Deordrif

 !SPOILER ALERT!

Deordrif, a dark elf of Tirn Aill
Like her mother (the haunting figure known to Lyonesse folk as the Night Queen), Deordrif serves the dark elves of Tirn Aill and their ambitious leader, Malkry.

Deordrif (a.k.a. Drif) is foremost a warrior, in fact, she is Malkry’s best warrior. While she possesses some skill with destructive magic, an ability coveted by the dark elves, she seldom uses it and prefers to strike down her opponents with her impressive armory of faerie weapons. Her preferred method of fighting is with sword & shield, and in her shadow plate (armor), wielding her long black blade, she is quite intimidating. Drif is also a exceptional rider and tactician, making her a battlefield asset to her allies and terror to her foes.

Another ability of note is her exceptional mastery of faerie glamour. She is so proficient in glamour that she fools Billy (the protagonist) into thinking she is a man. She is aided in this by her head-to-toe faerie armor, but nonetheless, it is quite a feat considering she is all woman – a fact made painfully clear to Billy in an embarrassing encounter with Finvarra, King of the Daoine Sidhe.

Drif does not appear in the Jester King Series until book three, The Prince. Drif joins Billy on his quest to discover a “spellbinder” that could save her homeland of Tirn Aill and all its inhabitants from freezing to death in an eternal winter (a threat of which she knows nothing). While Drif has secret orders to thwart Billy’s quest, ultimately she must decide for herself, whether to serve Malkry or Queen Eleanor‘s heir. This decision pulls her in different directions throughout the story as she learns more about the man she might one day call her king.