The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2023

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Part 2

Parts 3-4

Part 5

Parts 6-7

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

The Taker of Hearts

The Taker of Hearts is a motif for Love Versus Power and The Empowerment of Freedom. The sword is a centuries-old weapon formerly belonging to Vincent, who was rumored to have “carved out a little chunk of his own heart to have it made” (109). The sword represents the choices Vincent made over his long lifetime, choosing power over love at almost every opportunity. The sword’s name quite literally embodies its meaning: It slices through flesh and bone to fatally pierce the heart underneath, pinpointing the greatest weakness Vincent believes anyone can have. The fact that he supposedly gave up a piece of his own heart to forge it symbolizes the heartlessness he treats others with to survive—even his beloved Alana, whom he ruthlessly killed in his attack on Salinae.

The Taker of Hearts is supposedly Vincent’s alone, “rejecting all other wielders […] [Oraya] used to joke that [it] was Vincent’s true greatest love” (109). As it has proven time and time again, power is Vincent’s greatest love. Though Alana made him hesitate to admit it at first, his attack on Salinae proves this to be true. Oraya’s ability to wield the sword, however, is evidence of Vincent’s inability to entirely follow through with Salinae’s destruction. It is his love for Oraya that spares her life, and in wielding the sword, the novel hints that Oraya possesses a piece of Vincent’s heart as well.

However, when Oraya does wield the sword, it burns her palms. Despite being Vincent’s blood and the sole owner of his love, the sword causes Oraya the pain it promises all wielders. Following this realization, Vincent speaks in her head: “Now you understand […] Power hurts. It requires sacrifice. […] I told you that once. I know because I did it, my daughter. I know” (325-26). Vincent’s admission that the sword caused even himself pain, despite the rumors that claim otherwise, symbolizes the pain he feels at sacrificing love for power and a fraction of his heart for the mighty sword. Oraya transforms the meaning of the weapon and claims her own power when she reforges the Taker of Hearts into two new daggers, taking her father’s legacy of putting power over love and using it to use love to fight for power.

Performances

The performances Raihn and Oraya must put on throughout the novel symbolize the restrictive roles they are forced to play to survive, which keep them from being the true selves they wish to be. Even after Raihn places the Nightborn crown on his head before the Rishan nobles and his former masters, he still feels as though nothing has changed because “secretly, even after all this time, [he] was still terrified of them […] [he] hid the truth with a performance that was so carefully curated—a fucking impeccable mimicry of [his] former master” (17-18). Everything Raihn has done to secure the crown has been to create a better House of Night for all its citizens, the Hiaj, the Rishan, and the humans. Yet, even when he has seized power, he feels confined to playing the roles of the oppressive, cruel rulers who came before him.

Oraya witnesses the toll these restrictive roles take on Raihn, especially when she first visits his private apartments. Outside the castle, Raihn “practically deflate[s] onto the bed” and seems much more at ease, “like the remnants of whatever mask he wore within the walls of the castle had finally fallen free” (108). While it is easy for Oraya to hate Raihn when he’s playing the role everyone expects of him—of a king like Vincent or Neculai—she finds it much harder to hate the version he shows her and Mische, the version that reminds her of the man she fell in love with during the Kejari.

These restrictive roles are something Oraya has faced in her relationship with Vincent. As Mische reminds Oraya after witnessing both her and Raihn put on a performance in front of their enemies: “You and Raihn are always trying to be like them […] I don’t understand it. You’re better than [Vincent]. Don’t forget that, Oraya. Embrace it” (242). In recent months filled with ugly reveals and betrayals, Oraya has become tired of the performances and lies. Upon realizing all the lies she has been fed by both Vincent and Raihn, she is “tired of dancing around the fucking truth. [She] craved honesty the way a flower craved sunlight. [She] even craved the pain of it, driven deep into [her] heart” (183). Oraya needs honesty and trust to reconnect romantically with Raihn, which remains impossible until he finally drops the mask, demonstrating The Vulnerability in Trust.

Wings

The wings unique to Nightborn vampires serve as a motif for The Empowerment of Freedom. Throughout Oraya’s childhood, Vincent was overprotective of her climbing to high vantage points. He never took her flying. While he always claimed it was for her own protection, Oraya learns after his death that he was lying to ensure his own protection from her. It is Raihn who helps Oraya explore the aspects of her half-vampire origins and discover who she is without the hazy cloud of Vincent’s lies: “it was him—my enemy, someone who had every reason to cage me—who opened the door for [her] to seize that power” (182-83). One discovery in particular that Raihn helps Oraya realize is her ability to summon the feathered wings of her fellow Hiaj clan.

After discovering her ability to fly, Oraya realizes Vincent’s refusal to take her flying with him “wasn’t about protecting [her]. He didn’t want [her] to jump because he didn’t want [her] to find out that [she] could catch [her]self” (183). Much like how literal flying gives Oraya freedom of movement, the wings that enable this freedom represent the freedom and empowerment she finds in herself after Vincent’s death. As complicated as her relationship was with her father, the only certain thing was his habit of tearing her down so she would never rise above him. Oraya later calls the wings “a symbol of my power” (245). Similar to how Vincent displayed his wings “when he needed to remind the world he was the King of the House of Night” (246), Oraya displays her wings amongst the Rishan nobles to display her newfound power.