Briana 'Bree' Matthews: Crown Scion, Bloodcrafter, and Reluctant Legend

Overview

Briana “Bree” Matthews is the Crown Scion of Arthur Pendragon and a Bloodcrafter, a rare Medium who inherits both the Legendborn aether and the ancestral root fire of Vera’s line. In Bloodmarked, she moves from a girl who pulled Excalibur to a young woman who must decide what kind of leader she will be—one defined by the Order’s expectations or by her own found family and history. Bree is a Black teenager from North Carolina who lost her mother, discovered a hidden world of knights and magic, and now faces a corrupt institution that wants to control her power rather than understand it.

Plot Role

Bree is the protagonist and central point of view. Her arc drives every major plot movement:

She uncovers the Order’s lies about Nick’s abduction and Sel’s betrayal.
She flees the Lodge with Alice, William, and Sel to find allies among Rootcrafters.
She battles demons, faces the demon broker Valec, and learns of a generational blood bargain.
In the final chapters, she rejects both Arthur and Vera’s imposed roles and re-forges Excalibur into her own weapon, then sacrifices herself to Erebus to save Sel.

From the Prologue’s ancestral visions to the final confrontation, Bree’s decisions reshape the magical landscape. She is the “point of our arrow” according to Vera, but she ultimately chooses her own path.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Core motivations: protect her friends (especially Alice and Sel), rescue Nick, uncover the truth about her mother’s death, and claim her power without becoming a tool for others.

Traits:

Defiant: She sneaks out to train alone despite confinement (Chapter 1).
Empathetic: She comforts Felicity at Russ’s funeral, acknowledging grief as personal.
Stubbornly loyal: She protests Sel’s false accusation in Chapter 8, breaking Lark’s hand accidentally while using Arthur’s strength.
Resourceful: She learns to call her root intentionally by thinking of her mother’s memory (Chapter 29).
Self-sacrificing: In Chapter 60, she willingly goes with Erebus to ensure Sel is healed.

Bree’s growth is marked by learning to trust her own instincts rather than the voices of ancestors. She struggles with the burden of being “the first”—a theme Tracy Deonn explores in the Author’s Note, noting that forced resilience is not true strength.

Chronological Arc

Prologue – Inheriting the Weight: Bree experiences eight ancestral visions of women running from the Order. Vera tells her, “We ran so you would not have to.” This sets her mission: she must stop running.
Chapters 1–10 – Rebellion and Confinement: After pulling Excalibur, Bree is confined to the Lodge. She rebels against protective restrictions. At the funeral, she inadvertently recites Old Welsh, breaks Lark’s hand, and resolves to complete the Rite of Kings.
Chapters 29–32 – Training and Escape: She learns to call root fire from Jessie’s memory, talks to her father for a pep talk, and decides to embrace her power as “Bree, not king.” She escapes with her friends to the Crossroads Lounge.
Chapters 33–46 – The Bloodmark Revealed: At the Lounge, her root fire erupts, drawing broker Valec. He reveals a demon bloodmark placed by Vera’s bargain—a claim that cannot be undone. Bree now carries a demon’s contract as collateral.
Chapters 59–60 – Rejection and Rebirth: After Alice falls into a coma, Bree enters the ancestral plane, burns away Arthur and Vera’s streams, re-forges Excalibur, and summons Erebus. She trades herself to save Sel, ending the book in captivity.

Her arc is a spiral: she gains power but loses autonomy, only to reclaim it by rejecting external definitions of her destiny.

Relationships

Character	Relationship	Key Dynamics
Alice Chen	Best friend and Vassal	Bree relies on Alice for emotional support. Alice is injured protecting Bree, and Bree’s guilt drives her final decision.
Selwyn Kane	Kingsmage, love interest	From antagonism to deep trust. Sel reveals his feelings in Chapter 43; Bree later sacrifices herself for him.
William	Scion of Gawain, healer	A mentor figure who warns Bree about appearances but ultimately supports her.
Nick Davis	First love, Pendragon Scion	Nick’s abduction is the catalyst for Bree’s quest. She carries his coin as a reminder.
Vera	Ancestral foremother	Provider of power, but also a burden. Bree eventually rejects Vera’s narrative of sacrifice.
Erebus	Shadow King, demon	Villain who claims Bree through Vera’s bargain. Yet Bree negotiates with him for Sel’s life.
Her father (Chris Matthews)	Parent figure	Source of wisdom: “Make the how count.” Bree protects him by sending Lieges to his shop.

Bree’s relationships test her loyalties. She must choose between Order-approved alliances and rootcraft communities, between Nick and Sel, and between obedience to ancestors and self-determination.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Training alone in Chapter 1: Leads to a demon attack but also proves her defiance. The attack forces Sel and William to reveal more about the Shadowborn threat.
Accidentally breaking Lark’s hand at the funeral (Chapter 8): Damages her reputation with some Lieges but shows her unapologetic nature. She apologizes anyway, rejecting Arthur’s command not to.
Calling root fire intentionally (Chapter 29): Unlocks her Bloodcrafter abilities but also warns the Hunter. Positive: she gains a reliable weapon. Negative: it marks her more clearly to demons.
Revealing her power at the Crossroads Lounge (Chapter 33): Strips a warlock of his powers, drawing Valec. This leads to the discovery of the bloodmark and the bargain Vera made.
Burning away Arthur and Vera’s streams (Chapter 60): A radical act of self-definition. She loses the support of ancestral power but gains the ability to re-forge Excalibur into her own weapon. Consequence: she must now rely on her own strength.
Going with Erebus to save Sel: Saves Sel’s life but puts herself in captivity. This decision honours her personal loyalty over strategic advantage, setting up the next book’s rescue arc.

These choices show Bree prioritising people over systems, even when the cost is high.

Themes and Symbol Connections

Grief and Intergenerational Trauma (read more): Bree carries her mother’s death and the accumulated trauma of eight generations of women who ran. Vera’s declaration that they ran “so you would not have to” becomes a heavy responsibility. Bree must learn that mourning is not a duty.

Institutional Racism (read more): The Legendborn Order is a white patriarchal institution that controls magic. Bree, as a Black teenage girl, is seen as a threat precisely because she cannot be controlled. The Regents lie about Sel and cover up Lord Davis’s betrayal to maintain power.

Ancestral Legacy (read more): Bree’s root fire comes from Vera, but she also inherits the demon bloodmark. The legacy is both gift and curse. She must honour the ancestors without being bound by their choices.

Choice vs. Fate (read more): The Prologue frames Bree as destiny’s “point of the arrow.” Yet Bree repeatedly chooses her own path—especially in rejecting Arthur and Vera’s roles. The novel argues that fate can be rewritten.

Trust and Betrayal (read more): Bree is betrayed by the Regents, by Lord Davis, and even by her own ancestors’ bargains. She learns to trust Sel, Alice, and the rootcraft community instead.

Symbols: Excalibur represents inherited power that Bree must reshape. Root fire is her ancestral heritage – warm, wild, and dangerous. The bloodmark is a demon’s claim, symbolizing that even beloved legacies carry hidden costs. The red scales and wings she manifests show her reclamation of power as a dragon, a creature both feared and free.

Five Questions About Bree Matthews

1. Why can’t Bree control Arthur’s aether the way she controls her root fire?
Arthur’s power is tied to a bloodline that Bree did not choose and that resists her. She must make a blood offering to manifest aether armour, and even then it burns her. Her root fire, by contrast, comes from her mother’s memory and feels like home. Control comes only when she stops trying to force Arthur’s magic and instead wields her own ancestral flame.

2. What is the bloodmark, and how did Bree get it?
The bloodmark is a demon’s claim left on Bree’s soul. It was placed by Vera, who made a bargain with the demon Erebus centuries ago: the demon would protect the bloodline in exchange for one daughter per generation at her death. Vera’s bargain was never fulfilled; instead, the claim passed down until it attached to Bree. The mark cannot be undone, only satisfied or broken.

3. Why does Bree reject Arthur and Vera in the final chapter?
Bree refuses to be a vessel for others’ agendas. Arthur wants a king who serves his dream; Vera wants a “pain-welded blade” for ancestral revenge. Bree burns away their streams to reclaim her own identity. She re-forges Excalibur not as a sword of fate but as a weapon of her own making. This act is the climax of her character arc: choosing self-definition over destiny.

4. How does Bree’s relationship with Sel change over the course of Bloodmarked?
Initially, Sel is her Kingsmage, bound by oath. He is cold and protective. In Chapter 43, after saving her from a demon attack, Sel confesses his feelings are personal, not just duty. Bree, unsettled, retreats but later sacrifices herself for him. Their relationship shifts from antagonism to deep mutual trust and unresolved romantic tension.

5. What does Bree sacrifice at the end of the book?
Bree sacrifices her freedom. She willingly goes with Erebus, the Shadow King, on condition that he transports the corrupted Sel to his mother for healing. She leaves behind Nick, Alice, William, and her father. The sacrifice is both an act of love and a strategic choice—she bets that she can survive Erebus long enough to find a way out.