Winter Girl

Rika was Keenan's fourth Winter Girl; the girl Donia replaced. All the Winter Girls lived in the same house, so Donia knows of them and has some of their possessions. Like the prior Winter Girl, Liseli, Rika returns to visit both Keenan and Donia from time to time; something that annoys Beira. That Donia dresses in Rika's "ragged pants" is also something which annoys Beira.

Donia notes she and Rika were the same size, but otherwise, they are different in terms of temperment. Rika was easy going with Keenan and his ways, not objecting to his guards or how he watched over her. Donia says Rika was "more at ease with carrying the cold than the idea of being Keenan's queen."

Since being freed from the burden of carrying's Beira's cold, Rika, like Liseli, wanders the world. It doesn't appear she's chosen to join either the Dark or High Court.

Rika is going to be the main character in a three book manga series, tentatively titled A Desert Faery Tale. It's under contract with Tokyopo; release date in 2009. In addition to Rika's appearance, Donia and Keenan are also said to appear.

She is described as having short, blonde hair -- just long enough that it brushes her shoulder as her head tilts. Her earlobe has multiple piercings with a bar running horizontal at the top of her ear. Rika's of Nordic ancestry and has the blue eyes and good cheek bones that comes with that.

She's not a girly girl; she's a jeans girl -- tattered jeans, ripped by activity not design. She's not bulky, but not waif-thin either. Her arms have the sort of muscles one gets when one hikes, rockwalls, et al. Thin, but firm.