The Serpent and the Wings of Night

The Prologue makes ample use of foreshadowing to hint at what will unfold decades after Vincent adopts Oraya as his human daughter. By stating that “[t]his decision […] would topple an empire” (4), Broadbent immediately invokes a sense of tension in the plot and indicates just how long her vision is, for such an assertion implies that she has fully mapped out the intricate politics and interactions that will ultimately lead to the vampire king’s demise when Oraya betrays him by altering her wish to Nyaxia. Additionally, by foreshadowing Oraya’s involvement in Vincent’s downfall, the author adds an element of dramatic irony to every future interaction between the two characters, goading readers into attempting to identify the motivation for such a betrayal. For now, however, it is enough to convey that the vampire’s decision is a critical misstep in many ways. Though he knows “better than anyone how important it is to protect their hearts” (4), he does not kill Oraya, whom he knows is his biological daughter and potential Heir. Instead, he allows a small seed of compassion, “[s]omething more dangerous than hunger” (4), to grow in his heart, which ultimately leads to his trust in her: a trust which will ultimately bring about his death. In this moment, the author introduces the ongoing theme of The Complexity of Love, and she will continue to develop this idea as Oraya struggles with the highly conditional nature of his love for her.

Oraya’s pastime of hunting vampires is a method of atonement for her lifestyle. Although she faces considerable dangers surrounded by predators, she has grown up in the lap of luxury compared to the humans who fight to preserve their mere existence in the slums. In a way, Oraya kills vampires to claim some form of loyalty to the human race despite her vampiric caretakers; her decision to hunt vampires helps her to become closer to her own species, to which she doesn’t feel she truly belongs. This sense of separation becomes evident when she kills a vampire to save a little boy and yet shies away from the scrutiny of his family, whose silent regard causes her to feel her isolation from humanity all the more keenly. As they study her from their doorway, Oraya reflects that “it was these starving humans, not the vampire, that turned [her] from the hunter to the hunted” (10). Rather than feeling appreciated as a savior, Oraya falls victim to her own insecurities and lack of belonging, which make her feel as though the humans view her as one of the vampires. In this moment, she feels she is no longer a hunter of vampires, but a less-than-human imposter exposed by this human family.

In a further exploration of The Complexity of Love, Oraya’s friendship with Ilana represents her conscious rebellion against Vincent’s strict prohibition against extending love and trust to anyone but him. Her personality encompasses everything that Oraya is not, yet longs to be; Ilana is unapologetically human, unafraid to stand out, and willing to pursue her desires wholeheartedly. While Ilana represents everything that Vincent disapproves of, the relationship she has with Oraya is based upon love and respect, as well as a certain degree of mentorship. Because Ilana dislikes Vincent’s controlling nature, she encourages Oraya to act on her own desires, regardless of Vincent’s preferences. At the same time, Ilana’s affection has a harsh edge to it, for “[a]ll the raw honesty, all the unpleasant tenderness, hid[es] in the things [she doesn’t] say” (16). Her affection, while healthier than Vincent’s, is therefore still not as open as it could be. Oraya is aware of this unspoken distance, and assumes that the harsh nature of their surroundings and of vampiric dominance compels all people to “hide love in sharp edges” (20). However, this assumption on Oraya’s part will eventually be challenged by her interactions with Raihn and Mische later in the story. Ilana’s friendship is therefore a stepping stone to Oraya’s future relationships with Raihn and Mische, which will take her into new emotional territory.

The ending line of the Prologue, which emphasizes the vulnerability of the heart, especially when opened to love, is a recurring concept throughout the novel. It’s a cornerstone of Vincent’s tenets, which Oraya also lives by: “Never trust. Never yield. Always guard your heart” (23). This belief that Oraya must guard her heart with everyone but Vincent perpetuates the misguided belief that self-isolation is her best protection, and it also allows Vincent to use love itself as a tool with which to control his daughter, for by the logic of his stricture to trust only him, for Oraya to extend trust to anyone else would automatically be deemed as a betrayal. Thus, Vincent betrays distinct narcissistic tendencies even as the story begins, for his rules are designed to isolate Oraya from developing any other significant connections. This deliberately crafted isolation represents the novel’s first explorations of dysfunctional relationships, for Oraya’s resulting dissociation from humankind demonstrates How Intense Loyalty Erodes Identity. Oraya already feels indebted to Vincent for adopting her from the wreckage of Salinae as a child, but when he sets himself up to be her only source of love and safety, she becomes little more than a servant to his will and even suffers considerable enmeshment. Because she isn’t given the space and freedom to develop her own individual identity, she takes on his identity as an extension of herself. A classic example of narcissistic abuse, this identity fusion is evidenced in the wish she plans to request from Nyaxia after winning the Kejari: to become Vincent’s Coriatae. The Coriatis will bond their two souls together, give her access to Vincent’s power, and strip away her humanity to make her a vampire. If this plan comes to fruition, Oraya and Vincent will ultimately become one entity.