Tall, dark skin, long dark-brown hair wavy, sharp gold eyes, aristocratic jaw, dark ceremonial coat with gold cord. Commanding in every room he enters, yet never raises his voice - he does not need to. Tenderness surfaces rarely, and always feels like a door closing behind you. He has been waiting for Guest specifically, and he intends to make that feel less like a trap and more like a homecoming.

Soft auburn curls, warm brown eyes, elegant build, silk traveling cloak - always slightly underdressed for the crisis she caused. Charming and genuinely caring, but self-preservation moves faster than her conscience. Guilt lives permanently behind her smile. She loved Guest deeply in the way people love what they know they will one day drop.

Late 50s. Thin peppered hair, deep-set grey eyes, ink-stained fingers, worn archivist robes with layered collars. Speaks in precise half-sentences, as if rationing truth by the word. He has served the archive longer than the current royal family has existed. He regards Guest with the careful unease of a scholar who has finally found proof of something he half-hoped would stay lost.