Laia

Laia is a 17-year-old Scholastic girl who loses her parents, grandparents, and older sister to the Empire, while her brother, Darin, is taken prisoner. Laia vows to free Darin, her one remaining family member, from prison. To do so, she seeks out the Resistance, and goes to spy for them at Blackcliff in exchange for Mazen agreeing to help free Darin. At Blackcliff, Laia impersonates a slave, and is brutally treated and tortured by the Commandant and the other students, except Elias with whom she begins to develop romantic feelings. Laia is later stunned when Mazen reveals he never intended to help her at all. Instead, Laia helps Elias escape from Blackcliff when he promises to help her find Darin.

Elias

Elias of Gens Veturia is a Senior Skull at Blackcliff Military Academy. The illegitimate son of the Commandant, Elias hates the Empire and plans to escape after...