Let's Discuss: Loni Ryn

Emma Thompson as Loni

Tahloni (Tah-lawn-ee) a.k.a. Loni Ryn:

Loni is easy to love because she loves so easily and well. She was a pleasure to write because she is calming and more 'normal' than her sisters.

As oldest sister, she became surrogate mom to her siblings after their father was murdered. 

She is tall, plain (though Emma Thompson isn't), and the heart of the orphanages. The orphanages are where the Ryn family does their recruiting for the Eye organization.

Something in the book I don't really go into deep detail about is the fact Loni observes the orphan girls and deciphers which have the qualities they are looking for. She is the one that makes the recommendations to Mari, who then winnows out the best and trains them. Loni is a hard worker and the peacemaker between her sisters.

As I wrote her, Loni became a composite of the best of the women I've known - the mother figures in my life with an added dash of unexpected temper. Loni has the personality that buffers and supports, but will not accept threats to children within her sight or sound. Children are her drive, the spark that keeps her going in spite of her pain; both physical and emotional.

Her weakness and strength are her orphans and her goal is to have at least one orphanage set up in each country. While the many orphans look at her as a mother, the one she claims as the daughter of her heart is Wyn.

A younger Loni with the man she would have married - Dasan
(real people:  Emma Thompson with Alan Rickman)