Ansel of Briarcliff

She drugged the only friend she had and left her to die in the desert — and swore, later, that she did it to save her life.

Ansel of Briarcliff is the exiled princess of the Western Wastes and Celaena Sardothien's friend at the Silent Assassins' keep, in The Assassin's Blade — wine-red hair, a wolf on everything she owns, and a grief she let rot into something that ate her whole.

At a glance

KIND: Human — exiled princess of the Western Wastes
HOUSE: Briarcliff — the wolf; the Flatlands, once the Witch Kingdom
AT THE KEEP: Celaena's roommate, guide and friend
BETRAYED: The Silent Assassins to Lord Berick, for an army
FOR: Revenge on the witches; to retake Briarcliff
SPARED BY: Celaena — twenty-one minutes and a chosen miss
BECAME: Queen of the Western Wastes
REPAID IT: Her army, at the Battle of Orynth

Her people

The ones who mattered.

Swipe to meet them all

Celaena Sardothien Adarlan's AssassinCelaena Sardothienher friendEnter Celaena Sardothien →

What she loves

The betrayal was real. So was everything under it.

Everything she did wrong, she did trying to get one right thing back.

Her family
Murdered for the Flatlands. She kept the bill and meant to collect.
Celaena
The one friendship that was never part of the con.
The Red Desert
A keep of killers took the exile in — she repaid it badly.
A good fight
Fast, funny, and better with a sword than she let on.

Her heart

The Flatlands

Home, before Lord Loch took it and everyone in it. She wanted an army to win it back badly enough to betray the only friend she had.

The long versionRead her whole storyEverything, in one place.Enter the full story

We're Caffeine and Curses. The Library started as my design research — I can't put Manon on a shirt without knowing which way the iron teeth snap — so we keep the notes here where everyone can use them. The pages are fan-made, not official; the licensed designs are in the shop.

Officially licensed