wings for his sister, and Meggie really did fly from the city wall to the river wearing them. The boy laughed at her, all the same, for he knows more about flying than Meggie. That’s because he sometimes grows wings at night, and he and his mother fly up into the trees. But perhaps he’s just dreaming it. He dreams it almost every night, but he’d like to see the flying coaches all the same, and the animals with pouches, the moving pictures, and the house that Elinor is always talking about. A house full of books not written by any hand, and the books are sad, because they’re waiting for Elinor.
‘Some day we’ll go and visit them together,’ Elinor often says, and Darius nods. Darius can tell wonderful stories too, about flying carpets and genies in bottles. ‘Some day the three of us will go back, and then I’ll show you all these things.’
And the boy runs to the workshop where his father is making leather clothes for books that are often illustrated with pictures painted by the famous Balbulus himself, and says, ‘Mo!’ He always calls his father Mo, he doesn’t know why, perhaps because that’s what his sister calls him. ‘When are we going to the other world, the one you came from?’
And his father puts him on his lap and runs his fingers through his dark hair, and says, like Elinor, ‘I’m sure we will some day. But we’d need words for that, exactly the right words, because only the right words unlock the doors between worlds, and the only person who could write them for us is a lazy old man. What’s more, I’m afraid he’s getting more forgetful every day.’
Then he tells him about the Black Prince and his bear, the giants that they’ll go and see someday, and the new tricks the Fire-Dancer has taught the flames. And the boy will see, in his father’s eyes, that he is very happy and not at all homesick for the other world. Any more than his sister is. Or his mother.
So the boy will think that perhaps he’ll have to go alone one day, if he wants to see that world. And he’ll have to find out which old man his father means, because there are several in Ombra. Maybe he means the one who has two glass men and writes songs for the strolling players and for Violante whom everyone calls Her Kindliness, and who is much better liked than her son. Battista calls this old man Inkweaver, and Meggie sometimes goes to see him. Maybe he’ll go with her next time, so that he can ask him for the words that open doors. Because it must be exciting in that other world, much more exciting than in his own …
An A–Z of the Inkworld
Adderhead, also known as the Silver Prince
The most cruel prince in the Inkworld, a warmongering tyrant who fears only death. Violante’s father. Also known as the Adder. Wears rubies at the corners of his nostrils. Lives in the Castle of Night. In Inkspell, Mo binds the White Book for him, thereby granting him immortality, but by Inkdeath he is diseased, rotting, and desperate for a cure.
Anselmo
A young guard at the gates of Ombra Castle.
Badger’s Earth
One of the robbers’ hideouts.
Balbulus
Master illuminator of manuscripts at Ombra Castle. His right hand is cut off by the Piper as a punishment.
Barn Owl
Physician and friend to Dustfinger. Founder of the infirmary near the Castle of Night, later in Ombra.
Basta
One of Capricorn’s most devoted henchmen. Superstitious and obsessed with his knife, he once slashed Dustfinger’s face, leaving the fire-eater scarred. At the end of Inkheart, he made his escape, followed by Capricorn’s mother, Mortola.
Battista
A strolling player, a mask-maker, disfigured by pockmarks.
Bear
The Black Prince’s constant companion.
Bella
Healer in the Barn Owl’s infirmary.
Benedicta
Minstrel woman.
Black Prince
King of the strolling players, leader of the Motley Folk and, later, of the noble robbers. A master knife-thrower, secretive champion of the poor, and Dustfinger’s best friend from long ago. Accompanied wherever he goes by his faithful black bear. Also known simply as the Prince.
Bluejay
A legendary robber made up by Fenoglio. Recognizable by the scar on his left arm. The subject of many heroic songs. In Inkdeath, Mo—Fenoglio’s inspiration for the character—takes over the name and the part. Also called the Jay.
Brianna
Willful daughter of Dustfinger and Roxane. Paramour of Cosimo the Fair. Worked for Violante as a maid until she was cast out for betraying her with her husband. Later worked for Orpheus.
Capricorn
The brutal leader of a gang of mercenary fire-raisers and extortionists, he was read out of the pages of Inkheart and into our world by Mo. Unlike Dustfinger, Capricorn was happy to escape the story and made it his mission to burn every remaining copy of the book in an attempt to prevent ever being read back into it. But eventually, with the help of Meggie and Fenoglio, he is destroyed by Mo. Son of Mortola.
Capricorn’s Fortress
The hideout of Capricorn’s robbers and fire-raisers in the Wayless Wood. The place where Mo and Resa first enter the Inkworld, and where Mortola wounds Mo.
Capricorn’s Village
An isolated place in Liguria, Italy, where the final showdown of Inkheart takes place.
Carandrella
A deserted village below the strolling players’ graveyard.
Carla
Assistant in the Barn Owl’s infirmary.
Castle in the Lake
Childhood home of Violante’s mother. Approached by the mist-covered Impregnable Bridge. Appears to float on the Black Lake, which is also known as the Giants’ Mirror because the enormous creatures once came there to gaze at their reflections in the water. The castle has a window-less, multitowered façade, but the walls of some of the rooms inside are painted with wonderful, picture-book scenes, and the Hall of a Thousand Windows in the west wing is flooded with daylight. Scene of the final struggle in Inkdeath.
Castle of Night
The Adderhead’s castle, where Mo binds the White Book in Inkspell.
Cerberus
Orpheus’s slavering dog.
Cloud-Dancer
Strolling player. Former tightrope-walker. Message-carrier and friend of Dustfinger. Killed by Basta in Inkspell.
Cosimo the Fair
Beautiful son of the Laughing Prince. Violante’s husband, Jacopo’s father, Brianna’s true love. Dies twice in Inkspell, which is why Dustfinger mentions seeing him twice when he, too, is dead.
Dana
One of Orpheus’s maids. Not especially pretty, but nice. Fond of Farid.
Darius, also known as Stumbletongue
Capricorn’s reader in Inkheart, he, like Mo and Meggie, possesses the ability to read characters out of stories, but he damages them if he stutters over the words. Becomes Elinor’s librarian after Capricorn is vanquished.
Despina
Minerva’s daughter.
Doria
One of the youngest members of the robbers’ camp. A good spy. Half brother of Lazaro, the Strong Man. Friend of Luc. A fledgling inventor in spite of two stiff fingers on his left hand. In love with Meggie.
Dustfinger, also known as Fire-Dancer
Scar-faced fire-eater who has wandered between the two worlds. First husband of Roxane, father of Brianna. Lived for ten years in the real world after Mo accidentally read him out of the pages of Inkheart. At the end of the first book, he steals the last remaining copy from Mo. Sacrifices his life for his apprentice Farid’s in Inkspell. Rarely without his tame marten, Gwin.
Elinor Loredan
Resa’s aunt, Meggie’s great-aunt. An avid book collector. She once preferred her books to the company of others, but she came to welcome Meggie, Mo, Resa, and Darius into her home. Opinionated, tart-tongued, and prone to speaking her mind! Once in the Inkworld, she prompts Fenoglio to reclaim control of his own story.
Fabio
A child of the strolling players.
Far
id
A boy read out of Tales of the Arabian Nights by Mo. Nimble and quick-witted, he has a talent for petty theft, which he developed in his original story. Often barefoot! Devoted to Dustfinger; determined at first, in Inkspell, to learn the Fire-Dancer’s craft of fire-eating, and later, in Inkdeath, to bring him back from the dead. Also in imitation of Dustfinger, he has his own marten, Jink. Fond of Meggie.
Fenoglio, also known as Inkweaver
Inventor of the Inkworld, author of the book Inkheart, from which Dustfinger came. Also known, by Jacopo, as Tortoise-Face. Disappears into his own story when Meggie reads the Shadow out of the Inkworld to defeat Capricorn. After the tragic turn of events in Inkspell, stops writing the story and lets it take its own course. In Inkdeath, Resa, Elinor, and others encourage him to try to set it right again.
Firefox
Capricorn’s successor who becomes the Adderhead’s herald in Inkspell. Dead by the time Inkdeath begins.
Folchart
Family surname of Mo, Meggie, and Resa.
Gwin
Dustfinger’s pet, a horned marten, originally intended by Fenoglio to play a fatal part in the tale of Inkheart.
Henchmen
Cockerell, Flatnose, Fulvio, Humpback, and Pitch-Eater are among Capricorn’s henchmen in Inkheart. See also Basta, Slasher.
Infirmary
Where the Barn Owl tends and nurses the sick. A place of refuge near the Castle of Night.
Inkheart
Fenoglio’s book. Capricorn wants the last copy so that he can never be read back into the story; Orpheus wants it so that he can, to experience the Inkworld.
Ironstone
Orpheus’s gray-colored glass man. Older brother of Jasper.
Ivo
Minerva’s son.
Jacopo
Son of Violante and Cosimo; the Adderhead’s grandson. Petulant and spoiled. Plays a pivotal role in the conclusion of Inkdeath.
Jasper
Orpheus’s other, rosy-colored glass man. Younger brother of Ironstone. Farid’s friend.
Jehan
Roxane’s son by her second husband, who is now dead.
Jink
Farid’s horned marten.
Laughing Prince, also known as the Prince of Sighs
Lord of the castle and country of Ombra. Father of Cosimo the Fair, father-in-law of Violante. Known as the Prince of Sighs after his son dies in Inkspell. Poisoned by the Adderhead, the prince himself also dies in Inkspell.
Lianna
Little girl; a child of the strolling players.
Luc
Young robber. Doria’s friend; the two are spared from hanging in Inkdeath.
Meggie Folchart
Daughter of Mo and Resa. Like her father, has the magical ability to bring characters out of books by reading aloud. After meeting Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart, she also dreams of being able to write as well as she can read—so that she can not only bring characters in and out of books but also script their fates. Fair-haired. Infatuated with Farid at the start of Inkdeath.
Merle
Another child of the strolling players.
Milksop
The brother of the Adderhead’s fifth wife. Now Governor of Ombra.
Mina
Minstrel woman, pregnant in Inkspell.
Minerva
Fenoglio’s kindly landlady in Ombra. Mother of Despina and Ivo.
Mortimer Folchart, also known as Mo, Silvertongue, the Bluejay, and the Jay
Bookbinder or book “doctor.” Resa’s husband and Meggie’s father. Also called Silvertongue because of his ability to make characters come alive by reading them out of books—to “paint pictures in the air with his voice”— although he has been wary of this gift ever since experiencing its awful consequences in Inkheart, when he reads Dustfinger, Capricorn, and Basta into our world and nearly loses his wife, Resa, forever to the Inkworld in exchange. In Inkdeath, Mo assumes the part of the Bluejay, a valiant yet murderous thief character created by Fenoglio, and he soon finds it difficult to distinguish between his true self and his alias. He shares the fictional Bluejay’s scar on his left arm, and was wounded near his heart by Mortola.
Mortola, also known as the Magpie
Capricorn’s mother. Known as the Magpie due to her ability to shape-shift into a bird. A poisoner, she kept Resa enslaved for many years in the Inkworld. In Inkdeath, she aligns herself with Orpheus to avenge her son: Her greatest wish is to see Mo punished for killing Capricorn.
Moss-women
Healers.
Motley Folk
A loyal band of entertainers to which Dustfinger once belonged before he was abruptly read into our world by Mo. The strolling players of the Inkworld: conjurors, tightrope-walkers, fire-eaters, knife-throwers. Led by the Black Prince.
Nettle
Healer who uses herbs and potions to cure the sick.
Ombra
The city and castle of Ombra, one of the central locations in Inkspell.
Orpheus, also known as Calf’s-Head, Cheeseface, Milkface, Moonface, and Four-Eyes
Discovered in our world by Dustfinger, this oily fellow has the same ability as Mo and Meggie to read characters in and out of books. An ardent admirer of Inkheart—perhaps the tale’s most passionate fan—and also a writer, though he lacks true vision and instead uses his modest skills mostly to increase his fortune and secure his power. Owner of the dog Cerberus.
Oss, also known as the Chunk
Orpheus’s dumb and brutish bodyguard. Enjoys abusing Farid.
Paula
Fenoglio’s granddaughter.
Piper, also known as Silvernose
Capricorn’s minstrel; now serves the Adderhead. He wears a silver nose because his real nose was cut off by the father of a woman he seduced.
Pippo
Fenoglio’s grandson.
Prince of Salt