Lara Raith

Lara Raith, also known as Lara Romany, is a vampire of the White Court, and member of House Raith. She first appears in Blood Rites.

Description
Lara Raith is the eldest of the living Raith children and is in charge of House Raith.

Lara is the daughter of Lord Raith. She is an older sister to Thomas and Inari Raith. Two further sisters are Elisa and Natalia Raith. They live on the Raith estate. Her cousins are: Madrigal and Madeline Raith. She was briefly married to a man named Romany. She later used the name Lara Romany in public.

Harry Dresden describes her as dark-haired, curling and glossy, so dark it almost looked blue in the highlights; creamy-skinned, with dark pink lips a bit large for her narrow face but not detracting. Her eyes are the real "killers", large, oblique, grey with flecks of periwinkle blue, alive, alert, aware of others, intelligent and held humor. There was also smoldering demonic fires and predatory hunger. Lara Raith is described as being incredibly sensual and extremely lethal. Her strong personality and willpower allow her to gain power among the White Court. Lara is very ambitious and seeks to further her position. As the result of picking up a wedding ring, she has a crescent shaped scar.

According to Thomas Raith, she is very resourceful and gifted in removing obstacles on her way. Lara is perhaps the most dangerous of the White Court vampires, a master manipulator, conspirator and seductress. Above all else, her word is always honest; she will go to extreme lengths to preserve her word. Since secretly taking over from her father she has ended all threats to his position of power, removing the leaders of the other two houses.

Lara has a different administration style from her father's. She would pick skilled subordiates and allow them freedom to operate. Security at the Raith estate has greatly improved. Harry Dresden suspects that she could make a more powerful and skilled enemy than her father.

Blood Rites
In Blood Rites, Lara Raith enthralled her father, keeping him as a puppet, and becoming the power behind House Raith's throne; she is essentially in control of the whole White Court.

White Night
In White Night, she pushes for a peace effort between the Red Court and White Council for unknown reasons, but thanks to the White Court's nature to be backstabbing schemers and traitors, this is unlikely to be for the benefit of either the Council or the Red Court.

There's a coup in the works by the other White Court houses: House Malvora and House Skavis. Lara does a lot of manipulating in indirect ways to get Dresden's help including getting Thomas to promise not to speak to Dresden. She teams with Harry Dresden to help take down the traitors after Dresden and Carlos Ramirez duel with Madrigal Raith and Vittorio Malvora at a White Court meeting held in the Deeps. There, she also shows the capabilities she has in a fight where she and Thomas single handedly stop cold a group of charging uber-ghouls. After the battle of the Deeps, Dresden suggests that it was Lara who planned the whole thing, the hunt for magic folk with the Skavis and manipulate Lady Cesarina Malvora in order to manipulate the other two houses to make their move agains House Raith in a way that she could control. In exchange for silence, Dresden gets Lara to: provide a weregild for the families of those lost practitioners, a promise to never target magic-users again and the release of the captive Wee Folk in Dresden's name.

Backup
In "Backup", Lara informs Thomas Raith about his new assignment in the Oblivion War and that his failing to take it up would have severe consequences.

"Even Hand"
In "Even Hand", she is mentioned ordering Justine to steal some documents from King Corb.

Turn Coat
In Turn Coat, Harry Dresden and Anastasia Luccio investigate the White Court's mental tampering of their lawyer Evelyn Derek. While there, the Naagloshii attacks, kills and injures many, including Justine and Luccio and Lara's two sisters: Elisa and Natalia. Shagnasty has Thomas and wants to trade Morgan or he'll torture and kill everyone Dresden and Lara care about. Dresden informs Lara that Madeline Raith is the one who tampered with Derek's mind and behind the Binder's hit on him and also the skinwalker's attack—she is a puppet. They agree to work together to trace the stings back to the source, take down Shagnasty and get back Thomas. Dresden and Lara: the money deposited in Morgan's account came from Lara's dummy corp by Kevin Aramis sans Lara's knowledge. If The Council found that, there may be war. They're bein played against each other. Dresden tells what he knows about Madeline, probably killed Aramis. And she hired Binder.

Changes
In Changes, Thomas Raith suggests enlisting Lara's aid in finding Maggie. Harry Dresden resists letting her in too close. Thomas says she'll want to protect him now that he's highly regarded in the White Court after the Battle of the Deeps. Later, she arranges fo rthe US Navy to airlift Thomas, Molly Carpenter and Mouse out of Chichén Itzá and to safety aboard a naval ship.

Cold Days
In Cold Days, Thomas Raith updates Dresden: Lara and Marcone are uneasy allies against the Fomor. The two of them are part of the Brighter Future Society, or Chicago Alliance. Dresden and Marcone are the only two men turning down going to bed with her, which annoys her. Lara has also helped fight back the Fomor in other cities with the help of the Paranet whose members can use computers. She dispatches a ready team when she hears about trouble somewhere—and simultaneously learns about the magical talent in other cities. She is also getting more involved in government, on which she wants more control. Dresden hexes her spying bugs in Thomas's apartment.

Relationship with Harry Dresden
After the events of Blood Rites, Harry Dresden and Lara are currently locked in a stalemate as Dresden that knows the White King has become a mere figurehead and Lara knows Thomas Raith is Dresden's half-brother. Despite the growing hostility between them, there appears to be a great deal of respect as well, in particular from Lara for Dresden's own skills at manipulation and deduction. Besides, Dresden helped her gain more power within the court.

In White Night, Lara offers Dresden a chance to work for her, and Dresden once again turns her down. She repeats the offer in Turn Coat and when faced with death from the Council, he seems to actually consider it.

To escape the explosion of Deeps, Dresden powers his shield by kissing Lara. After they are out, Lara's lips are burned. She expresses chagrin that he's still protected by love, though he has not been involved with woman for four years.

In Turn Coat, Lara tells Dresden that the way to control someone is by giving them what they want. Lara offer Dresden: surcease and peace. "I can take away the pains of the mind and the body and the heart. I can give you something no one else can—freedom from you but burdens of responsibility and conscience. Sweet Dresden. I could give you peace. Imagine closing your eyes with no worries, no pain, no fears, no regrets, no appetites, and no guilt. Only quiet darkness and stillness and my flesh against yours. I can give you that. You wear your pain like a suit of armor. But one day it will be too heavy to bear. And you will remember this moment. And you will know who can give you what you need."

Other details
In Turn Coat, Lara loans Dresden a Rolls Royce Silver Raith, circa WWII (vintage is Dresden's guess). She tells him to bring it back with a full tank.

Toot-Toot calls her the Lady with the Cold Eyes. He and all the Wee Folk of Chicago feel beholden to Dresden for freeing many of them or their kin from her captivity.

Quotes
"We labored centuries to cultivate this herd. I will not abide a horde of toady, has-been poachers."

- Lara, concerning her reasons for fighting the Fomor