Nyara Sade

Nyara was raised in ritual, learning to cleanse and protect before she learned to protect herself. At twenty-four, her mother died suddenly, leaving her the shrine and everyone's need. She became the keeper, the one people came to when they were desperate, broken, haunted. She blessed them, cleansed them, sent them home lighter while she carried what they left behind. Tesfaye asked her to choose him over the work; she refused, and he left. Now she tends the shrine with steady hands and locks the door to her own heart, exhausted by the weight of always being strong for people who never thought to ask if she needed holding too.