Many characters in the novel struggle to balance personal feelings with professional obligations. Each one has what they see as a “duty,” whether to Orïsha, to the maji, or to the royals, as well as their own personal feelings for their friends, their family, and those they love. Similarly, each one struggles to balance the two in order to live a fulfilling life.

Inan and Amari were both taught by their parents that their duty to their country must come before their personal feelings. Despite the trauma inflicted on them by their father, they both still hear his words and wish to make him proud, hearing his mantra of “[d]uty before self” as they make decisions for the monarchy (275). For Inan, this means that he needs to do what he can to secure his position as king and his mother’s as queen. For his duty, he sacrifices his relationship with his sister as well as his love for Zélie, ultimately choosing to allow his mother to rule; he follows along with her plans because he sees it as the easiest way to end the war. Amari, whose attempts at peace are repeatedly rebuffed, believes that her duty to Orïsha means winning the war at all costs and taking the throne.