The Serpent and the Wings of Night

Content Warning: This section of the guide features discussions of emotional abuse and slavery.

Oraya, 23, is the novel’s protagonist. She is the adopted human daughter of Vincent, the Hiaj Nightborn King, and first introduced as a “frail little creature with slick black hair that curtained wide gray eyes” (1). Oraya is likened to a viper, a garden snake, and a serpent when she snarls and bites at Vincent and his warriors. These references highlight the reality that beneath the guise of a submissive “prey animal,” Oraya hides the bite of a predator, and she benefits when others choose to underestimate her. Vincent decides to return home with Oraya because he “saw a fragment of himself in this child” (4). For the next 20 years, Oraya grows up under her father’s oppressive protection and experiences only his conditional love, which he expresses “the only way he knew how. At the edge of a blade” (442). It is through Vincent that Oraya develops not only her views on the world and its inhabitants, but also an incorrect perception of herself. Much of her personality is attributed to Vincent, as he has actively molded her into a version of herself that mirrors his nature—ruthless, ambitious, and unbreachable.