Astarion Solastis

Eldest prince of Solastis: composed, watchful, and built for court politics. He carries the confidence of someone raised to be obeyed, and the patience to wait for the moment to take what is owed.

Appearance

Astarion is an elf with sharp cheekbones, short ears, a bustle of short grey hair and a neatly trimmed beard. As captain he wears golden-plated pauldrons over a leather-strapped jerkin.

In The Outcast Knight

Astarion Solastis, called Asta by Haelara, is the eldest son of King Aurelion and, when the book opens, captain of Luna's royal guard. He is weary and sorrowful, watching his father descend into madness, and unlike the King he does not share the prejudice against humans. He tried to restrain his younger brother Alerion's fury over the human queen and her unborn child, insisting that their father was dying. When a guard reported that a tall, scarred human woman and a dwarf had robbed the Radiant, he recognised Fi but buried the report.

At dinner the King stripped him of his captaincy in favour of Alerion and threatened him openly. Days later he could only watch, held back by four halberds, as Alerion had ten half-bloods beheaded in the courtyard, a child among them. From that day he resolved that Alerion must never lead Luna. He warned Fi when she came to register for the tournament, and in a moonlit corridor he sought Haelara's help, asking her to open the doors he could not. Their alliance grew into a tender attachment, and Alerion's interruption of one of their late meetings put both in greater danger.

Through Mary Halmund, Haelara arranged for him to meet Fi, Usso, Ferrin and Balorin at Usso's tavern. There he admitted he had lost his rank for refusing to make examples of the poor, promised to misfile orders and steer patrols away from them, warned Fi about facing Alerion, and told her that for once the royal blood was not entirely against her. During the tournament he quietly shifted guard rotations so that Haelara, Usso and Ferrin could reach the royal library.

When Fi killed Alerion, Astarion was first onto the sand, using a captain's basic healing drill to slow her bleeding before carrying her out himself. He alone of the family attended Alerion's cremation, feeling relief and then grief for the brother he might have had. With the council's backing he coaxed his father into a pilgrimage to Eldanarë Haven, and Elderon Thalavar crowned him king, with Haelara as his queen. That night their bond became a love affair.

He commanded the defence of the residential walls against Eamon's thralls, recognised the attack as a diversion and ran for the castle, arriving in the Lightspire to witness Fi's loss. He ordered Balorin carried to the infirmary with care, and spared Eamon, placing him under guard for questioning. The book leaves him on the highest balcony, looking at the scorched sky and saying Luna stands on the brink of a new era.

Family

After the books

Known after the books as King Astarion Solastis. King of Luna. The crown fits because he was made for it, whether by blood, lies, or ruthless timing. He binds power to Haelara and remakes legitimacy in his image.