Chief bodyguard to the Protector General, a man who seized power through regicide. DeWar is devoted to his charge, skilled in combat, and haunted by memories of a different life.

Doctor Vosill's young apprentice and assistant, and the first-person narrator of the Doctor chapters. An orphan of Koetic parents killed during the Imperial sacking of Derla, he was raised among officers' orphans. Devoted to Vosill, he secretly reports on her to Guard Commander Adlain. He later becomes a renowned physician, Principal of the Medical University of Haspide, and the King's personal doctor.

The King's personal physician, a woman of mysterious origin whose medical knowledge far surpasses anything available in the feudal society she serves. She has more enemies at court than she initially realises, and more resources than they suspect.

The Duke of the province containing the summer palace of Yvenir, an extravagant and pompous man who presents the King with an elaborate new map of the world. He is dismissive and hostile towards Vosill, and later orchestrates her arrest for the murder of Duke Ormin. He dies of a wasting disease after the Doctor leaves.

An elderly and scheming Duke at King Quience's court who is deeply suspicious of Doctor Vosill. He sends an agent to Cuskery to investigate her origins and conspires with Adlain to have her questioned or eliminated. He is stabbed to death during a masked ball at Yvenir while secretly watching a young couple from behind a screen.

The Guard Commander of Haspide and Oelph's secret master, who has Oelph spy on Doctor Vosill and report her activities. A pragmatic and politically astute man, he navigates between protecting the King and managing the scheming nobles. On his deathbed, he confesses to Oelph that he was the officer who killed Oelph's parents.

The young King of Haspide, successor to his father King Drasine. Witty, progressive and reform-minded, he institutes civic councils and guilds against noble resistance. He relies heavily on Doctor Vosill for his health and enjoys her company, though he rejects her romantic feelings. Later known as Quience the Good or Quience the Great, he rules for over forty years.

UrLeyn's young son, a small boy with red-gold curls who carries a toy telescope and wooden sword. He adores DeWar's stories about Lavishia and enjoys playing war games. He suffers from mysterious seizures and wasting illness, eventually revealed to be poisoning through his comfort blanket. He survives and later becomes King of Tassasen.

A concubine in UrLeyn's harem with a withered arm, injured when she threw herself between an assassin's knife and the Protector. Beautiful and intelligent, she is DeWar's confidante and game-playing companion. In truth, she is a spy and assassin planted by King Quience's loyalists to avenge her family, killed by UrLeyn's forces during the war of succession.

The Protector of Tassasen, a former general who overthrew and killed the old King during the war of succession. A small, energetic man with a grey beard, he is father to young Lattens. His reign unravels as the war in Ladenscion fails, his son is poisoned, and he retreats into isolation, ultimately murdered by his concubine Perrund.

The tall, thin, grey-haired foreign minister of Tassasen. Timid and spineless, he is frequently bullied by UrLeyn and the generals. He attempts to counsel diplomatic moderation regarding the Ladenscion barons but is shouted down.

The Protector's personal physician in Tassasen, a portly man who treats Lattens' illness by bleeding him frequently. He is conventional in his medical approach and somewhat dismissive of DeWar's concerns about poisoning. He accompanies UrLeyn back to Crough when Lattens worsens.

Personal physician to Duke Quettil at Yvenir, a small man with a sneering manner who is hostile towards Vosill and dismissive of her forensic medical analysis. He uses foreign medical terminology reluctantly and is unable to save Duke Quettil from his later wasting disease.

A lanky, stooped, kind-hearted Duke who was Vosill's employer before the King took her on as his physician. He supports the King's progressive reforms and is the first to volunteer his province for civic changes. He is murdered as part of a plot to frame Vosill, killed with a stolen scalpel from her medical bag.

A young, thin, sallow Duke who inherits his title after his father's death. Initially callow, he becomes more outspoken over the summer and develops an infatuation with Doctor Vosill, repeatedly trying to give her gifts. He is made the scapegoat for Duke Ormin's murder and flees, later dying of blood poisoning from a cut.

Apprentice and page to Duke Walen, a stocky fellow with wild brown hair who is punished with extra work for regular misdemeanours. He is found unconscious behind the door of the room where Walen was murdered, having been sent by the Duchess to spy on the Duke. His testimony helps establish the mystery of Walen's death.

A tall, bronzed Drezeni diplomat who wears a metal framework with glass lenses on his nose. Brought to Haspide by the old Duke Walen to discredit Vosill, he instead confirms her identity and delights her by speaking Drezeni. He later becomes ambassador to Haspidus and a father figure to Oelph, though he never finds any trace of Vosill's origins in Drezen.

A blunt, aggressive general in UrLeyn's court who favours direct military action over subtlety. He keeps the mute concubine Yalde as a favourite. He is suspicious of DeWar, the Dukes at war, and practically everyone else. He briefly becomes King of Tassasen after UrLeyn's death but proves a poor leader.

The palace Guard Commander in Tassasen and DeWar's predecessor as chief bodyguard. A pragmatic older man who stepped aside for the younger DeWar without resentment. He serves as one of UrLeyn's ruling trio during the Protector's absence and acts as a moderating influence among the generals.

A plumply supple concubine with unruly fair ringlets, she is Lattens' aunt, the sister of the boy's mother who died in childbirth. She helps care for Lattens in the harem and listens to DeWar's stories about Lavishia.