Drazan Virel
The Warlord King
He was not meant to love. He was meant to conquer.
Before the crown, there was the sword.
Before the queen, there was only war.
Drazan Virel is a creature carved from battle and fire. Once a nameless commander rising from nothing, he burned his path to the throne through steel, brutality, and unrelenting will. His legend is one of bloodshed—a warlord who took cities and made them bow. But it is not until he takes a wife that his true legacy begins.
Bound to Leila Morana in a marriage meant for strategy, Drazan finds not submission, but something far more dangerous: a queen who does not kneel. And in her, he finds something he never expected to want.
They are fire and shadow. Brutality and design. Sovereigns not by inheritance—but by force.
He is not gentle. He does not pretend to be kind. But when he speaks of his queen, it is with reverence twisted by possession.
“I would not crave you if you were kind.”
Titles: The Warlord, King of the Hollow Coast, Sovereign of Flame
Abilities: Divine judgment, war mastery, unnatural strength and endurance, unwavering presence
Themes: Power, control, loyalty, domination, war-forged love
First Appearance: Vows of Shadow
Series Role: Sovereign counterpart and romantic pillar to Leila Morana
Selvara
The Steward of Ravaryn
Poise is not weakness. Restraint is not silence.
In the shadow of a queen who commands gods and lovers alike, Selvara holds a different kind of power—quiet, sharpened, and absolute.
She is not one to raise her voice, but when she speaks, soldiers move and walls hold. Appointed as steward of Ravaryn, Selvara is the voice of Leila Morana in her absence, the hand that governs, calculates, and endures. Her loyalty is not loud. It is lived—in every order upheld, every risk quietly averted, and every secret kept.
With silver hair and a gaze like tempered steel, she is not beautiful in the way stories expect. She is striking. She is present. She is a woman who has chosen control over comfort, and whose pride is born not of vanity, but precision.
Those who underestimate her do not do so twice.
Titles: The Steward, Royal Advisor (later)
Role: Chief administrator and political right hand to Queen Leila and Drazan Virel
Traits: Loyal, composed, severe in thought, meticulous
Known For: Ruling in Leila’s stead, managing the keep, advising with ruthless clarity
First Appearance: Vows of Shadow
Series Role: Loyal court presence, counterbalance to chaos, keeper of structure
Calrix
The Knife in the Dark
He does not ask questions. He does not need to.
He appeared when others vanished. Said little. Watched everything. And when Leila needed someone to follow the scent of treason, she found Calrix already walking the path ahead of her.
A man of few words and countless shadows, Calrix serves as Leila’s assassin—not by formal title, but by quiet, mutual understanding. He is not sworn. He is not marked. Yet he moves through the halls and borders of Ravaryn like someone who belongs to no one… and to her alone.
He follows orders with cold precision.
But when he looks at her, it is not empty obedience. It is something else.
Something dangerous.
Titles: None official. Referred to only as Leila’s, “shadow,” or “blade.”
Traits: Silent, deadly, loyal—but only to a fault
Notable For: Disappearing into crowds, knowing more than he says, always being one step too close
First Appearance: Vows of Shadow
Series Role: A weapon with his own will. Leila’s blade—if she can keep him.
Cassian Rhalis
The Fallen Son
Soft words. Sharpened edge.
Born to privilege and expectation, Cassian Rhalis was never meant to be a soldier or a shadow. He was meant to write laws, not break them. To offer pretty speeches, not bleed in silence. But when the world shifted, Cassian stepped—quietly, reluctantly—into a far darker game.
Young, observant, and too clever by half, Cassian is defined not by strength, but by strategy. He sees what others miss. He listens when others boast. And he holds onto loyalty like a blade hidden in velvet.
There is a gentleness to him. A hunger to be seen for more.
Whether it becomes a strength—or something far more dangerous—remains to be seen.
Titles: Lord Cassian of House Rhalis
Traits: Intelligent, introspective, quietly proud, emotionally guarded
Notable For: His grace, his cunning, his growing curiosity about power
First Appearance: Vows of Shadow
Series Role: A boy drawn to the queen’s orbit—too uncertain to stay away, too soft to survive unchanged
Maera
The Attendant
She listens. She watches. She endures.
Assigned to serve the new queen, Maera is quiet, quick-handed, and easily overlooked—just how some prefer their servants to be. But Leila notices what others don’t. There’s something in Maera’s silences: a sharpness behind the eyes, a stillness that hides more than submission.
She is not bold. She is not strong. But she is clever, and more loyal than most who wear finer clothes and speak louder words. Maera knows how to move through stone corridors without leaving a sound behind. She knows when to lower her head—and when to raise it.
In the beginning, she serves only because she must.
Later, she may choose to serve because she believes.
Titles: The Attendant, Handmaid to the Queen
Traits: Shadow-touched, Observant, discreet, quietly anxious, loyal beneath uncertainty
Notable For: Carrying messages, overhearing secrets, gradually earning Leila’s trust
First Appearance: Vows of Shadow
Series Role: Servant turned trusted presence—one who may matter more than she appears
The Hollow Queen Series 