Arnulf Kingfinch
Arnulf Kingfinch
Arnulf is a secondary antagonist in The Hallow Maiden who is defeated by Ashur prior to the climax of the Hol Gheal Disaster.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
He is Harlow Kingfinch's eldest child and the older brother of Sigrid. He was a healthy child, unlike his ailing sister, and so high hopes were put upon him. However, after he was declared infecund by the Hooded Mothers at his coming of age, he quickly lost a lot of opportunities that had been promised to him. He would go through many attempts to marry regardless, until he was charged with manipulation and Harlow threatened to have him castrated. His hair was shorn, which is a mark of shame among the Gannwyll Gwydd.
He developed a romantic relationship with Oswald after the Dolomedes warrior was wed to Sigrid through a political marriage. With Sigrid and Oswald having more of a friendly relationship than intimate, the three of them frequently stuck together. Many of the pre-disaster depictions paint them in joyous moments, sometimes accompanied by Asche and Gisla.
Arnulf however, struggled to settle down and always became stuck riding his mother's coattails. He eventually succumbed to gambling and more reckless behaviour. When Harlow put him in charge of mitigating a bad drought, Arnulf was tricked into buying tainted soil which caused an anthrax outbreak. Much of The Hollow Maiden focuses on the consequences of Arnulf and Oswald trying to cover up the true cause of the Hol Gheal Disaster. Eventually, Arnulf confesses his involvement to Ashur after the latter chases him down at knifepoint. However, his double walker, Ernoter, kills him in the Naefergrene to take his place.
His body is eventually discovered and his heart eaten by Ashur and burned, causing a massive fire as he had consumed Rock Oil before his death.
Relationships
History
Ernoul and Sigrid grew up quite close, with Ernoul being protective of his sickly and unsociable younger sister. He had planned to have her move with him to his unsuccessful farm, but after one final unlucky drought was forced to sell his land and move back with his family. He fell in love with Sigrid's arranged husband Oswald, much to Sigrid's indifference as she herself was having an affair. As Sigrid and Oswald's relationship became increasingly distant, friction between them increased. When Sigrid fell ill from anthrax exposure, she began investigating the source of the outbreak and consulting with chemists. Fearing she would uncover his mistakes, he expressed little sympathy near the end for her untimely death, although he did not necessarily have a hand in it. His conflicting feelings toward Sigrid are spurred on mostly due to selfishness and shame, but Sigrid views this as betrayal toward not only her family but the town as well. She vows to kill him initially, but when she finds his buried corpse she weeps and laments the loss of her once beloved sibling.
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