Helene

Helene is a powerful Mask, inhabiting the position of Blood Shrike. She has pale skin and wears her blonde hair in braids (171). She was raised in an elite Empire family, as her father is a powerful jurist. As Blood Shrike, she must perform difficult tasks for the Emperor Marcus and has sworn intense loyalty to the Empire. Helene is assigned the mission of tracking down Elias—her best friend when they were both students at Blackcliff Academy—and capturing him for public execution. As she struggles to capture Elias, Helene eventually realizes that the Commandant is plotting a coup against the Empire. When she returns to inform Marcus, however, he has her entire family publicly executed in order to punish her for publicly speaking about opposition to him (besides her sister Livia, whom he marries to form alliances and purportedly show murder). After her family’s execution, Helene...