Rayan

Rayan is a prince of Firgaard. He takes his own life before Asha is born.

Personality
From what little is known about Rayan, it can be surmised that he is compassionate and dedicated, and is salubriously open-minded towards slaves in a way that his family are not.

The Last Namsara
Although Rayan is not alive in The Last Namsara, his story plays an important role in the plot.

Prior to his niece Asha's birth, Rayan strolls through the garden when he hears mellifluous singing. He follows the song and stumbles upon a beautiful slave woman singing beneath an orange tree. Enchanted with her voice, he stays to watch, but upon sighting him she becomes frightened. Upon realizing that she feared him taking advantage of or otherwise harming her, the love-stricken prince gifts her with orange blossoms as an apology. They commence a secret forbidden courtship, and Lillian becomes pregnant with their baby. After Lillian gives birth to their daughter, Safire, the dragon queen sentences her son's beloved to die in the pit. Rayan begs his mother for Lillian's life, but the dragon queen stonily carries out the execution nonetheless, assuming that Rayan will recover from this loss and believing that he is shaming himself and their dynasty. Three days afterward, the bereft Rayan takes his own life to join his lover in the afterlife. The grief-stricken dragon queen also commits suicide.

Dax uses Rayan and Lillian's story as a cautionary tale when he warns Asha to stay away from Torwin if she wishes to keep him safe. Later, Asha begins to understand that Lillian and Rayan had a choice to stay apart, but they did not, and if they had not listened to their hearts her cherished cousin would not have been born. This encourages her to pursue a relationship with Torwin.