# Zaire — On a Pincushion character guide

> Zaire in On a Pincushion by Mary De Morgan.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** cousin Zaire, the Princess Zaire, Princess Zaire

**First appearance:** 0003-the-story-of-the-opal

## Snapshot

A princess who mocks her cousin's silent longing for the King's son, too proud to notice that scorn is its own kind of cage.

## Who they are

Zaire shares a cottage gate with her cousin Blanchelys, and where Blanchelys sighs after the passing royal hunt, Zaire sneers — furious when the horses' dust flies in her face, scornful of a love that wastes a girl's looks. Her mockery sharpens the story's central contrast: she measures worth in husbands and advantage, while Blanchelys measures it in longing. When Blanchelys slips out at night to summon Love himself, Zaire sleeps on, the practical foil whose disbelief makes her cousin's risk feel real.

## Relationships

### [Queen Blanchelys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/characters/queen_blanchelys)

_family_

Queen Blanchelys and Zaire appear to have a maternal or protective familial relationship, with Zaire likely being her child or ward.

### [Queen Blanchelys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/characters/queen_blanchelys)

_family_

Queen Blanchelys and Zaire appear to have a maternal or protective familial relationship, with Zaire likely being her child or ward.

### [Queen Blanchelys](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/characters/queen_blanchelys)

_family_

Queen Blanchelys and Zaire appear to have a maternal or protective familial relationship, with Zaire likely being her child or ward.

## In the story

### [The Seeds of Love](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/chapters/the-seeds-of-love)

Granddaughter of the old woman, cousin of Blanchelys. Dark-haired, considered prettier but less loved. Receives a magic candle, broods over her wish, and becomes bitterly jealous of Blanchelys's happiness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/characters/zaire
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/on_a_pincushion_se/characters