mouse; denies writing her letter; gives her a knife
• Prince Hal — closest friend; slept in his room; mourns his death
• Prospero — former tutor; says the king sent Prospero to the Tomb
• King Richard — lord chancellor and favored courtier who chews the king's food; manages and lies to him
• Queen Cecily — helped put her on the throne; instructed her for the king's desire
• Tom Guildford — friend and flirt; political rival
• Wyatt Francis — friend
• Fulke Roet — rival who openly despises him
• Bess — old acquaintance; warns her about her maid

The king, near death and paranoid, favored Roland above all others and executed Gertrude, Prospero, and Eleanor. He wanted a son and thought a magician would solve everything for him. His decay is hidden by Roland's magic, and he takes Cecily as his third queen.

Arc: He remains an ailing, dependent king who relies on Roland's magic and desire for a son. He embraces Cecily and appears at her chambers, with his panic and frustration barely contained.

• Roland — advisor who manages and lies to him; chews his food; uses magic to mask his decay
• Prospero — court magician and advisor who promised him a son and fell from favor; executed
• Queen Cecily — his new wife
• Queen Gertrude — wife he executed
• Queen Eleanor — wife he had killed
• Prince Hal — his dead son
• Fulke Roet — his nephew and possible heir
• Alice Seton — his mistress

The king's nephew and potential heir, Fulke keeps spies, parades mistresses, and has placed his own Jupiter in the queen's coronation tournament. He openly despises Roland and hates his uncle, King Richard, waiting for him to die. He is allied with the Guildfords in their plot.

Arc: He remains a lurking rival, exposed by Ambrose, and works to undermine the king. His machinations continue as he bides his time for the throne.

• King Richard — uncle and king, whom he hates and waits to die
• Roland — rival who says Fulke despises him
• Charles Guildford — Guildford ally
• Ambrose — the Sunborn magician who exposed him
• Jasper — his magician

The Guildford patriarch, father of Tom and Queen Cecily. He leads the Guildfords in Mars prayer, wants to maintain family power through Cecily's child with the king, and proposes putting another Guildford girl before the king if Cecily fails. He dismisses Ambrose's murder as necessary.

Arc: He remains the family's political strategist, hiding a Marsborn woman and plotting to control Cecily. He treats magicians as threats and sacrifices as acceptable.

• Tom Guildford — his son
• Queen Cecily — his daughter
• Marsborn woman — hidden Guildford ally
• Fulke Roet — Guildford ally

A hidden Marsborn woman with hellfire eyes, kept by the Guildfords as an ally. She reveals herself in the queen's chapel, says she could set Cecily back on the king and rip through Roland's bond with her, and is expected to try to kill the narrator in the tournament. She is named as the mysterious female magician Mistress Mortlake, the narrator's tournament opponent.

Arc: She moves from hidden ally to open threat in the tournament. She plans to control Cecily and kill Bianca.

• Charles Guildford — hidden ally
• Queen Cecily — plans to control her
• Bianca Mortlake — her tournament opponent

Bianca's and Roland's tutor and father in all but blood, and court magician who promised King Richard a son. He believed emotions must be guided steadily and that no magician can raise the dead. He was executed after falling from favor, hours before Eleanor Guildford.

Arc: Dead before the story's present, he appears in epigraphs and memories, and his execution drives Bianca's return and suspicion. He sent Mouse away to the Staffords and summoned Roland back from Lionesse.

• Bianca Mortlake — tutor and father in all but blood; took her as second apprentice
• Roland — first apprentice; sent him to Lionesse for discipline; summoned him back
• King Richard — served as advisor and promised him a new son; executed after fall from favor
• Queen Eleanor — promised she would give the king a son
• Oliver — dismissed him after a demonstration

The king's dead son and heir, close friend of both Roland and Bianca. He died three years earlier riding alone in the woods, and his death glade becomes a site of confrontation. His memory haunts both Bianca and Roland.

Arc: Dead before events, he appears in memories and in Roland's recollection of learning of his death and funeral. His death remains a source of suspicion and grief.

• Roland — closest friend; Roland often slept in his room and mourns him
• Bianca Mortlake — childhood companion; she remembers him and suspects his death
• King Richard — his father
• Queen Gertrude — his mother

The new queen, a Guildford, chosen by King Richard after he desired her. She is besotted with Roland, relies on his visits, and gathers courage before the king arrives. She becomes the third queen amid the Guildfords' plots.

Arc: She becomes queen and a pawn in the Guildfords' plan to keep power; they consider replacing her if she fails to bear the king's child. She remains enamored of Roland and susceptible to the Marsborn woman's control.

• King Richard — her husband
• Roland — she is besotted with him; he helped put her on the throne and instructed her for the king's desire
• Tom Guildford — her brother
• Charles Guildford — her father
• Queen Eleanor — her cousin
• Bess — her maid
• Joan Rockford — her lady-in-waiting/maid
• Marsborn woman — plans to control her
• Agnes Bryer — her lady-in-waiting

Queen Cecily's brother and a Guildford plotter, Tom is a flatterer of Roland and a friend of Wyatt. He writes a sonnet about Roland, argues in the chapel that Cecily should be punished for failing the family, and says Ambrose should not have died. He asks the disguised Joan to bring Cecily to the Guildfords' chapel.

Arc: He remains caught between flattering Roland and advancing his family's interests. He participates in the Guildfords' plotting while showing some regret over Ambrose's death.

• Roland — friend and flatterer; also political rival
• Wyatt Francis — friend
• Queen Cecily — his sister
• Charles Guildford — his father
• Joan Rockford — he believes the narrator is Joan and once discarded her, according to Roland
• Fulke Roet — Guildford ally

A Sunborn magician who introduces himself to Bianca at the banquet, reveals he knows her birth details, and discusses Balthasar and the Bastian court. He collapses at the banquet with blood frothing from his lips and dies despite Bianca's attempt to reach his mind. He was murdered after exposing Fulke Roet.

Arc: He arrives as a curious magician, befriends Bianca, and is killed during the masque, catalyzing suspicion. His body is rolled under the table and dancing resumes.

• Bianca Mortlake — new acquaintance and friend
• Jasper — he follows him into the crooked forest
• Cosmo — he follows him into the crooked forest
• Fulke Roet — exposed him, leading to his murder

A gentleman of the king's privy chamber who follows Roland, Wyatt is large, wears an obscene number of furs and jewels, and is said to drink himself unconscious each night. He helps plan the coronation, including a magicians' tournament with three rounds, and gossips about Roland and the Moonborn girl. He desires the Moonborn girl, according to Cecily.

Arc: He remains a court gossip and participant in the hunt and masque. He declares the masque ruined after Ambrose dies.

• Roland — friend and courtier
• Tom Guildford — friend
• King Richard — advisor and planner of the coronation
• Queen Cecily — courtier and gossip
• Bianca Mortlake — expresses desire for her

A Mercury who shares the cart to the palace with Bianca, Oliver makes his fortune trading in secrets and asks about court, Prince Hal, and Roland. He was dismissed by Prospero after a demonstration as a child. He is curious and perceptive.

Arc: He remains a companion on the journey and follows the hunt into the crooked forest.

• Bianca Mortlake — fellow magician and cart companion
• Prospero — was dismissed by him after a demonstration

King Richard's former queen, Gertrude was executed on false charges after she could no longer produce heirs. She was mother to Prince Hal.

Arc: Dead before events, she is remembered in the abandoned gallery and in the court's history.

• King Richard — husband who had her executed
• Prince Hal — her son
• Queen Eleanor — succeeded her as queen

Eleanor Guildford married King Richard after Gertrude and lasted a single year on the throne. She was killed hours after Prospero was executed; Prospero promised she would give the king a son. Her marriage was the culmination of the Guildford family's ambition.

Arc: Dead before events, her death is part of the court's deadly history and the Guildfords' political rise.

• King Richard — husband
• Queen Cecily — her younger cousin
• Prospero — promised she would give the king a son

Bianca's dead patron, Gregory Stafford, had a quiet household and no sons or children, so Bianca's oath died with him. His investments left Mouse earning enough to live comfortably, though Mouse admits he was not a good man. His wife despised Bianca because Gregory's eyes tracked her across the room.

Arc: Dead before events, his death freed Bianca from her oath and left her financially supported.

• Bianca Mortlake — her patron, now dead; his investments support her

Queen Cecily's lady-in-waiting and maid, Joan Rockford spies for Roland and for the Guildfords. She reports seeing Roland take Mouse into his chambers and repeats Agnes Bryer's boasts about Roland. Bianca impersonates her at the masque.

Arc: She is used as a disguise by Bianca and remains a spy embedded with the queen.

• Queen Cecily — lady-in-waiting/maid
• Roland — spies for him
• Charles Guildford — Guildford family member she spies for
• Bianca Mortlake — impersonates her
• Agnes Bryer — reports her gossip about Roland
• Tom Guildford — he believes the narrator is Joan and once discarded her, according to Roland

A maid from Queen Cecily's household, Bess is frightened of Mouse. She sets a chamber pot, undresses Mouse, and leaves for the dancing; Mouse later takes her form. Her ambitious father brought her to court hoping she might charm the king.

Arc: She is impersonated by Bianca and remains unaware.

• Queen Cecily — her mistress
• Bianca Mortlake — frightened of her and serves her before being impersonated

A lady-in-waiting to Queen Cecily, Agnes loudly boasted about Roland's sexual talents, saying they played a naked tennis match. She climbs into the masque castle with Cecily and speaks lines as one of the twelve maidens.

Arc: She remains a gossip at court.

• Queen Cecily — lady-in-waiting
• Roland — lover or rumored lover

A nervous councilor with a pointed beard whom Roland summons. He reports about the queen and is told she will come to dance and smile for Roland and the king. He wants to appease Roland.

Arc: He remains an anxious court functionary.

• Roland — councilor who reports to him

A magician identified as Fulke Roet's, Jasper sits across from Bianca at the banquet and secretly raises the wine level in Cosmo's goblet. He leads the way into the crooked forest with Cosmo.

Arc: He remains Fulke's agent and magician.

• Fulke Roet — Jasper is his magician
• Cosmo — his apprentice

Jasper's apprentice, Cosmo laughs nervously at the banquet, watches Roland with worship, drinks the wine Jasper keeps increasing, and follows Jasper into the crooked forest. He looks to his master for approval.

Arc: He remains a nervous apprentice.

• Jasper — his master
• Roland — he watches him with something close to worship

Mentioned as the king's mistress; Roland says Cecily stirred the king's blood and reminded him of Alice Seton. Bess remembers her among past court figures in the abandoned gallery.

Arc: Dead or absent, her memory influences the king's desire for Cecily.

• King Richard — his mistress
• Queen Cecily — the king desired Cecily because she reminded him of Alice