Harper

"Failure isn't absolute, just because you couldn't save everyone doesn't mean you didn't save anyone."

- Harper, A Curse So Dark and Lonely

Harper is an 18-year-old girl who originates from Washington, D.C, but gets taken to the kingdom of Emberfall.

Early life
When Harper was born, the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, and she got stuck in the birth canal, she didn't get enough air, thus she was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy, which causes problems in the brain, and some muscles don't develop the right way.

Cerebral Palsy affects everyone differently, some people can't walk, or they can't speak, or they have to use a wheelchair, Harper was a lot worse off when she was younger, so she had surgery to correct her left leg. To this day she still has trouble with balance and walks with a limp, but she considers herself very lucky.

When she was young her physical therapist recommended ballet to help her stretch her muscles and improve her balance, but she hated it. Her mother had to bribe her with horseback riding lessons to get her to go to ballet lessons. Riding turned into a passion for her, and she worked at the stables in exchange for riding time for years until her family moved to the city.

A Curse So Dark And Lonely
Harper's family had fallen into poverty and despair due to her father's shady dealings and borrowing money he couldn't pay to a man named Lawrence, and her mother's cancer illness. Her brother Jake has to resort to working as a "bill collector" for Lawrence.

One night while playing lookout for Jake, Harper is waiting hidden in an alley when she hears voices and sees two people standing alone by a corner, a blonde girl and a man, the blonde girl unexpectedly collapses into the man's arms, that's when Harper decided to act, attacking the man with a bar, during their confrontation he unwillingly transports both to Ironrose Castle in Emberfall.

The man who kidnapped her is Grey, the commander of the royal guard of Emberfall, who takes her to meet Rhen, the crown prince. He is shocked that Harper is different from the other girls he met before.

Harper tries to flee with a horse named Ironwill (which she calls Will) and leaves Ironrose. On the road, she finds a woman named Freya when her house gets burned down by Sylh Shallow's guards. They threaten to kill Freya and harm the children. Harper bluffs that she is actually a princess from the kingdom of Disi, and has a huge army that will follow her command. The guards are unsure whether or not to believe her but swayed by her conviction flee. She demands that Rhen and Grey, who followed her help Freya and her children. Rhen books rooms for several weeks at The Crooked Boar Inn. They spend the night in the inn. Overnight, Harper wakes up to Grey standing watch. They decide to play a card game called King's Ransom, which causes them to bond. They travel back home the next morning where Harper gets locked in Rhen's late sister Arabella's room.

After several days, Harper decides to take the magical food at Ironrose to Freya and the owners of The Crooked Boar Inn. She jumps out of the castle's window to escape. On the way to taking the food, she bumps into a guy with one arm, traveling with barrels. She decides to help him. Rhen and Grey find her, and they find out the man's name is Jamison, he is a former soldier in the King's Army.

Later that day, Harper and Rhen get into a fight because she sneaked out and didn't tell him where she was going, this causes Rhen to find Jamison and send a message with him to his people, saying that the royal family will help them.

When Harper is outside taking care of their horses, Grey finds her and offers to teach her how to throw knives to which she gladly accepts.

Rhen offers a proposition to Harper, asking her to pretend to be Princess Harper of Disi, together they present a united front and the public adores her. Harper convinces Rhen to give out food to the people.

After finding out about Lilith, Harper offers to sleep in the same room as him to keep Lilith from torturing him

Physical Description
Harper has long dark curly brown hair. She is fairly skinny with little muscle, until she starts training and gains a more powerful physique. She has a scar on her cheek that she got when she was cut by Lilith. Due to her cerebral palsy, her left leg needed correction, but she still walks with a limp.

Rhen
When first coming to Emberfall, Harper hated Rhen, due to being dragged from her own world to live in his. Over the course of time, she grew fond of him and got to know him better. Later, the two of them fall in love.

Grey
Even though being her captor, Grey was Harper's first friend in Emberfall. She trusted him, before she came to trust Rhen. Grey taught her how to play cards and throw knives. She affectionately calls him Scary Grey. After Grey ran away from Ironrose Castle, believed to be dead, Harper mourned his loss. She was shaken when they discovered Grey to be alive and allowed him to escape Rhen's wrath again.

Freya
Harper saved Freya from Syhl Shallow's soldiers, after they burned down her house and wanted to kill her nephews and take her and her niece. When Harper started using the false identity of Princess of Disi, she took Freya in as her lady-in-waiting. Freya is very protective of Harper and often acts as an older sister or even surrogate mother. When she was cut by Lilith, Freya took care of Harper's injury.

Mother
Harper does not have a normal mother-daughter relationship with her mother. They were extremely close before her mother was diagnosed with cancer. After Harper was taken to Emberfall, she tried to get back to her mother, worrying about her constantly. She got back to Washington DC just in time, being able to say her goodbye before her mother succumbed to the illness.

Jake
Jake is Harper's elder brother and very protective of her. When Harper first gets dragged to Emberfall, she is worried about his safety. Later on, when Grey returned Harper to DC, she finds out that Jake was in deep trouble and that he thought she had been kidnapped. When Harper tells Jake and his boyfriend Noah about Emberfall, he doesn't believe her at first. But when Grey turns up at their door, Jake starts to question whether he should believe her or not. After Grey drags Lilith to DC, Jake and Noah get trapped in Emberfall, and Jake perfectly plays the part of the crown prince of Disi.