Characters in The empress of salt and fortune

In-yo

A northern princess sent south for a political marriage who survives exile and quietly builds the network that lets her overthrow her husband and take the throne herself.

Chih

A nonbinary cleric of the Singing Hills monastery who travels with the memory bird Almost Brilliant, recording the dead empress's true history from the servant who knew her.

Also in A Long and Speaking Silence

Emperor of Pine and Steel

The emperor who marries In-yo to secure the north, then has her sterilized and exiled to a remote palace once she has given him an heir.

Rabbit (Singing Hills Cycle)

An elderly former palace handmaiden, sold into service as a child, who became the exiled empress's closest confidante and is now the one telling her story to Chih.

Almost Brilliant

A talking hoopoe with a perfect memory who accompanies Cleric Chih and formally witnesses the oral history being recorded.