A handsome, very English-looking young man with a clean, composed silhouette that does not quite conceal his avian habits. He scans rooms by fixing first on the highest ledges, then on windows and exits, rarely meeting a person’s eyes for long. His stride is neat and measured, but he turns his head in quick, precise increments. In fae mien, immaculate black feathers lie close over broad wings; he uses illusion and careful posture to pass them off as folds or shadows. His raven form is unusually large, glossy, and meticulously groomed.

Merrit is attentive and quick-witted, yet he spends that intelligence on evasion as readily as service. He can be charming with guests and quietly generous to the cooks, but dismissive toward other Pooka and openly unkind to birds he considers lesser. In danger he becomes practical rather than brave; when embarrassed, he turns the moment into a joke before anyone else can name it.

Merrit hatched as a raven in the Tower of London and learned the city from rooflines, rubbish bins, and the scraps of conversation left in courtyards. He watched people long before he tried to pass among them. Once he could manage a human guise, he built two separate lives: a raven’s work carrying messages and spying, and an enterprising young man’s work making himself useful to mortals. For a time, he kept his changeling nature hidden, using tricks to unsettle senses and meddle with local reality. He was caught in mid-flight by Louise Sarne de Scathach, a hired hand with little patience for his recklessness. She arranged for him to be sent to Sour-Snow Lodge, an Alpine bath resort, where he is expected to learn restraint while serving as messenger and concierge. His old habit of scouting the neighborhood remains, but he now takes care not to be hurt or exposed. Clare, a mortal girlfriend, left after repeated lies; he has not managed to replace that one attachment. He gets on well with the cooks, chiefly by insinuating himself near the kitchen until someone takes pity on him.