The protagonist of the novel, Sera, is also its first-person narrator and only point-of-view character. Sera is a Princess of the mortal kingdom of Lasania, the daughter of King Lamont and Queen Calliphe. King Lamont died shortly after Sera’s birth, after which Calliphe married Ernald. Sera has two stepsiblings: the sadistic Tavius, whom she kills in the first book of the series, and Ezra, whom Sera loves and who goes on to become the Queen of Lasania. Sera has had the embers of life in her since her birth, giving her extraordinary powers but also potentially hastening her death. At the start of the novel, Sera is five months away from her 21st birthday; unless the embers are removed from her or she becomes a Primal, she will die when the five months are up. Sera describes herself as curvy and pale, with long, silvery-blond hair. She has freckles on her skin and a crescent-moon-shaped birthmark on her left shoulder, which symbolizes that she is to be the Consort of Nyktos, the Primal of Death. While Sera tends to view herself as not dainty, other characters see her as very attractive. Characters like Attes openly admire her appearance.