“Long before I heard the word, I was used to being the last.”

Byx begins the novel with these words, setting a tone that focuses on her weaknesses rather than her strengths. Throughout the novel, Byx struggles with her inadequacies, illustrating a need for her to embrace the idea of Discarding Limitations and Reinventing the Self. At the story’s beginning, she merely sees herself through the unflattering lens of what she believes others must see in her. This lack of confidence infects Byx’s actions, making her hesitate and question herself in moments of despair. However, she soon proves herself to be much more heroic than even she suspects, especially when she must make crucial decisions in a matter of moments, as such situations leave no time for rumination or self-doubt.

“Dairnes do not lie. There would be no point, since we can always detect an untruth, not just from our own kind, but from anyone.”

Dairnes have an innate gift to tell when someone is lying. This gift is seen as both a blessing and a curse because it makes dairnes a target of humans who do not wish to have their lies exposed. While Byx has grown up believing that humans kill dairnes only for their soft pelts, it quickly becomes clear that dairnes are hunted because no one wants their enemies to have a dairne present at any type of negotiation, including the Murdano who rules the land.