The story’s male lead, Alexus, is a complex and morally layered character whose secrets the novel gradually reveals. Though he appears to be only a few years older than Raina, Alexus is over 300. His dark hair, lightly bronzed skin, and green eyes fit the archetype of a mysterious and powerful hero. However, beneath his calm exterior lies a tortured past, shaped by war, grief, and sacrifice.

Originally born Alexi of Ghent, Alexus was once a gifted Eastland sorcerer. Under King Gherahn’s brutal rule, he was transformed into Un Drallag (the gatherer) and tasked with rounding up all the sorcerers in Eastland territories to serve in Thamaos’s war. Those who resisted were executed, and Alexus bore the burden of their deaths. Disillusioned and longing for peace, he defected to the Northlands, forming a deep bond with Colden Moeshka, the Frost King. Tragedy followed: His wife and child were killed by Gherahn’s men, driving Alexus to explore forbidden magick in hopes of restoring them. Instead of reunion, he encountered the god Neri in the Shadow World, and to prevent Neri’s return, Alexus trapped the god inside his own body, a haunting act that defines much of his internal struggle.

Despite his immense power, Alexus remains humble and loyal. His decision to bind his immortality to Colden reflects both his commitment to friendship and his belief in redemption through service. He takes on the role of the Witch Collector not as a tyrant but as a protector. Northland witches are always given a choice, and Alexus’s work centers on safeguarding Tiressia, even if it comes at the cost of his own peace.

Alexus is shaped by guilt and defined by self-restraint. However, he’s also strategic and emotionally intelligent. His bond with Raina, forged in trauma and mutual respect, gradually evolves into something deeper. When he marks her with his rune to save her from the Shadow World, he acknowledges both his affection and his awareness of consent. “A clever sorcerer marks what’s his. Raina Bloodgood now bears my rune. My power. My seal. My name” (308). Still, he offers her the option to break the bond, prioritizing her autonomy over his desire. This moment encapsulates his journey: a powerful man learning to wield his strength not to control, but to protect, trust, and love.

The Frost King of the Northlands, Colden is defined by grief, restraint, and reluctant divinity. Though initially presented as a distant and formidable figure, Colden’s story gradually reveals a person shaped by sorrow and stripped of agency.

Physically, Colden is striking: He has flaxen hair, dark eyes, and ethereal beauty give him “air of innocence that he does not possess” (22). His appearance contrasts sharply with the burden he carries: cursed immortality and immense frost power. Once a mortal soldier who served the northern god Neri, Colden became a pawn in the gods’ conflict. The southern goddess Asha fell in love with him and, violating divine law, made him immortal so that he would remain hers. In a disturbing violation of autonomy, she drugged him to manipulate his desires, robbing him of consent and control. Though he resisted her affections, she refused to relinquish her hold. When he reunited with Fia Drumera, his true love at the time, Asha cursed him never to return to the Summerlands. Neri compounded the punishment, ensuring that Colden and Fia would remain forever divided, he with frost, she with fire.

Despite these cosmic betrayals, Colden rules the North with stoic dignity. He gathers Witch Walkers not through force but with trust, aiming to protect his people from the looming threat of the Eastlands. He bears the heavy crown of becoming a king out of necessity rather than ambition. His decision to surrender during battle, choosing his people’s safety over victory, shows his deep sense of responsibility.

Colden’s most defining moment comes in the Shadow World, where he sacrifices himself to save Raina and Nephele. This act reframes him as profoundly human rather than a cursed monarch: He fights not for glory but for others’ survival, even at the cost of his own.

Raina’s best friend, Helena, is the younger sister of Finn Owyn, Raina’s former lover. Fiercely loyal, brave, and ambitious, Helena dreams of joining the Watch and trains relentlessly with her sword to prove that she’s as capable as any man. Her friendship with Raina is deeply rooted in mutual trust and respect, and she shares her sword knowledge to help Raina become a stronger fighter, a testament to their bond and Helena’s generous spirit.

Helena’s arc turns dark after the Eastlander attack on Silver Hollow. Believing that Raina dead, Helena takes the God Knife as a keepsake. This well-intentioned but emotionally driven choice renders her vulnerable to possession. A wraith, drawn by the knife’s power and the Prince of the East’s orders, takes control of her, warping her perception and turning her into a threat to Raina and Alexus. The wraith’s influence weaponizes Helena’s inner anger and sorrow, revealing the hidden costs of grief and survivor’s guilt. Only Nephele’s intervention expels the wraith, but the damage casts a lasting shadow on Helena’s journey.

Despite this ordeal, Helena emerges more focused and empowered. Her near-death experience and possession deepen her character, transforming her from a determined village girl into a hardened warrior. Raina later observes, “I can’t help but glance at Hel, looking like the warrior she’s meant to be,” recognizing the strength Helena forged through pain (339).

Helena represents the resilience born of loss and the complexities of female strength. She’s defined by her ability to reclaim agency after being overtaken, physically and emotionally, by forces outside her control. Her transformation is both physical and spiritual, making her a formidable figure in the growing resistance against the East.

The novel’s central antagonist, the Prince of the East, embodies the decayed intersection of corrupted divinity, stolen power, and calculated tyranny. Though he wears the title of “prince,” his dominion is less about inheritance than manipulation. He’s defined not by charisma or honor but by control—over bodies, souls, and power. His most terrifying weapon isn’t fire magick or a sword, but his ability to siphon life from others, feeding on their vitality and threading their magick into his own.

The prince’s soul is visually grotesque and morally bankrupt; his physical decay mirrors his spiritual corruption. Raina observes the scent of burning and death in his wounds, his body smoldering and brittle, and notes that his soul isn’t whole but carries “the husks of other strands” (274), the remnants of stolen lives. He survives by leeching others, absorbing their strength, and desecrating their essence. This parasitism marks him as a villain not just of cruelty but also of perversion, a being who thrives on exploitation, consuming the souls of even his own soldiers.

In addition, he wields psychological power through fear. His interactions with Raina are laced with menace, as when he sneers, “You can reveal your skills willingly, or I will find ways to unearth them myself. I can be kind, or I can be your worst nightmare” (260-61). His threats are calculated, aiming to break will before body. His control over Nephele, which he uses as leverage against Raina, isn’t just strategic but deeply personal. He treats people as tools, particularly women he seeks to possess or consume, reducing even the most powerful to mere fuel.

Though he cloaks himself in shadows and commands armies, the prince isn’t omnipotent. He relies on the decaying magick of a dying mage and is desperate for a replacement, eventually targeting Nephele. His dependence on others to sustain himself reveals a fatal weakness: His power, while vast, is borrowed and unsustainable. He isn’t a god but a man trying to become one through theft and force.

Ultimately, the Prince of the East symbolizes the dangers of unchecked ambition, the horror of power divorced from morality, and the entropy that follows the unnatural defiance of death. He’s a villain that others must not simply defeat but must unmake, thread by stolen thread.

Raina’s older sister, Nephele, is a powerful Witch Walker whose presence shapes the novel’s emotional stakes and thematic arcs, even when she isn’t present. Taken by the Witch Collector eight years before the novel’s events, Nephele becomes both the source of Raina’s vengeance and the symbol of what Raina believes was stolen from her family. However, as the story unfolds, Nephele emerges as a nuanced and autonomous character whose decisions complicate Raina’s understanding of the world.

Nephele isn’t passive. Her bond with Colden, the Frost King, reveals both agency and emotional depth. She isn’t only Colden’s lover but also his confidante and protector, committed to the Northland’s survival. Nephele’s alliance with Colden at the novel’s outset demonstrates the maturity and perspective that Raina has yet to develop. While Raina sees the Witch Collector as a villain and Colden as a tyrant, Nephele understands the larger stakes and chooses to remain in Winterhold out of purpose rather than helplessness.

Captured by the Prince of the East, Nephele endures torture and restraint yet never capitulates. Her stoicism under pressure and her refusal to betray her people testify to her inner strength. Additionally, she provides critical emotional grounding for Raina, especially after their reunion. When Raina is overwhelmed or doubting her path, Nephele speaks with clarity and compassion, urging her sister to listen to her heart and reminding her of what truly matters.

Nephele’s magic is formidable. Though the full extent of her powers remains mysterious, she’s strong enough that the prince targets her as a potential vessel for magickal siphoning, a testament to her value and potency. However, she isn’t defined solely by power: Her greatest strength lies in her constancy—her loyalty to her values, her people, and most of all, her sister.

Nephele represents the emotional core of the novel’s themes: love, sacrifice, and the strength in unity. Her resilience, wisdom, and quiet courage make her more than a catalyst for Raina’s journey; she’s a central force shaping the future of Tiressia itself.