Raybearer

The Lady is Tarisai’s mother and acts as a key antagonist for Tarisai. She and Tarisai are said to look alike. The Lady is tall and has a cold, domineering aura, although Tarisai always notes the flowery scent of jasmine that emanates from her. When The Lady was a little girl, she lived with her brother, Emperor Olugbade, in the Children’s Palace, and like Tarisai, she also exhibited precociousness and eagerness to please. Also like Tarisai, she connected with others easily—far more easily than her brother, and she mastered their history and philosophy lessons far more readily than he did. After her brother betrayed her and banished her from Oluwan, The Lady began her transformation into the woman she is now: the cold and distant mother that Tarisai knows. As Melu explains, “Years of cruelty soured her own kindness. Her heart calcified to a self-preserving stone” (224). Given The Lady’s history and traumatic past experiences, she stands as a complex character who is simultaneously ominous and potentially sympathetic.

At the very least, The Lady functions as a villain with clear motivations. Tarisai eventually learns that although she believed that her mother was absent from Bhekina House, The Lady was hidden away in her study, watching Tarisai through an enchanted mirror. When Tarisai discovers The Lady’s secret journal, she reads The Lady’s sad admission of her regret over having to watch her daughter from a distance. The Lady frames this choice as a necessary sacrifice, but her real concern is to avoid using her final wish prematurely, and she willingly compromises Tarisai’s well-being for her own selfish ends. After The Lady’s death, she arguably works to redeem herself and her past actions when she visits Tarisai before departing for the Underworld. In this scene, Tarisai is initially cold to her, but The Lady has no ulterior motive. Instead, she simply says, “You are my daughter…I wanted to say goodbye” (366). The Lady’s pride, which lingers even after death, keeps her from offering a true apology to Tarisai, but she does utter her daughter’s true name before she leaves. This acknowledgment demonstrates that, in the end, The Lady is proud of her daughter and may even love her, in her own complicated way.

Sanjeet is one of Tarisai’s closest friends, and he eventually becomes her love interest. He is unusually tall for his age, and Tarisai learns that the other council candidates refer to him as “The Prince’s Bear” due to his size and his fierce protectiveness of Dayo (55). Despite his intimidating stature, Sanjeet still has a youthful appearance that contrasts with his harsh upbringing and the traumatic experiences of his childhood. His Hallow is the ability to see weakness in others; his cruel father took advantage of this gift by forcing Sanjeet to become a pit fighter in his homeland of Dhyrma, a land reminiscent of the Indian subcontinent. Sanjeet admits that he has been forced to kill people, and this fact weighs heavy on his heart, creating feelings of guilt and residual trauma. However, his violent past also motivates him to be loyal and protective; he no longer wants to use his Hallow to cause harm. His ultimate regret is that he could not protect his younger brother from his father’s decision to sell him to a mercenary group. Sanjeet sees a great deal of his younger brother in Dayo and is keen to protect him. At the same time, Sanjeet is reluctant to be anointed because he does not want to leave his mother at the mercy of his abusive father.

Sanjeet’s strong values and need to protect others cause him to experience strong emotions and to hold a harsh and pragmatic worldview. He cannot tolerate lying and has a strong sense of justice, bearing many of the qualities of a chivalric hero. For example, when Tarisai is compelled to attack Dayo, Sanjeet quickly jumps in to protect the prince despite his growing affection for Tarisai. He even refers to Tarisai as a “monster” and a “nightmare,” expressing his anger over the impossible necessity of choosing between the two people he cares about the most. Even so, he agrees to accompany Tarisai on her journey back to Swana, though he claims to be doing it “for [Dayo’s] sake” (179). Ultimately, this journey with Tarisai and his efforts to free her from her demons help him to exorcize his own and renew his love for Tarisai. Tarisai tells him that he cannot “be [her] savior” (278), but he also insists on remaining by her side and providing her with a reason to hope for the future.