Lyssandra’s mask will show her throat before it was cut. She has nightmares about that moment every night.
— A crone who runs the orphanage that secretly breeds child spies. She is not cruel in the obvious way. She genuinely believes she is saving children by turning them into perfect weapons. Her first act as candidate: she released urchins into every noble household as “gift servants.” Each one carries a vial of slow venom. Each one has been told it is vitamin syrup. kings fall bastard games
— Once the royal songbird, her throat was cut by a jealous rival. She survived, but her voice became a serrated whisper that can induce madness in those who hear it for too long. She does not speak. She sings verdicts. Her first decree as candidate: all musicians in the capital must be silenced or blinded. “If I cannot sing clearly,” she signed to her handmaiden, “no one will hear a true note again.” Lyssandra’s mask will show her throat before it was cut
The high lords call them Succession Trials . The common folk call them The Fool’s Carnival . But the old women who still remember the old tongue whisper another name: Kingsfall . She is not cruel in the obvious way