The Aetherial Embrace Character Close Up-

Kairi Freemont

Character Profile

Basic

Name: Kairi Freemont

Gender: Female

Age: 23

Role: Protagonist (Female)

Other Names: Storm (Nephilim) Briar (Victorian Mortal)

Historical Notes: Made a Nephilim in 1829 after sacrificing herself to care for her nephew who had Tuberculosis. She cared for him and succumbed to the disease herself so his mother could remain with her other children. She was betrothed to Samuel (Who later takes the name Aro) in 1813 at age sixteen but he never came home from the Hundreds year war.

Background: Adopted by Matthew and Michael Freemont after they found her while running along a beach one morning in L.A.

Had a relatively normal childhood, brought up on stories and the magic of books. Bullied in school for having two dads, retreated into books where she felt accepted, not rejected.

Went to UCLA to study Literature (major) and Psychology (minor). Graduated and went for her MA but had to quit after her diagnosis with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome.

Her dads made the decision to move to Tennessee, where a specialist in her condition was in residence at the local hospital. They gave up their jobs and moved for her, opened a horse therapy ranch to try and make money. Lots of money from their LA Property- cleared the medical debt and gave them a fresh start. Things are currently financially tight, but they are managing. Kairi is 23 and has been dealing with her diagnosis for a year and a half. Birthday- 21st of September.

Physical

Weight: 180lb

Height: Five foot five inches

Hair Colour: Chestnut Brown

Hair Style: Long hair, wavy

Eye Colour: Periwinkle Blue when mortal - Lilac when Nephilim

Other Distinguishing Marks: HeirBound Birthmark Turns into Heirborne mark after end of Indigo Dusk

Race: Nephilim/White- English

Skin Tone: Porcelain

Body Type: Curvaceous when mortal, chunky. Unfit.

Supernatural Features: Enormous white wings tipped with lilac and silver.

Nature

Mannerisms: Caresses earlobe. Hunches due to back pain
Touches Face. Sits in positions that look uncomfortable but are comfortable for her. Leans against things because of pain. Fidgets because of Pain Runs hands back through hair. Stands on Hyperextended Knees. Sits. Is particular about her motions and driving, cautious because of her disease. Picks skin on the lip when nervous.

Motivations: Escaping her pain. Distracting from her pain.
Having lost her identity. Not knowing where she comes from or who she is. Wants answers to a continued sense of De Ja Vu. Wants to keep her family safe. Believes in fairytale romance. Guilty.

Flaws: Won't deal with her pain. Guilty about the burden she puts on her parents. Introverted. Doesn't trust easily.
Has no interest in social activities because she's been betrayed by those she felt were her friends/boyfriend when she was diagnosed and moved. Lets herself be made into a victim. Self Doubt. Low Self Esteem. Anxiety. Refuses to participate in self-care. Forgets to take her meds. Doesn't like going to the doctor. Puts off things that make her feel more disabled.

Prejudices: Anti-Trust. Doesn't like ignorance and discrimination. Has Empathy for the elderly, the disabled, the poor. Feels brought down to their level and finally understands that life isn't fair. It isn't like a storybook.

Talents: Figure skating. Writing. Reading. Absorbing information. Almost photographic memory. Observant.

Instinctual.

Hobbies: Reading, Knitting, Caring for Atticus her cat. Eating. Going to the bookstore with her dad. Watching movies with her parents. Baking. History really fascinates her.

Personality Type: Sensitive, Introverted, Empathetic, Passionate, Loyal, Loves with her whole heart. Hopeless Romantic. Naive.

Health Conditions: Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Fibromyalgia. Irregular sinus tachycardia. Reactive Hypoglycaemia.

Special Abilities: Heirbound- Destined to choose the next King of Aetheria. After her re-emergence as Kindred, she becomes HeirBorne- So destined to become Queen herself. Can Conduct (Travel by Lightning)

Gallery

I do not own the rights to any of these images unless stated otherwise.

Kristy Nicolle Books — Kristy Nicolle.jpg

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FAQ WITH AUTHOR KRISTY NICOLLE

I answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Kairi…

FAQ with kristy nicolle on Kairi Freemont

QUESTION: Do you feel like it was more challenging writing a question based so closely on yourself and your experience with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome?

Answer: Absolutely yes. Indigo Dusk and Violet Dawn took me longer to write than any other books in the series and I’m pretty sure that was down to the fact that whereas writing had always been an escape from my condition and my pain, writing Kairi meant that I was having to stare it directly in the face every single time I sat down at my laptop to write. It was hard, reliving the initial days of my diagnosis too when I didn’t know what I was doing or what I was capable of anymore. I felt like my world really shrank, and I definitely tried to convey this through Kairi and how easily she followed Aro into Aetheria. Many readers thought her naive being a 23 year old and immediately running off with a stranger she barely knew, but I had felt that kind of desperation and I knew, as I still know now, that many of us are just looking for a break, are just looking for a way to make the pain stop. Especially in the beginning.

QUESTION: What made you decide to give Kairi two dads?

Answer: I love having diversity and representation in my books, especially in The Queens of Fantasy Saga, and this series has been no exception. I felt like giving Kairi gay parents was not only a likely outcome for her due to the fact that she was adopted, but also gives her a more open view of the world of Aetheria when she’s meeting characters like Phineas and Quinn. I also loved how she used her open-mindedness as a test for both Aro and Lucien, to try and gauge more about them.

QUESTION: Is Kairi the fallen angel mentioned by the Hawaiian Sirena in The Kiss That Changed Me?

Answer: Yes! There’s even a flash fiction called the Ressurection of Briar Shaw on my Patreon if you’re interested in discovering how Kairi began her second mortal life among the Hawaiian Sirena, Kindred of Kanaloa!

QUESTION: What, in your opinion, makes Kairi more equipped to be Queen than the other modern Nephilim who have just recently been reborn?

Answer: Kairi has felt true personal hopelessness, and where I understand that depression and anxiety are rife within the modern world and she experiences this accordingly, the actual suffering of the individual has dramatically decreased in the western world. We, generally speaking, have access to food, medicine, and shelter, whereas many of the older Kindred will have experienced famine, drought, disease, and political upheaval in wars that came right to their doorsteps instead of being fought remotely, or in a country seemingly hundreds of miles away. Kairi understood suffering in a way that was personal enough to mean she was willing to do anything in order to stop it as a ruler, but also modern enough that she had higher standards than her elders for what she deemed acceptable as a quality of life. I think that was really important for her because so many of the older High Lords and Ladies who have power in Aetheria are desensitised to suffering because they’ve come to see it as normal from their mortal lives. Aro is certainly merciless, and Genevieve has been exposed to the very worst of Human Nature. It makes them willing to settle for less and makes it easier for them to adopt a them versus us attitude.

QUESTION: What made you decide to carry on Chronic Pain as a theme for Kairi even after she becomes immortal and is freed from her physical limitations?

Answer: I think really stems from something personal to me and also experiences I have shared with others who had curable diseases such as cancer. Chronic pain and disease change you mentally, at a fundamental level, and I have spoken to so many people who have had cancer, who are now cured, and who have been told that they still focus on the fact they were sick too much or are criticised for the fact that it still affects them. When you go through something like this, a surrendering to your physical body that you don’t expect to have to entertain, it changes you. Just because those physical ailments or symptoms disappear doesn’t mean you can go back. You have totally changed your parameters for who you are and what you can do, and that is going to mean that you aren’t who you were before, nor will you be able to easily get back there. With chronic pain, it’s such a huge life-changing thing that you adapt the best way you know how to this kind of insistent low-level trauma. And just like any trauma that has knock-on effects. Kairi’s journey with chronic pain was never really about the physicality of her disease, which I think is the very least of many chronic pain sufferers’ problems. It’s all about her mindset, her ability to heal and cope with trauma.