The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

Raihn is the other point-of-view character of the novel and Oraya’s love interest. Raihn is tall and muscled with red-black, shoulder-length hair, and rust-red eyes. He has the feathered wings of the Nightborn Rishan vampires and possesses the rare Asteris ability, a devastating magic capable of killing with a single blow.

Raihn was a human who shipwrecked on the coast 300 years ago and was Turned into a Rishan vampire by the Nightborn King of that era, Neculis Vasarus. Raihn then spent 70 years enslaved, enduring mistreatment and horrors at the hands of countless Rishan nobles. Centuries later, freed from enslavement and now the Nightborn King himself, Raihn is still terrified of his former masters and hides his true self behind performances of cruelty to gain their support. Yet “despite the Mark, the crown, the wings, they still saw a Turned slave” (19). Raihn’s fear of his past applies even to his rule, as he often worries he resembles Neculai too much—a fact he never wished to come true. He feels trapped in the conflict of Love Versus Power. Raihn has “long ago given up on some image of [him]self as a morally decent person [and] tried not to beat [him]self up about it. But [he] would always regret this. Breaking Oraya. That was a sin that [he]’d never be able to atone for” (121). His handling of his relationship with Oraya, which has caused her pain and heartbreak, also mirrors the ill-fated relationship between Neculai and his wife, Nessanyn, stoking Raihn’s fears that he will become just like the tyrannical kings who came before him.

Despite this fear, Raihn still clings to his humanity as he has always done, continuing to risk burning to feel the sun on his skin and visiting human pubs to drink beer and pretend to be mortal. These sympathetic and redeemable qualities in Raihn position him as an anti-hero who redeems himself as a full-fledged hero. Raihn’s actions as king, which include making the human districts of Sivrinaj safer from vampires, add to this archetype. While Raihn has made questionable decisions in the past to achieve his goals, Oraya remains his primary motivator over revenge or power, proving himself much different than other vampire rulers, past and present, in the series.

Septimus is a pale-skinned, silver-haired Bloodborn prince desperate to restore the goddess Nyaxia’s favor to the House of Blood and remove the curse on Bloodborn vampires. The curse causes them to swiftly deteriorate into uncontrollable bloodlust, insanity, and eventually, death. Septimus has always been a charming yet off-putting character whom Oraya regards with wariness and distrust. He’s often described as predatory and conniving, his character known for scheming and placing bets on other people, treating them as game pieces in a round of chess. Much like Oraya, Raihn has hated Septimus from the moment they first met, his reputation and appearance screaming “Untrustworthy Bloodborn Royalty in every way” (65).

After using Raihn as a pawn during the Kejari, Septimus reaps the benefits of an advantageous alliance with the House of Night. Septimus holds power over Raihn, as without his Bloodborn guards, “[Raihn] would be fucked. The Rishan forces just weren’t capable of holding up against the Hiaj alone” (33). Despite his upper hand, Septimus is desperate and working against a ticking clock to reverse the Bloodborn curse before it takes not only more of his people but himself. The tremors in his hands are never explicitly explained, but the narrative hints that they are evidence of his impending Bloodborn curse taking root. Septimus is the only surviving son of his family, raising the stakes of the prophecy given to his parents by a seer, claiming their son “would either save the House of Blood, or end it” (284), therefore further heightening his desperation.

Though Septimus does terrible things in his desperation, Raihn realizes that he possesses some compassion for his people: “he was perfectly happy to accept whatever insults [others] wanted to lob his way, but he didn’t like it much when [others] disrespected those who worked under him” (67). Though he has mostly negative traits, he at least shows appreciation of, loyalty to, and respect for his people.

Jesmine is a minor character from the first installment of the series who becomes a secondary character in the sequel. Jesmine is a Hiaj vampire in the House of Night, described as having ash-brown hair, immense beauty, luscious curves, and slate-gray wings. She proudly displays a scar at the center of her chest as proof that she has survived an attempted staking. Her scar is also proof of Jesmine’s resilience and determination, which she applies as Vincent’s and Oraya’s Head of War, a position formerly only ever given to men. Her underlying battle skill is shown in the way she moves, “like a dancer, well-trained, elegant, unemotional” (85).

While Oraya had never trusted Jesmine before the Kejari, her feelings were influenced by jealousy over the intimate relationship Jesmine seemingly had with Vincent. As his daughter, Oraya coveted his limited affections and resented any scarce amount given to Jesmine instead. Following the Rishan takeover, Jesmine, and the Hiaj were forced to flee the city, yet she remains loyal to Oraya as the clan’s true Heir. Without Vincent in the picture, Oraya gets to know Jesmine as she is without her jealousy coloring her perception. In their interactions throughout the sequel, Oraya realizes the “stark difference from the polished seductress [Oraya] was so used to seeing” (57). While Oraya never thought much of Jesmine before, “seeing little more than her sultry voice and low-cut dresses and delicate, well-tended beauty,” she now sees that image as “laughably two-dimensional” (402). Her newfound respect and admiration for Jesmine causes Oraya to admit that she “seemed like the epitome of everything a man like Vincent should love. Beautiful. Brilliant. Deadly. Powerful. If he had ever chosen to marry, [Oraya] couldn’t have imagined a better match for him” (409). However perfect Jesmine might have been for Vincent, she too struggled to obtain his love. She provides Oraya with an understanding ear in the aftermath of his death.

Mische was born human and Turned into a vampire by a mystery man two centuries ago. After all this time, she still clings to the vestiges of her humanity and loses sleep over the man who, when she became deathly ill during the Turning, left her to die on the streets. She was eventually found by Raihn who kept her alive and has remained with her ever since. Mische recognizes the Shadowborn prince as the perpetrator and kills him, providing her with closure for the attack that has ruled her life ever since. With the fear of him gone, Mische has the courage at the end of the novel to decide to venture beyond the House of Night on her own, without Raihn’s guidance or protection.

Mische is described as having caramel curls that reach her shoulders. She does not have the telltale wings of House of Night vampires. Mische is impulsive and reckless, characteristics which scare Raihn endlessly. She also has an uncanny sense of empathy, is highly optimistic, and is a talented magic-user “well-read in sorcery and magical history” (237). While many easily dismiss her as “some pretty, vapid thing,” there is “something so much harder under the surface […] a glint of blade-sharp steel hidden in the flower garden” (240).

Mische is Raihn’s best friend and, regardless of the lack of blood relation, his only family. As a contestant of the Kejari beside both Oraya and Raihn months ago, Mische is also a friend to Oraya, providing a bridge between Oraya and Raihn after his betrayal. Raihn finds comfort in Mische’s presence throughout the novel, as there “was not a single person in the world [he] was more comfortable with than [her]” (119). Mische is the one person Raihn can count on not to judge him for the things he’s done. Mische provides Raihn with friendship and support when Oraya is unable to. Similarly, she does the same for Oraya in Raihn’s absence.