Elena

Elena is the main character in The Spoken Mage series.

Personality and Characteristics
Quick to react, Elena often doesn't think through her words before the leave her mouth. This can cause trouble as her compositions are made without the appropriate limitations and drain her energy. This improves as she trains.

Early years
Born in Kingslee to shopkeepers, Elena grew up forbidden to read or write. When Elena uses spoken power to interfere with an angry mob's destruction of her parent's shop, she is picked up by mage soldiers and forced to enter the Academy of the Written Word.

Voice of Power
In Elena's world words have power over life and death--but none more so than hers

As the daughter of shopkeepers, Elena has always known that the mysteries of reading and writing were closed to her. Only the mageborn can risk harnessing the power unleashed from putting pen to paper. Until Elena discovers an impossible new ability and joins the elite ranks of the mages.

But with the kingdom at war, the authorities can't agree if Elena is an asset, or a threat they need to eliminate. Thrust into the unknown world of the Royal Academy without friends or experience, Elena will need all of her wits, strength, and new power to carve a place for herself.

Except as the attacks become more personal, wits and strength won't be enough. Elena will have to turn to new friends and an enigmatic prince to unlock the mysterious potential of her words and survive her first year as a trainee mage.

from: Melanie Cellier's Homepage

Voice of Command
Elena has found the power in her voice--now she must decide how to use it

Finally accepted as a mage, Elena struggles with her commonborn roots. And when disaster strikes the kingdom, she can't shrug off the death toll as she mageborn have always done. Yet the limitations of her spoken magic hold her back—both in saving lives among the people and in competitions in the Academy's arena.

In desperation she turns to an unlikely source of assistance—Prince Lucas. But just as she begins to master her powers, she finds herself the pawn of stronger forces.

With everything she's struggled for almost within her grasp, she must decide what—and who—is worth sacrificing to come into her full power and take her place among the mages. from: https://www.melaniecellier.com/spokenmage/

Voice of Dominion
Even the Spoken Mage has limits to the power of her voice

Elena may be the only Spoken Mage in history, but she struggles with limitations. Unable to stockpile written workings as her mageborn year mates do, she runs the constant risk of burning out. But when the Armed Forces draw the third years to the front lines of their war, Elena's strength and flexibility may be necessary to keep them all alive.

As Elena wrestles with how much she will sacrifice for the war, Lucas must decide how much he's willing to sacrifice for her. Faced with a greater threat than even they realize, Elena and Lucas must work together and either fight or be consumed by their enemies. from: https://www.melaniecellier.com/spokenmage/

Voice of Life
The fourth and final book in the Spoken Mage series

In her fourth year at the Academy, Elena should be focused on final exams and graduation. Instead, she has no choice but to stop a decades-long war—at least if she wants any future with Lucas.

But it’s hard to stop a war when you’re nowhere near the front lines. And an unexpected invitation—one she can’t refuse—only complicates the matter further. Embroiled in political machinations beyond her experience, Elena will have to plumb the depths of her remarkable power and new abilities.

As she finally learns who she can and can’t trust, she’ll risk everything to win a future for herself, her family, and her kingdom. But if she makes a misstep, the price could be more than she’s willing to pay.

from: https://www.melaniecellier.com/spokenmage/

References and Notes
https://www.melaniecellier.com/spokenmage/