The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes enslavement and enslaved persons, using outdated terms that are only replicated in this guide in quotes from the source material.

“I avoided looking in the mirror when [she] changed, these days […] because I hated—hated—to see that [Heir] Mark. Vincent’s Mark. Every lie, seared into my skin in red ink. Every question I could never answer.”

Oraya’s Heir Mark represents the depth of Vincent’s lies. The Heir Mark is the undeniable proof of their biological relation to each other, which he denied until his dying breath. It is a continuous reminder of the lies he raised her to believe and the hold he has on her identity after death.

“I would take a dagger over Raihn’s hands—would rather feel a blade than his fingertips brushing my skin, far too gently. And what kind of daughter did it make me, that despite everything, some part of me craved an affectionate touch?”

Oraya’s loyalty to Vincent in the first installment prevents her from developing her own identity and autonomy. His death does not erase this continuing struggle she must still overcome. Oraya’s eventual character arc will depict her overcoming these visceral reactions to their similarities and a newfound appreciation for both their similarities and differences.

“Sometimes I wondered if they remembered me. I was nothing to them back then, of course. Another faceless body, something more akin to a tool or a pet than a sentient being. These people, of course, knew who I was now. Knew what my past held. But I couldn’t help but wonder […] whether they actually remembered me. They certainly didn’t remember all those little mundane cruelties, to them just another part of another night. I remembered, though. Every humiliation, every violation, every strike, every casual agony.”

Though Raihn has physical freedom from his former enslavers and has claimed power as the Nightborn king, he’s still mentally enslaved to the traumas and insecurities of his past. He is obsessed with how the nobles view him, certain that they still only see him as enslaved. With this mentality, nothing Raihn accomplishes will ever be considered enough to escape that submissive identity. His character arc will emerge as he battles these negative self-perceptions and eventually rises above them.