Randa

King Randa is the current ruler of the Middluns. He is the father of Prince Raffin and uncle of Lady Katsa.

History
Little is known of Randa's life before Katsa came to court. He had a wife and a son, Raffin, and a sister with a family of her own. When a sickness began to spread around the castle, both his sister and wife caught it and perished. His brother-in-law had already been killed defending a village from raiders, so Randa was forced to take in his baby niece, Katsa. Soon after her parents died, Katsa's eyes changed color, marking her as a Graceling.

When she was eight years old, Katsa accidentally killed a cousin who touched her inappropriately, and of course everyone assumed it must be her Grace. While many kings might have banished or executed her, Randa saw potential in this development and waited to see what might come of it. Katsa's began to train with Oll, Randa's spymaster, and when he was satisfied with her skills, the king put her to work.

For her first mission, he ordered Katsa to publicly execute a lord who'd been spying for another king, in such a horrific manner that all those who saw would never again even think of crossing him. Katsa instead chose to snap the man's neck, giving him a quick and painless death. Randa was outraged when he learned this. From then on, he made a point of giving clear and specific orders, leaving Katsa no way to avoid the commands without directly disobeying her uncle. He also verbally abused her in order to keep her obedient; making her think of herself as nothing more than his stupid, savage dog meant to do its master's bidding.