Cain Ballari is a primary character and Neema’s love interest. Cain is a former graduate of Anat-russir, the Fox monastery, and is the Fox contender for the throne. Cain is also from Scartown, but even lowlier than a Commoner. He’s a Scrapper, a child abandoned in the streets by his parents and forced to survive off scraps. He later learns from Tales of the Raven that the Fox Guardian found him as an infant and chose to inhabit his body, giving Cain special powers that mirror Neema’s special connection to the Raven.

While he is ambitious, Cain’s morality is among the strongest of the cast, leading him to work against the system when he feels it is unjust. He urges Neema not to copy Yana’s exile order, and later tells her that, while ostensibly working as an assassin for the emperor, he actually leads the emperor’s intended victims to safety instead. Can is also one of the novel’s most prominent advocates for fighting against The Oppressive Nature of Class Hierarchies. He earns the respect and admiration of all his peers, even those from wealthy Venerant families, and yet proudly showcases his “thick, thick accent from the gutters of Scartown that he wilfully refused to shake” (43). He also reveals to Neema that Emperor Bersun’s supposed commitment to social mobility is actually a ruse, revealing Cain’s own savvy in recognizing the emperor’s corruption.

Cain, much like Foxes, “didn’t walk straight up to a problem and shake it by the hand. [He] circled, [he] sidled. And then, when the problem was looking the other way, [he] bit it on the ankle” (42). His carefree nature is a facade to hide a “shrewd, determined schemer” (88). These qualities could make him a powerful ally or a dangerous enemy. In Neema’s case, his affection for her makes him a loyal friend to her even during their period of estrangement and despite his fickle nature. At the novel’s end, he has rekindled his relationship with Neema and is fleeing with her to safety after the emperor’s coup, with the narrative implying that their relationship and joined political resistance will continue to develop in the next installment.

Emperor Bersun is repeatedly described as the reluctant emperor who wears the crown “out of duty, not desire” (10). His distaste for lavishness and the tedious happenings of court is well-known. However, by the time Bersun ever makes it on the page, he’s already been long dead and replaced by Andren Valit in magical disguise.

There are many hints at this switch sprinkled throughout the narrative but the truth isn’t revealed until well into the second half of the novel. It is said that Bersun lost three fingers in his fight with Andren Valit, but this is only a convenient excuse for Andren to not replicate Bersun’s unique handwriting and sword-fighting style. Additionally, Bersun hails from the Bear monastery, and thus is known for his giant frame and bulky stature. When Andren usurps him and begins using Bersun’s younger (and smaller) brother, Gedrun, to fuel his chameleon spell, it is rumored that the great warrior is “diminished, both in body and spirit” following the failed rebellion to account for this change (11).

Much of the novel positions Bersun as benevolent and compassionate. Neema greatly admires the man she believes is her friend. Even his handling of Yana’s fate is done with mercy until Ruko removes that mercy himself. Bersun’s initial reforms also give the impression that the current Bersun is a fellow ally against The Oppressive Nature of Class Hierarchies when, in reality, Andren is only tolerating the reforms until he can inhabit Ruko’s body during his next reign and change everything back to how it was.

At the novel’s end, Bersun has revealed his true identity as Andren Valit to his court, but will now steal pieces of Ruko’s soul and impersonate his son in front of the people to trick them. He starts a massacre against dissenters on the island as he undertakes his removal to the old capital, revealing his cruelty and suggesting that he will become an open tyrant in the next installment of the trilogy.

Ruko shares the same straight black hair as his mother and sisters, threaded through with iridescent purple and blue inherited from their ancestor Yasthala the Great, the last Raven empress. When the main timeline begins, Ruko’s childhood optimism has been replaced with stoic cynicism: There’s “nothing left of that eager, careless boy […] full of dreams and optimism” (95). Ruko’s character is defined by a fateful choice he made when he came of age, when he chose his sister Yana’s exile—and presumed death—so that he could join the Tiger monastery and eventually compete for the throne. This decision reflects Ruko’s total commitment to his ambition, speaking to The Temptations and Corruptions of Power.

Ruko is, like Neema, a solitary character. However, this is by choice, to keep himself cold and detached from anything that might inspire him to feel something real. Though he is a favorite amongst the Festival’s spectators, he “takes nothing from the crowds. He does not want their energy or need it. A Tiger draws his power from within. He stands alone, beautiful and terrible” (173). While Ruko’s isolation gives him the ruthless power he needs to win the throne, it also makes him vulnerable to this father’s manipulation, who steals the throne and Ruko’s likeness to continue his own rule.

However, Ruko also demonstrates dynamism over the narrative, which suggests that he may end up being a very different figure than the son his father had in mind. Ruko starts to show more compassion towards others, orchestrating Benna’s escape and saving Tala’s life during one of the Trials. When he is forcibly taken from the island alongside the rest of the imperial family, he takes comfort from finding Benna’s red ribbon and feels more hopeful, suggesting that he is starting to value interpersonal connections more than the naked pursuit of power. His changing values in this first installment imply that he may become an important part of the resistance to the emperor’s power in the next installment.