A concubine in UrLeyn's harem with a withered arm, said to have been injured when she threw herself between an assassin's knife and the Protector. Beautiful and intelligent, she becomes DeWar's confidante and game-playing companion - one of the few people in the palace he speaks with openly, and the one whose company he seems most to value.

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 pesters the bodyguard for more of them at every opportunity, and is happiest playing at war games on the floor of the Protector's apartments. When he falls ill, the Protector's household is thrown into worry and confusion - no physician can name what afflicts him, and his condition becomes one of the threads quietly twisting through the events at court.

UrLeyn's brother, a lesser figure who acknowledges he has risen on his brother's coat-tails. He is earnest and loyal but lacks his brother's force of personality. He serves as part of the ruling trio during UrLeyn's absence and tries unsuccessfully to get through to his brother during his withdrawal.

A blunt, aggressive general at UrLeyn's court, the kind of military man who tends to view subtle approaches as evasions and direct action as both the moral and the efficient choice. YetAmidous keeps Yalde, a mute concubine, as his favourite of UrLeyn's household, and brings to court politics the same dim, suspicious watchfulness he brings to the battlefield - suspicious of DeWar, suspicious of the rebellious Dukes, suspicious of pretty much anyone whose motives can't be settled with a charge of cavalry.

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.

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.