Several romantic relationships take place within the novel. Its original subtitle was Being a Romance Within the Realms of Faerie, which suggests that the love between the two protagonists takes central attention. Tristran and Yvaine’s love grows organically throughout the story, beginning with a disastrous first meeting and evolving to one born of shared experiences and mutual respect. Initially, however, the story is set up to be one about Tristran winning the heart of Victoria Forester. As he’s only a teenager at this point, his infatuation for her is all he understands of a much broader concept. What he believes to be love incites his journey to retrieve the fallen star, which in turn leads him to discover love of a different scope.

However, Tristran’s fate is put into motion much sooner when Dunstan Thorn is promised his “Heart’s Desire” in exchange for a good turn. This leads him to spend an evening with Una. There are a few different ways to view this transaction of desire, since Dunstan gets several things out of the bargain. It may be argued that his “Heart’s Desire” was to meet his true love or to become a father to a strong and honorable son who goes on to achieve great things (since no sons were born to Dunstan and Daisy, it’s implied this would not have happened any other way).