Kieran

Kieran, a character in the The Cursed Heart series, is the Winged Beast, the head of the Moon Court and your love interest. He/She is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 1.

Appearance
Kieran's gender and looks are determined by the player. Kieran's height is determinant on his/her gender and your character's body type. If Kieran is female, she is "a full head taller" than your character (Body Type 1) or "stand[s] a little lower" than your character (Body Type 2). If Kieran is male, he is a "considerable height" taller than you (Body Type 1) or is a "full head" taller than you (Body Type 2).

For about an hour between sunset and moonrise, Kieran has an intermediate appearance. He/She has dark eyes, feathers on his/her shoulders, appendages, and head, and wings. Kieran also has full faculty of his/her thoughts before full transformation.

Personality
According to Sir Montgomery, Kieran used to be a kind, gentle soul who always liked to laugh. He/She was also a very spirited child in his/her youth. However, currently Kieran feels little emotion and is considered to be a cold, broken shadow of what he/she once was. Over the years, the more family Kieran lost, the more bitter he/she became. Kieran spent decades alone, crafting defenses around him/herself, not allowing anyone close enough to hurt him/her. When he/she fell in love and that love betrayed him/her, that love shattered Kieran's heart both literally and figuratively, cursing Kieran to become the Winged Beast every night fall.

According to Longclaw, the curse took away his/her ability to feel, and all that's left at the moment is anger and sorrow. Since the curse took hold, his/her life has been devoid of happiness, excitement and love. However, Longclaw still believes that Kieran is a good person, and not nearly as monstrous as he/she might seem. Towards most, Kieran has the reputation of being frigid.

As the Winged Beast, Kieran states he/she loses control of his/her mind and body to that creature and doesn't remember everything the Winged Beast does. Kieran likens his/her transformed state to that of a nightmare, the memories of which fade the moment he/she awakes. Every time he/she gets back a piece of his/her heart on the other hand, Kieran briefly becomes overwhelmed with emotions and sensations.

The heart pieces want to be whole again, so they seek to join with the heart of any living being that touches them. As the Winged Beast, Kieran is determined to get the pieces back.

Background
Kieran was born in the twilight days of the Moon Court, the rulers' first and only child. When Kieran was around three years old, he/she decided that all animals would be better if they had wings. As such, he/she whipped up a bit of magic and set to work, giving wings to mice, rabbits, and everything else he/she came across in the garden. At first Kieran managed to evade detection, until he/she set upon the cook's favorite cat, and got scolded. As a result, the cook refused to make his/her favorite dessert for a year.

As young Kieran grew, he/she watched his/her family succumb to strange illnesses, tragic accidents, and strange magics. Eventually his/her parents died as well, leaving him/her as the sole heir to face the dangerous world of Fae politics alone. Kieran suspected that there was a foul play afoot, but the laws of the Fae would not allow him/her to act upon these suspicions without proof. And so, he/she dove into the study of protective magics, and his/her sole obsession was to not fall prey to the same fate as the rest of the Moon Court. Kieran then fell in love with a Princess from the Sun Court, but after many years together, she betrayed him/her by crafting a spell and cursing him/her into becoming the winged beast. The curse also took Kieran's ability to feel, and from then on, he/she was cursed to wander the moonlight woods in search of the pieces of his/her broken heart, unable to rest and no longer able to feel anything at all.

Book 1

 * Chapter 1: The Fae Forest
 * Chapter 2: The Moon Court
 * Chapter 3: Palace of the Moon
 * Chapter 4: Flight
 * Chapter 5: Accursed
 * Chapter 6: The Grand Hunt
 * Chapter 7: Invulnerable
 * Chapter 8: The Magpie's Lair
 * Chapter 9: Flower Festival
 * Chapter 10: Mountain of Beasts
 * Chapter 11: The Palace of the Sun
 * Chapter 12: Enlightenment
 * Chapter 13: A Nest of Vipers
 * Chapter 14: A Dream Within A Dream
 * Chapter 15: A War of Hearts
 * Chapter 16: Unbroken

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: The Last Stroke of Midnight
 * Chapter 2: The Raven and the Sword
 * Chapter 3: A Grave Faux Pas
 * Chapter 4: The Frolic
 * Chapter 5: The Fallen
 * Chapter 6: The Trials of the Moon
 * Chapter 7: The Cruel Sun
 * Chapter 8: When Stars Fall
 * Chapter 9: Day's Sorrow, Night's Wrath

Your Character
One day, your kindness compelled you to free a hungry wolf from a trap, and you were nearly eaten in return, only to be saved by a mysterious figure dressed in all black. That same night, while pulling water from a well, you discovered a strange red jewel with an unearthly gleam, and when you touched it, the jewel vanished. Suddenly, the veil of magic was pulled from your eyes, and the hidden world of Fae was revealed. Chased into the forest, you happened upon a Fae revel. The curious Fae showered you with attention, including Prince/Princess Radiance of the Sun Court, who invited you to return to the Sun Palace with him/her. Before you could answer however, the mysterious figure reappeared: It was the Night Prince/Princess in disguise, who came to claim you as payment for saving your life. Taken into the Prince/Princess's household as a servant, you were oddly drawn to the aloof, lonely Prince/Princess, and you shadowed him/her at every step. Despite his/her cold nature, there was a melancholy within him/her, and a sadness in his/her eyes that you knew all too well. Slowly, your kind and generous nature warmed the cold Prince/Princess's heart, and at night, you shared your secret passions in the world of dreams together. That being said, the Prince/Princess hid a secret, which was that he/she was cursed to walk the night as a mindless beast, seeking the scattered shards of his/her broken heart. Determined to help him/her, you discovered that you were the one that carried the last piece of the Prince/Princess's heart. Attacked one night by the beast, you fled to seek help from the Day Prince/Princess, whose promise of aid was but a ruse. Instead, he/she tricked you into trapping Kieran permanently as the beast, and threatened the world with eternal Summer. Battered, betrayed, but never broken, you stormed the Sun Palace with an army of the wild creatures of the forest who called the Moon Court home. Willing to risk your own life, the depth of your selfless love broke Kieran's curse, and restored him to his/her true self. Having triumphed over every obstacle thrown in the way, you and Kieran returned to the Moon Court to enjoy a time of peace and love.

Kieran's Mother
When Kieran and his/her mother were on a hunting expedition, a strange creature caught them off guard. Their magic had no effect on it, and when it went for Kieran, his/her mother took the blow, and was torn to pieces right in front of him/her. The servant that was with them feared that someone else might try to take the throne, so he took it from Kieran's mother dead body, and placed it on Kieran's head. At first he/she didn't notice the crown, but when Longclaw asked about it, Kieran tore the crown from his/her head, hurled it away, and vowed to never wear it again.

In Book 2, Chapter 8, it is revealed that she was originally from the Sun Court, which means Kieran got the throne of the Moon Court from his/her father.

Lustre
One day Kieran fell in love with a beautiful princess of the Sun Court, a bright and laughing girl with eyes of gold. The girl urged him/her to open him/herself up to joy and happiness again, and to put down the books and be in the world once more. And Kieran did do it, because he/she loved her more than anyone previously with his/her entire heart. The two spend many blissful years together, but one night, Kieran awoke to find his/her true love looming over his/her sleeping form, her beautiful face twisted in malice, her hands crafting some terrible enchantment. Kieran's love, having studied his/her defenses over the course of their years together, deftly unravelled once ward after another, stripping him/her bare. However, Kieran had not spend decades of study in vain, and he/she brought terrible and ancient magics to bear against his/her betrayer. Unfortunately though, the princess's curse seized Kieran's heart and shattered it into a thousand pieces, twisting his/her fair form into that of a mindless beast. The Princess, her true nature and intentions revealed, fled back to the Sun Court where she was sentenced to a hundred years in the Sun Palace dungeon as a punishment for her crimes.

In Chapter 9, said princess is revealed to be Lustre, Radiance's cousin. When asked about her, Kieran says he/she would rather forget Lustre ever existed.

Radiance
Not much is known about their relationship, but deep down they seem to have a mutual dislike for one another. Kieran on the one hand says that Radiance sees humans only as playthings, and Radiance on the other hand thinks that Kieran is dangerous because of his/her curse. In Chapter 12, you find out that Radiance hates Kieran, and that he/she plans to destroy him/her and the entire Moon Court. In Chapter 14 after Lustre's curse takes place and transforms Kieran into the Winged Beast, Radiance snatches up his/her crown, crowns himself/herself King/Queen of All Fae, and orders for the Sun Court Guards to lock Kieran in a cage until he/she can deal with him/her. When the rest of the Fae wonder how this happened and what will happen now, Radiance claims that supposedly Kieran's curse has taken ahold of him/her entirely, and from now on, he/she will be the sole ruler of all Fae. Radiance then proceeds to chain Longclaw and Sir Montgomery, and destroy the Moon Palace.

Longclaw
Longclaw has been a servant of the Moon Court for many years, and knows Kieran's secret about his/her curse. She is very loyal to him/her, and believes that Kieran is a good person despite his/her curse and his/her monstrous appearance. Longclaw also hopes that one day Kieran might return to his/her old self.

Powers and Abilities

 * Invincibility: In Chapter 7, Kieran states that as long as his/her heart is incomplete, he/she cannot be killed.
 * Transformation: Kieran can transform into a Winged Beast in whole or in part.

Male

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Female

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Male

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Female

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Miscellaneous

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Trivia

 * A male version of Kieran is shown on the cover of The Cursed Heart.
 * He/She is the forty-first
 * He/She is the twenty-fifth
 * The name Kieran is of Irish and Gaelic origin and means "black, dark", "black-haired, dark-haired", "little dark one" and "little dark-haired one". It's the anglicized form of the Irish name Ciarán, which is from the Gaelic word "ciar" and a diminutive suffix.
 * He/She shares the same name as Kieran Hale from the High School Story series.
 * Kieran is the first Gender of Choice love interest to be canonically bisexual. This is proven when Kieran says that his/her first love was male (in Chapter 4's premium scene) and when it's revealed that Kieran's last lover prior to your character is female (in Chapter 9).
 * According to him/herself, Kieran won nearly seventy Grand Hunts.
 * In Chapter 7, Longclaw says that because Kieran is cursed, he/she cannot be killed and heals faster than most Fae.
 * According to him/herself, Kieran won nearly seventy Grand Hunts.
 * In Chapter 7, Longclaw says that because Kieran is cursed, he/she cannot be killed and heals faster than most Fae.