Barrayar

POV character; navigates the Piotr confrontation, the coup's outbreak, the fugitive flight, and the revelation of Miles's capture, ultimately orchestrating the infiltration plan.

Aral's aide; nerve-damaged leg; found in a suicidal reverie with his swordstick; shares mutual vulnerability with Cordelia; participates in capturing Vorhalas.

ImpSec officer accompanying Aral; manages security and investigates the assassination attempt; initially dismissive of Cordelia but adjusts.

Coup leader who baited Cordelia's infiltration with a decoy replicator; captured, inadvertently confesses involvement in the Vorhalas poisoning, and is executed by Bothari.

Prime Minister who breaks out of Vordarian's house arrest and arrives at Tanery Base; analyzes the propaganda broadcast's legal maneuver.

Aral's first cousin and new staff member; escorts Cordelia to the Council session; cheerful and forthcoming with background information.

Cordelia's bodyguard; wrongly accused of comconsole sabotage, later reveals knowledge of secret Residence entry routes and proposes the infiltration mission.

Child emperor to whom Cordelia swears fealty; closely supported by his mother Kareen; a symbolic center of the new political order.

Chief of Imperial Security; the only person who visibly weeps at Ezar's death, revealing hidden personal loyalty to the old emperor.

Emperor Gregor's mother; appears in Vordarian's broadcast beside him, expression unreadable; Drou's loyalty to her motivates the infiltration plan.

Dying emperor whose death triggers the regency; present via holovid at the Council session; dies during the night watch described in chunk-1-s5.

Declares loyalty to Cordelia alone, is banished by Piotr, and is reassigned as Miles's permanent bodyguard; in the epilogue actively hunts for the missing child.

Son of Count Vorhalas; fires the soltoxin gas grenade as revenge for his brother Carl's execution; captured by Drou and Koudelka; confronted by Aral.

Physician who managed Miles's replicator; arrives at Tanery Base badly injured, reports the replicator's capture and gives Cordelia the six-day starvation deadline.

Surgeon who performs the fetal transfer to the uterine replicator; calm at the hands despite visible nerves.

Biologically trained physician on the replicator team; shows Piotr the lab honestly, which precipitates the confrontation.

ImpSec chief who flies the wounded Emperor Gregor to safety and dies delivering news of Vordarian's coup.

Weatherworn old postal carrier and Yuri's War veteran who agrees to shelter Cordelia, Bothari, and Gregor at Piotr's request.

Armsman at the Vorkosigan estate who accompanies the fugitive group and tends the horses during the night flight.

Senior naval officer who joins the loyalist cause at Tanery Base, forming the nucleus of Vorkosigan's new general staff.

Responds to Piotr's assault with controlled near-lethal verbal precision; in the epilogue supports Cordelia and shares quiet confidence in Miles's future.

Infant at chapter's end; hyperactive five-year-old in the epilogue, already negotiating with Piotr over horses and disassembling refrigeration units.