Villains and Romance of Book 1
Vortigern is still the villain of Book 1
Lot is the villain of the whole series. He is allied with Vortigern as he struggles to escape from Avalon - only his wraith has breached Rhenna so far. He is Vortigern's "boss"
Vortigern wants to find Merlin's staff and something else in the treasure at Dinas Emrys and use it as his magical fuel device, so that his magic would grow in power and he could drain the magic/the Void of of all the knights, making them normal humans, and so get revenge on knights for making sorcerers "lesser" than them
Lot wants to break out of Avalon, kill Darius and Linnet, take Darius' sword Excalibur, get revenge on the Pendragons by killing Linnet, get revenge on Arthur by killing Darius, get revenge on Pellinore for killing him, and use Excalibur to destroy the Void and take over both Earth and Rhenna, turning everyone into his slaves or heavily-controlled allies
Due to Merlin's prophecy of Dinas Emrys about the treasure, Vortigern needs the yellow-haired blue-eyed youth to find the treasure and get it for him. This youth is Linnet, Sillah's niece, and Sillah and Vortigern figure out that Linnet is the youth in the prophecy. Thus, Vortigern needs Linnet's (forced) cooperation to accomplish his goals
Misunderstood villains:
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Curser sorcerer boy
Weylyn
Betrayers:
Kailee
Adira
Weylyn
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What Vortigen does during book 1
Work on gaining Linnet's trust and figuring out if she really is the youth in Merlin's prophecy
Trying to kill Darius by sending his minions to attack them
Consulting with Lot and planning with him
What Lot does during book 1
Summons his strength and his wraith becomes clearer
Plotting with Vortigern, Silllah, and Balin
Arguing with Morgana le Fay, his jailer
Obstacles Vortigern throws at the heroes:
Sending his minions, including curser boy, after Darius and the gang, to sabotage and stalk and openly attack the gang
In more detail: the curser boy, the robbers who have imprisoned Xanthe, creatures and demons dredged up from the Land of Darkness, the sketchy weapons guy who Darius has to defeat alone
After Linnet flees, he sends his best agents - and those she's trusted before - after her to definitely not kill her and hopefully turn her back to their side, or if completely necessary, kidnap her. However, they are fully able to kill/injure Tybalt, and a vision from Linnet saves him from drinking poison
Attacks the Seer before Linnet and Tybalt get there
ROMANCE!!
Darius is an oblivious extroverted teenage boy. He doesn't realize Narissa is fond for him, but readers do. However, he is subconsciously eyeing Adira
Linnet is falling for Tybalt, and she knows it, but he is insanely good at masking his emotions. She cannot tell what he thinks at all; however, he has spoken of another girl
Tybalt is stuck between Linnet and Narissa
Adira remains neutral. She doesn't want to ever marry, because she wants to see the world unhindered. She is also terrified of marriage due to her evil stepfather. However, in the very end, Darius wins her over, but then... the curse
Why Balin Is A Villain: he hates the Lady of the Lake, he grew vengeful and bitter in Avalon, and he is arrogant and greedy for power, which is what Lot has offered him