Prince Guan Terren is the second-born prince of Azalea House who is named heir to the throne at the start of the novel. Terren possesses the Dao sigil, making him the most feared and powerful man in the nation with an affinity for blades and a reputation for being terrifying, ruthless, and cruel. Even more infamous than his reputation is the Aricine Ward—the spell that makes him unable to die.

Terren is first introduced as having “enough menace in his black eyes to fill the entire room” (33). During his early interactions with Wei, he tells her that “the more [she] speak[s] insincerely, the worse [he] will torture [her]” (62). These threats imply that Terren is distrustful of others and will be a difficult person for Wei to connect with. Terren is positioned as an awful, bitter, and cruel character, but Wei’s discovery of his backstory becomes the backbone of the entire story—and of Wei’s journey to power.

Despite his present cruelty, his advisor Hesin describes Terren in childhood as “such a gentle and sensitive child, and extraordinary in his talent for poetry. One who loved his brother dearly” (88). Maro describes him as “harmless, affectionate, and easy to please” in his journals (153). These docile characteristics weren’t well-liked among the court and everyone instead adored Maro. However, Maro was always Terren’s biggest supporter. In her search for answers, Wei soon learns of the ways in which Terren was mistreated most by the people who were supposed to love him and how these hardships hardened him into the person he later became. Wei mourns that child, “That timid and affectionate child, the one who wanted to heal and protect everything—nobody had loved him back. Not his mother, certainly not his father—and, at the end of it all, not even his brother” (246). She learns that he gradually became violent in self-defense after enduring sustained, severe abuse at his mother’s hands and after spending a long spell in a war zone.

Terren is given a partial redemption arc in the novel. While he is not forgiven for his abuse or his crimes, he is released from his suffering and happily enters the afterlife as a more childlike, innocent version of himself. Over the course of the novel, Wei manages the impossible—breaking through his emotional barriers and unveiling the softer parts of Terren that still exist.

Prince Guan Maro is the First Son of the Azalea House, also called Carver of Rivers and Builder of the Salt Road, the most important trade route in the nation. He has always been the assumed heir to the throne until recently. He is married to Lady Song Silian who has hair of frost-white and a smile that “made it seem like she was afraid of nothing” (32). Maro has a reputation as being the most honorable prince. This is showcased in the stories that claim he never took concubines when he was heir because his love for his wife was so deep.

In childhood, Maro was under stifling expectations from his masters and his parents. He molded himself into the “prince everyone expected him to be—filial, hardworking, and dutiful” (157), but all he wanted was to play for eternity with Terren and to be a peasant where “families live in the same houses […] all together. […] and brothers take care of each other even when they’re all grown” (157). His childhood desires are soon overshadowed and erased by the political maneuvering and manipulation of authority figures in Maro’s life.

Master Ganji tells Maro, “For you, the word blood does not mean family but country. Your veins are Tensha’s flowing rivers, your beating heart its capital, your flesh its mountains and fertile valleys” (157). While this comment doesn’t make its mark on young Maro in that moment, it does become his compass for adulthood. The older Maro gets, the more seriously he takes his royal duties and the harder he pushes himself to meet the expectations of everyone around him, nearly to a point that kills him.

Eventually, his morality and loyalty to his country become corrupt, changing his values from personal things—such as his mother and Terren—to other things, such as glory, success, and the prosperity of the nation. Later, Wei realizes this, too, when she finally meets Maro face-to-face and realizes that he disappoints her: “He was supposed to have honor and integrity. He had once believed he could rule a nation while keeping both, and perhaps it was the once that bothered me most” (335). Maro dies in the arena during the coronation battle with the dragon after he attempts to kill Terren.