Character Analysis
Here's the couple of the hour—Lananeth and Ellion. Lananeth is a magician in the Empire (6.15). She is wife to Ellion, Steward to Lord Kzuva, Oversecretary of the Northern Roadways, and has his authority in his absence. She's short, about Tilja's face, but plump "with a pale, round face and dark hair;" she wears elegant clothes and is clever.
Lananeth is really smart. When Meena and Co. come to her needing to get into Talagh, Lananeth devises a scheme to disguise Meena and Alnor as Qualifa and Qualif, servants of hers that died without Imperial permission:
"He [Ellion] and I have, of course, often talked the thing through and round and about, and more than once sighed and wished that there were two old people on the estate who had somehow been missed from the last census, who could take the names of Qualif and Qualifa. Now, wonderfully, it is so. You are here." (6.41)
Way to work the system, right? But Lananeth isn't just smart—she's also practical. She doesn't believe that the Empire is just, but she knows that the system is what it is and she can't change it:
"I can see from your faces that you think what I have told you appalling, and you are right. I am sorry to say that we have lived so long with it that we no longer think it even strange." (6.37)
Her husband, Ellion, oversees the lands of Lord Kzuva. He's gone to Talagh and tries to buy death permits for Qualif and Qualifa (6.40). Once the group gets to Talagh, they go to Ellion's house and he welcomes them as Qualif and Qualifa (8.30). Ellion is "middle-aged, pale and plump," wearing a silk jacket with a braid that shows his status (8.30).
Just like his wife, Ellion is hip to the world they're living in. He guides Tilja and Meena to the rooftops so they can practice magic; and when they describe Faheel, he knows that talking or knowing about such a thing could be dangerous:
"That kind of a man?" he whispered. "No, tell me nothing." (8.55)
Ellion is also helpful. Even though he knows he could get into big trouble for assisting unauthorized magicians, Ellion guards Meena and Tilja and provides them with the services they need:
"[…] You will do what you plan whether I help you or not. Well, I will need to talk to… a friend. Eat now, and then I will send for somebody to show you where you can sleep. When all is quiet let the girl come back here and find me." (8.60)
He's not in the book much, but when he is Ellion makes it count.