Generally, no, they don't delete characters. I haven't heard of anybody getting their Trial characters deleted before they upgraded to full, including people who haven't played since March, when the game launched.

Also, right now, Rift is only $25 on Amazon. I dunno when the next time it'll go down further than that is, but they have sales all the time so who knows?

No. Thats just the link they give you to share. Much easier to share http://amzn.com/B004M191RQ than it is http://www.amazon.com/Trion-Worlds-40577Rift1-Rift-Download/dp/B004M191RQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1299906394&sr=8-4