Tuya

"Maika’s closest friend in the world, who has been with her since before the Battle of Constantine. Unbeknownst to Maika, she is also the Baroness of the Last Dusk, a high-level member of the Arcanic Dusk Court tasked with containing––of even destroying––Maika’s power."

Tuya is a nineteen-year-old Arcanic and Maika Halfwolf's dearest friend. She is also the Baroness of the Dusk Court, tasked with containing or destroying Maika's power.

Personality
Tuya is a calm, level-headed young woman. Poised and graceful, Tuya is actually a pragmatic, calculating and ruthless warrior. She won't hesitate to resort to murder in order to further her goals. Tuya is also loyal and duty-bound to the Dusk Court, even willing to marry into the court's rival, the Dawn Court, regardless of her feelings.

While she lived with Maika, Tuya cared deeply about her best friend and was seen to be worried about her. She advised Maika to have faith in others and was once described as a "kind girl" who schemed to make a home for herself and Maika.

Appearance
Tuya is a human-passing Arcanic, similar to Maika. She has curly, black hair usually in a neat braid and dark grey eyes. She has dark brown skin and is a head shorter than Maika.

Background
Tuya was born to the Dusk Court and the title of Baroness was passed down to her at a certain point in her childhood. She, along with Lord Corvin D'oro, was ordained by the oracles to kill the incarnation of the Shaman-Empress and save the world.

It's unknown why she ended up alone in the desert, but she found and befriended Maika Halfwolf before both children were captured by raiders and taken to various Cumaean slave camps. There, she was starved to the point where she ate the stomach contents of a deceased boy, but remained resilient alongside Maika.

After the Battle of Constantine, she and Maika were able to escape and came to live with a Scyth people, who followed the fleet herds from the Caracol Mountains to the Cape of Bone. Maika left for a month to uncover answers to her lost past. It's uncertain what Tuya was doing during that time, but she eventually came into contact with the Dusk Court and began preparations to break the court's silence.

Volume 1
Tuya is seen in Maika's flashback. They were caught together by raiders in the desert. Taken to a slave camp for an indefinite amount of time, the two girls found comfort alongside one another. They fought for survival together, escaping eventually.

At the edge of the human border, Maika parts with Tuya to search for the secrets her mother hid, not knowing where Tuya would go.

After their time apart, Tuya is revealed to be the Baroness of the Dusk Court. She traps Maika in a sarcophagus, meant to keep her friend in a deep slumber, but the Cumaea attack unexpectedly. Maika destroys the sarcophagus and escapes, not able to recognize her friend under the hood she wore. Tuya's intentions for trapping Maika and the reason for her position in the Dusk Court remain unknown.

Volume 2
Tuya makes a short appearance in Volume 2. As Baronness and emissary of the Dusk Court she comes to the Dawn Court to discuss an alliance and truce between the Dusk and Dawn courts, joined by a common goal of obtaining the piece of the mask that Maika carries.

volume 3