Characters of Airovale

Kateryna

Farmer's Daughter

Ukrainian Inspired
Spiritual
Merchant

Who She Is

Kateryna is a farmer's daughter who works her family's stall in the market of Airovale, her braids threaded with wildflowers and her eyes steady on whatever the crowd hurries past. She has only a few moments in the reader's lens, and the whole story leans on the first of them.

Her family knows what hunger looks like, because they wore it themselves before they found shelter in the village. That is why, with coins clinking at every stall around her, she looks at a gaunt young man on the edge of the crowd and understands him at once. She does not hand an apple to everyone who passes. She waits until he is close, and she chooses.

She is not a hero in the usual sense: she does not sail, duel or cross a portal. She gives a gift and speaks a blessing, and she smiles, briefly, as someone who knows the unseen weight that kindness can set in motion. What follows belongs to Aden, but it begins in her hand.

First Meeting: Chapter 1, Life in the Village

The gates of Airovale are open and the market is loud: apples stacked in wicker baskets, salt-fish on ice, silk dyed crimson and mint. Aden, a young man made gaunt by hunger, slows near Kateryna's stall without asking for anything. She holds her hand back until he is close, presses an apple into his palm, lets her fingers linger a moment, and whispers two words: na dobro. For good.

He cannot tell whether he has been given a blessing or a bargain. He nods his thanks, tucks the apple into his pocket and is swallowed by the crowd. She does not follow. She does not need to.

Read it in Life in the Village, watch it as Episode 1, or hear the chapter's score in the soundtrack.

Kateryna and the Law of Exchange

Under the Law of Exchange nothing is gained for free, and Kateryna's apple is the story's first payment: a gift made out of remembered hunger, asking nothing back. The Law keeps the books anyway.

That evening Aden, still starving, finds the apple in his pocket, warm from the hand that gave it. It is the only food he has. He gives it to a hungry child in the shadows, the boy he used to be, and says the same two words. In that moment a gust tears a poster loose and slaps it against the wall above them, and the paper, and the voyage it promises, show him where to go next.

Call it destiny, foreshadowing, or simply good fortune finding its way home. A starving man was generous, and the road opened. The story keeps asking what would have happened if she had looked away, or if he had eaten the apple.

One Apple, Five Turns

In her hand. Kateryna sees a look her own family once wore, and chooses to give.
In his pocket. The only food Aden has stays with him through the day, still warm when evening comes.
In a child's hands. He gives it away to a hollow-faced boy who reminds him of himself, and says the words she said.
On the wall. A poster slaps against the bricks above them, and Aden follows it toward the last ship taking on crew.
In the dark of a mine. In Chapter 6, a small leaf in his pocket takes him back to the market, and to her.

Her World

The one she chose: Aden. The starving man who accepts her gift with hesitation and humility, not knowing the blessing it carries.
Her family. Farm people with a warm accent from somewhere else, who found shelter in the village after hard times and have never forgotten it.
The tower: Garrick Vale and Elara. The Quartermaster mentions Kateryna's vegetables at his noon table in Chapter 1: her family's harvest reaches the whole harbor.
Her market: Airovale. The city of zeppelins, copper and coal, where the first gift of the story is given.
The rule over all of it: the Law of Exchange. Every choice has a price, and kindness has a weight.

Where to Meet Kateryna

Chapter 1, Life in the Village. The market, the apple and the blessing, and the evening that gives the apple its second life. Episode 1 · Listen · Audiobook sample
Chapter 4, Coming Home. The ships return from the Crescent Islands and the field fills with waiting families. Kateryna's family stops its hay cart for a couple walking slowly home with their baby. Her father hands her the reins, and asks, in his warm accent, whether they are not all going the same way. Episode 4 · Listen
Chapter 6, The Law of Exchange. She is not in the scene, but she is in the memory: far from the market, a small leaf in Aden's pocket brings her gift back to him. Episode 6 · Listen

Fate set in motion by kindness

The whole gift takes ten seconds: her hand, his, an apple between them, and two words that pass from one to the other. Aden does not know yet what he is holding.

Hear the Gift

Hear Kateryna in the audiobook. Her scene is the first one in the free Chapter 1 preview below: the market, the apple and the whispered blessing, before the story climbs to the harbor tower.

Audiobook Preview Player

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Kateryna in Airovale?

Kateryna is a farmer's daughter who works her family's stall in the market of Airovale. In Chapter 1 she recognizes the hunger on Aden's face, because her own family has known it, and gives him an apple with the blessing na dobro: for good.

What does na dobro mean?

Na dobro (pronounced nah DOH-brah) is a Ukrainian phrase that means for good: a blessing spoken with a gift or an act of kindness. Kateryna whispers it as she presses the apple into Aden's hand, and Aden repeats it later when he gives the apple away.

What happens to the apple Kateryna gives Aden?

Aden keeps it, and that evening, still starving, he gives it to a hungry child in the street. A poster for a voyage to the Crescent Islands is slapped against the wall by the wind above them, and when it tears loose he follows it to the last ship taking on crew. The apple leaves its mark once more in Chapter 6, when a small leaf in his pocket takes his thoughts back to her.

Which chapters and episodes is Kateryna in?

She appears in Chapter 1, Life in the Village, and Chapter 4, Coming Home, and is remembered in Chapter 6, The Law of Exchange. The film episodes share those titles.

Why does such a small part matter so much?

Kateryna is a catalyst. She has only a few moments in the story, but the first of them is the gift that starts it: an act of kindness from someone who remembered being hungry, passed on by someone who was starving, and answered by a path he would not otherwise have found.

Will Kateryna appear again?

She has only a few moments in the first book, but Airovale is the first book of a saga, and her story is not finished.

Continue Exploring

Meet the rest of the characters & fae, including Aden and Elara, walk the streets of Airovale, or learn the Law of Exchange that her apple set turning.

Airovale — Cinema

Video episodes of each chapter

Aeronauts trade in village markets while ancient forces stir
2025
Life in the Village — Episode 1

Episode 1
Twin sisters cursed, one island holds secrets of the past
2025
The Crescent Islands — Episode 2

Episode 2
Mahala's storm destroys the greedy fleet seeking temple gold
2025
Curse of the Temple Gold — Episode 3

Episode 3
Survivors return to harbor, forever changed by the storm
2025
Coming Home — Episode 4

Episode 4
The Nereid crashes, crew discovers fae hidden in canyon mists
2025
Canyon Myst — Episode 5

Episode 5
Thalos reveals the truth: time is the only treasure
2025
Law of Exchange — Episode 6

Episode 6
Aden and Kira discover the island's buried secrets beneath the waves
2025
Deceptive Time — Episode 7

Episode 7
Aden's forbidden love exposed, duel determines his fate
2025
The Duel — Episode 8

Episode 8
Marooned and marked for death, Aden faces a night of reckoning
2025
The Long Night — Episode 9

Episode 9
At the mystic portal, all truths revealed, ultimate choice made
2025
Mystic Portal — Episode 10

Episode 10

JavaScript Required: The episode carousel requires JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript or view episodes individually: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episode 8, Episode 9, Episode 10.

Airovale — The Novel

Time is the only treasure

Airovale steampunk e-reader interface showing the novel cover

eBook

Read in the Chrono-Viewer

Flip through all 29 pages inside our brass-fitted steampunk reader — then take it with you.

$0.99 183 pp · ISBN 979-8902432326

★★★★★

Preview Buy — $0.99

New

Audiobook

Hear Chapter One Free

Stream a full chapter preview right here — then unlock all ten chapters for less than a cup of coffee.

$3.99 Audible · ASIN B0GX314JHL

★★★★★

Listen Free Buy — $3.99

Paperback

Hold the Adventure

169 pages of steampunk fantasy — a signed-quality paperback to keep on the shelf or gift to a reader.

$19.98 169 pp · ISBN 979-8-90243-239-5

★★★★★

Explore Buy — $19.98

Airovale — Frequently Asked Questions About the Book

Is the Airovale ebook the same story as the paperback or audiobook?

Yes — the story content is identical across all three formats. The only difference is the chapter illustrations, which appear in the ebook and paperback but not the audiobook.

Is Airovale worth reading if I already watched the episodes?

Absolutely. The video episodes present a glimpse of the scenery set to the soundtrack's emotional journey, while the book is where the characters' thoughts and dialogue come through — the full interior experience of the story.

Is Airovale appropriate for teens?

Airovale is appropriate for teens ages 16+. The content touches on mature themes including dueling, the penalty of death, greed, immortality, and coming-of-age young adult romance.

How much romance content is in Airovale?

The romance in Airovale is written at a young adult level, with no graphic content beyond a few kisses. It centers on the two main characters as their journey to a forbidden ruin reveals ancient secrets about the island they inhabit, and their relationship grows into love and a decision to be together.

Is there a content warning or spice level for Airovale?

No warning needed. Airovale is a romantic adventure story, safe for readers ages 16 and up, with no graphic moments beyond a kiss.

Is Airovale a series or a standalone book?

Airovale is a series. The first book introduces the story, and additional books — two or more to complete the arc — are currently in development.

Is there a comparable story to Airovale?

Not exactly. Steampunk fantasy with time travel exists, and fantasy with fae exists, but few stories combine both. The closest comparisons are Carnival Row (Amazon Prime Video) or The Anubis Gates (Tim Powers) — though Airovale is a wholly original fantasy world with no historical setting.

Is Airovale a book or a movie?

Primarily, Airovale is a story told through three lenses: book, video, and music. The website and companion channel (Roku TV) present short cinematic episodes alongside a complete original soundtrack, while the book is the deepest way to experience the full story — the center of the Airovale experience.

Desktop · Mobile · Video Calls

Free Fantasy Wallpapers & Virtual Backgrounds

Every scene in Airovale was rendered as a world worth living in. Now those worlds are yours to keep — on your screen, your phone, and your next video call.