Philippa Eilhart

Philippa Eilhart is court sorceress to King Vizimir of Redania, a woman who treats politics like sorcery and sorcery like politics — both to be bent quietly to her will. Poised, sharp-tongued and always several moves ahead, she works the corridors of power with a courtier's smile and a strategist's patience, never showing her full hand.

Cassie Clare plays her with a cool, amused authority that makes every scene feel like a chess move you haven't noticed yet. The writing gives her real institutional power rather than mystique alone, and Clare uses that to suggest a mind constantly calculating three conversations ahead of the one she's having.