Here we go again!

Jo Shanks

Jo Shanks is many things. Master archer, loyal soldier, ex-Bracer, esteemed Fowler. He's the Blackstar twins' honorary brother, the namesake of Picket Longtreader's son, and one of only two bucks named by Queen Heather when she listed potential husbands for her sister-in-law Emma. But romance wise?

He's a bit of a garbage fire.

That's not entirely Jo's fault though. You have to remember that his mother died in the afterterrors, and an accident left his father a bitter, dissatisfied cripple. Shanks Sr. was rather intent on impressing upon Jo the importance of climbing the social ladder through winning glory as an archer. He was not, it seems, all that concerned with teaching Jo how he might go about courting a doe. And with his wife gone, he couldn't really reach his son by example.

Weezie

Louise, better known as Weezie, is another young rabbit with a rather tragic family history. In the years leading up to her debut in Ember Rising, Weezie lost both her twin sister Layra and her father Snoden to the villainy of the Lieutenant Governor of occupied First Warren, Captain Daggler. *Spits* These losses left her mother, Airen, in a state of debilitating grief. How then, one wonders, did Weezie manage to win the heart of our buck Picket?

Well, Snoden lived long enough for Weezie to have clear memories of him, which may or may not be the case with Jo. I get the impression that, for a few years at least, she got to see her parents' love for each other. I would guess that her concern and affection for Picket echo what she saw her mother show towards her father. Of course, I'd also say that Airen is where Weezie learned to express her feelings towards a buck via the medium of playful teasing and annoyance. Fortunately, Picket-between his own parents and Helmer-is no stranger to that.

Kylen and Naylen

Here we enter into a bit of speculative territory as we consider the two princes of Terralain. We know that Bleston managed to get himself a wife, judging by the fact that these two exist. But Kylen and Naylen's mother is a complete mystery to us, as is the nature of her relationship with her husband. It's thus hard to know what, if anything, the brothers picked up about love from their parents.

I'm inclined to think that Kylen's attempts to woo Heather-such as they are-emulate his father Bleston's approach. Kylen learned from his father how to be charming and complimentary. However, unlike Bleston, Kylen demonstrates the capacity for true contrition and the ability to recognize where he's done wrong. Unfortunately, he demonstrated these qualities after the doe he'd set his heart upon had set her heart on somebody else.

Naylen, interestingly, is known to have gotten married sometime after the end of the War for All Natalia. It's unclear whether he possessed more of his father's charm, emulated his mother's approach, or somehow blended the two. Either way, he did have a couple of other things going for him. He was not left pining over a love that never was, and he never the weight of guilt and treachery that were his brother's lot.

That does it for part two. The third-and final?-part will come another day.