“The Lady had forbidden people from touching me for a reason. I could steal the story of almost anything: a comb, a spear, a person.”

This quote introduces Tarisai’s unique ability, or Hallow, establishing the “ground rules” involved in Ifueko’s complex world-building. Tarisai has the power to absorb the memories or “story” of any object or individual with a single touch. For this reason, the servants and household members in Tarisai’s life keep their distance from her, as does her mother. With this lack of physical closeness, Tarisai grows to crave intimacy from others and longs to experience the level of connection that she was denied.

“My mother was the devil, and I, her puppet demon.”

This bitter realization comes from Tarisai after Melu tells her the truth about her mother and her parentage. Through a stolen memory, she witnesses the depths of her mother’s manipulation, for The Lady once trapped Melu as an ehru (a djinn) and forced him to procreate with her specifically so that she could birth a child who would be compelled to do her bidding. Upon realizing that she is part ehru herself, Tarisai views herself as even more of a monster than before. Moreover, she recognizes that she is a “puppet” that belongs to her mother and exists solely to suit her needs.