Galt Stonewall "This is Galt Stonewall. He is not worn down by the world. He refuses to be." *"The scar on his back was left by his foster father, out of love. It's a story he can never know." "He is well known for always chasing down the street urchins that steal the food from the market stalls. Out of sight, in the alleys, he waves as they escape." "A bit of sorcery when he was young took the red from his hair and left it black. It was the only memento of his mother he would have had." "When he whispers to it, the earth will listen, and bend for him. It's the only magic he knows, but it's the only one he'll ever need."

Din Summersend "Din Summersend. She's more liable to skewer a man with words than sword, but she is clever in the use of both." "She was trained to appraise value in things, then people. She is afraid to turn that skill inward." "She fears that a slip of the tongue will change their relationship. She wonders which news matters more: her feelings, or the throne." *"He said he liked her hair up. Each morning she carefully puts her hair up, then shakes it back out in embarrassment." *"There is unrest in the plains, that the marriage papers in her rucksack would calm. Her marriage papers, in her rucksack, that she left beneath a tree, months ago."

Poole They call her Your Ladyship. Her keepers call her Miss Poole. She is neither." *"She spent a life in quiet contemplation of God and his actions, and blood rushes to her cheeks when she thinks 'I could have done better.'' "She is quick with a smile and a kind word to those who seek out her blessing. There are no smiles when she is alone. None of the words she uses for herself are kind." "Sometimes when she wakes, she can almost remember the name she had before the Orthodoxy took her." "A small but tidy bakery, warm smiles, and the aroma of fresh bread; had their neighbour kept quiet, this would have remained her home."