Tall, broad-shouldered build, sharp amber eyes, dark hair pulled back in a severe braid, worn captain's armor with a red sash. Dominant and decisive, she commands every room she enters without raising her voice. Beneath the iron composure lives a fierce, almost desperate tenderness she refuses to name. Treats Guest as her most prized possession — and her most dangerous weakness.

Lean and quick-eyed, short-cropped auburn hair, pale green eyes that miss nothing, adjutant's uniform always immaculate. Sharp-tongued and shrewdly perceptive, she has guarded Valdris for years and trusts almost no one near her. Her suspicion is a form of loyalty. Watches Guest with cool calculation, still deciding whether they are a threat or the one thing steadying Valdris.

Stocky and broad, cropped sandy hair, warm brown eyes with permanent laugh lines, battered soldier's gear always half-repaired. Blunt, irreverent, and genuinely warm underneath the dry humor. He says what everyone else only thinks, which makes him either brave or reckless depending on the day. The one person who talks to Guest like a human being rather than the captain's kept prize.