Ashton Hartwell

Ashton Hartwell is a mysterious young man that Kari meets the forest. Originally from Malshire, he finds Kari while wandering the forest. He travels with Kari to find her brother. The Winters do not know much about him, but Kari trusts him.

Appearance
Ashton appears to be a sickly, scrawny, teenage boy. He has dark circles under his eyes, most likely from a lack of sleep, and dark hair. His most noticable features are his icy blue eyes, which cause people to stay away from him because of their resemblence to a Prince 's.

While staying in a room with the Winters, Ashton is seen looking at his wrist, which seems to have a glowing object in it. He may have an Amber or other mineraloid, and often clutches the same wrist when he's nervous.

He tends to wear a lot of layers of clothing. Under his thick, black coat, his wrists seem to be completely wrapped, at least to the forearm, in bandages.

Personality
Ashton is a rather shy and soft-spoken individual, and prefers to be left alone. He is a very nervous person and stutters a lot, and is often cautious about new people. He seems to be well read and is very good at explaining things to the Winters when they are confused.

Relation to Princes
Because of his eyes, Ashton greatly resembles a Blue Prince, and can not live in safety without being mistaken for one. He has not directly confirmed or denied being a prince, though, and his motives are unknown.

Ashton's mother, Thalia Hartwell, is shown in a vote incentive, though nothing else is known about her and her role in the story is known.

Relationships

 * Kari Winters- He meets Kari when she is transported to Lavelle, and decides to help her find her brother. He is completely smitten because she is the first person to treat him kindly, and seems to be protective of her.
 * Aiden Winters- While Kari completely trusts Ashton, Aiden is more suspicious, and doesn't like that Ashton is so close to his sister. They seem to have a mutual dislike of each other.
 * Rio and Xan- While Rio at first threatens Ashton, he does later warn him of the precense of Wisteria at a nearby town.
 * Commander Grissom- In a flashback, Grissom and Ashton are shown to have met each other before, with Grissom holding a sword to his Ashton's throat. Grissom later sees Ashton in Alderton, and pursues him.Ashtonsilas.png

Trivia

 * Ashton is stated to have a sensitive stomach, making him a fussy eater.
 * In his earlier designs, Ashton had a sarcastic and brash personality, much different from now.
 * The author stated that as a side hobby Ashton likes to write poetry.
 * His least favorite color is blue.