The Shadows Between Us

Kallias Maheras, also known as the Shadow King, is the romantic lead of The Shadows Between Us. Kallias possesses many of the same qualities as Alessandra, and each admires the slyness, ruthlessness, and cleverness of the other. Kallias possesses “shadow powers,” which enable him to become noncorporeal, to obscure himself in shadows, and to heal himself from any injuries when he is in his shadow form. The powers have a limitation: If he touches anyone, his shadows will become ineffectual whenever he is within 50 yards of that person. This risk to his power leads Kallias to become remote and mysterious at the beginning of the novel, and the law forbids anyone to touch him under penalty of death. He is fiercely protective of both his power and of the secrets surrounding it. He is suspicious and trusts almost no one.

Kallias is, like Alessandra, driven by ambition. He wishes to be a conqueror who gains control of more and more lands even though he already controls six kingdoms. He puts down rebellions with violence (which Alessandra helps him plot) and is unforgiving of mistakes; when a guard makes a flippant comment about seeing Alessandra naked, for example, he kills the man instantly and has the rest of the group killed soon after for allowing the bandit to slip past them.

As with Alessandra, Kallias is altered by their romance. He gradually becomes less protective of his shadow power and the longevity it affords him. Instead, he grows to value a life lived with love in it, even if that means that life will only be the length of a normal human lifespan instead of the many centuries his ancestors lived. 

Leandros Vasco is the false identity of Kallias’s older brother, Xanthos Maheras, who was presumed dead after a carriage accident. In Chapter 29, readers learn the carriage accident was an attack staged by Xanthos and Kallias’s father to rid himself of his despised elder son, who lacked the shadow powers that followed the family line. In his Leandros persona, Xanthos is lighthearted and charming. Handsome and open, he has a number of friends at court, none of whom know who he really is, except Lord Vasco, who poses as his uncle. He flirts with Alessandra and asks about Kallias under the guise of having the king’s best interests at heart. Once his true identity is revealed, Xanthos admits his ruse to seduce Alessandra as he wished to steal her from his brother, whom he hates intensely.

Xanthos is, like his brother, scheming and devious though he lacks his brother’s loyalty for those he loves; Xanthos was willing to kill their mother in a plot to regain the throne, an act that Kallias considers unforgivable. As Leandros, he is a romantic rival in the novel though the revelation of his true identity renders him the antagonist in the text. 

Rhoda Nikolaides is one of the friends Alessandra makes at court. A widowed duchess, Rhoda is independently wealthy and seeks, for the remainder of her life, to chase passion rather than duty. Over the course of the novel, she learns to go after what she wants, which is ultimately a relationship with her late husband’s valet, Galen. Welcoming and kind to her new friend, Rhoda gives Alessandra a place to stay when she is separated from Kallias.