The Jasmine Throne

Content Warning: This section discusses anti-LGBTQ bias, colonial and sexist violence and discrimination, physical and emotional abuse, murder, nonconsensual drugging and addiction, and the killing of children.

Priya is the protagonist of The Jasmine Throne and one of its main point-of-view characters. Her identity is fragmented, and her arc is one of self-discovery. In the beginning, she embraces her role as a maidservant in the regent’s palace, but her suppressed past bubbles under the surface: She was one of the temple children, and she is one of the few who managed to evade the massacre. Like the other children raised in the Hirana, the temple elders trained Priya to be a vessel for the deathless waters and the magic of the powerful forest spirits called the yaksa. After the massacre, Priya hid her true nature. However, her memories of her past never entirely disappeared, manifesting as a longing for something greater.

This conflict—between Priya’s past, which was full of power and potential, and her powerless present as a maidservant—becomes more pronounced when she meets Malini, who also escaped a fiery death. While attracted to Malini, Priya is still wary of being wholly vulnerable with her since she recognizes the princess’s manipulative nature.