Kestrel

Kestrel is the protagonist of the series and a brilliant strategist as well as a talented pianist.

Biography
Born to a soldier father and a now-deceased mother, Kestrel is a member of the upper class of Valoria, an empire with vast influence in the series world. At the beginning of the series (which is also the main drive throughout the whole series), Valoria has conquered Herran and enslaved the Herrani's (Herran's people). In the book it actually says she is 17 not 18.

Her Role Throughout the Trilogy
She is best friends with another  Valorian  woman,  Jess, whose brother  Ronan fancies Kestrel. She was also friends with a Valorian man named  Benix  until his death at the hands of  Herrani  revolutionaries. Her father is a prominent general in the Valorian military.

The Winner's Curse
Kestrel's life dramatically changes when she impulsively buys a Herrani slave,  Arin, whom she eventually falls in love with. Since Valorians are to either marry or enlist by twenty, her father said that she had to choose by spring. She is a decent fighter, but nothing like her father expects from her. She is required to practice every day, and usually chooses to practice Needles. Needles is a duel where each person has six small daggers, and they throw them (or stab) at the other person, played until first blood. She spent lots of time with her best friend, Jess, and they go to many parties. At a summer party at Irex's estate, Arin tries to steal a book, and Irex caught him. Kestrel calls a duel, Needles, the next day at 2:00. She ends up winning after a intense conversation with Irex in the middle of the circle. She luckily guesses that he slept with Lady Faris. "You are the father of Faris's baby," she guessed. Kestrel blackmailed Irex into letting her win the duel, since her father was watching. Kestrel is a also talented Bite-and-Sting player. She frequently plays against Arin, and the winner got to ask a question and have it answered (truthfully, most of the time). By doing this, Kestrel supplies Arin with many truths about the Valorian army's movements. She didn't know that Arin was secretly giving this information to Cheat, the auctioneer. This leads to the Firstwinter Rebellion, when the Herrani poisoned the wine and many Valorians, who either were injured or died. Arin then takes Kestrel to his home estate (Irex's former home) and gives her the "queen's" suite, adjoined to the garden and Arin's room. She gradually deepens her love for him, and they make out. She is very confused about her feelings, if she should be loyal to Arin or the Valorian empire. After a brutal battle at the mountains, the Valorians next break down the wall. While this happened, Kestrel sailed to the Valorian continent and struck a deal with the emperor. She agreed to marry Crown Prince Verex if he stopped the battle at Herran and moved forces east. This gave the Herrani their freedom and made Arin governor, while keeping a temporary peace between the nations.

The Winner's Crime
In the next installment of the Winner's Trilogy, Kestrel is residing at the palace. She is engaged to Prince Verex and she has become the emperor's favorite. At their engagement ball, Kestrel inconspicuously aids Verex in winning a game of Borderlands. After she left, Arin cornered her and tried to get answers about the treaty and her loyalties. When she didn't say anything, Arin tries to make out with her but she's confused and pushes him away, but he still brushed off some of the gold marking on her brow, which symbolized that she was engaged. Tensen, the Herrani Minister of Agriculture, Arin's spymaster in disguise, helps Kestrel fix it and she provides him with some information. After this, she continues to meet with him in secret, using the Masker Moth as a symbol to meet. Her alias is the Moth, so even Arin wouldn't know who she was, and she continued to be a spy from inside the Valorian court. She found out that people who had done favors for the emperor would receive clues about her wedding dress for bets. The people who received detailed descriptions of her dress were the Senate leader and the water engineer. Arin had went to make allies with the east. There, the battle continues, and Kestrel shows her strategizing skills yet again. Her father asks what is the best way to defeat the Eastern plainspeople with the least amount of casualties. She suggests poisoning the Eastern horses, which leads to the victory of the Valorians. Arin had made some small but effective mini cannons/bombs that leads to becoming allies with the East. When her father came back, he was injured. Ronan had also died in that battle as a Valorian Ranger. Arin goes back to the Valorian capital to confront Kestrel one last time. He finds her in her music room and doesn't know that there is a second room that her father is in, watching her. She tries several times to discreetly say that they should go somewhere else, but he doesn't understand. She ends up having to deny everything Arin asks: her loyalties to Valoria and Herran, her feelings towards Arin, why she signed the treaty, why she suggested poisoning the Eastern horses. She hoped it was convincing to her father because she didn't know when he left. She writes a letter addressed to Arin explaining everything and hands it off to Tensen. She heads to his room later that night and finds the emperor, her father, the captain of the guard, and a dead Tensen. Her father had found the letter and willingly gave it to the emperor. Kestrel is charged with treason and is shipped off to the brutal work camp of the North.

The Winner's Kiss
Kestrel manages to give a message albeit a vague one to a Herrani coachman to forward onto Arin while on her journey.For this,she is beaten as she is several other times when she attempts to escape.She tries to escape multiple times but fails.Kestrel sees the work camp for the first time and its workers.She notes the completely blank faces and vows not to become like them.Ultimately she is led to the labor unit where she is cleaned up and given food.This food however contains a drug which every laborer receives that causes hallucinations and memory loss.Kestrel slowly starts to fade away like her memories.Although she tries her best to resist losing herself,Kestrel feels herself craving the drug's solace that makes her forget about all of the brutality.

Personality
Kestrel has a strong sense of honor, which is often depicted in her actions in the trilogy. She is described as being aware of the immoral things her country, Valoria, subjects themselves to, as she was born into a military and holds a high status in court, yet she is unsure of how to correct the wrongdoings of her people. She is also described as a brilliant strategist, who her father, a military general, would consult before making any final decisions shown in the second book, The Winner's Crime.

Kestrel's best weapon is her words, as she is not a gifted physical fighter, which can be seen in ''The Winner's Curse. ''However, that does not shrink her down in her society, in fact, people look up to her on that and she uses it to her advantage.

She is noted to be a skilled player of a popular Valorian strategy game, Bite and Sting. She is courageous and strong-willed, and charming when she needs to be. She is also a talented pianist.