Eveen in The Dead Cat Tail Assassins: Character Analysis

Overview

Eveen is the protagonist of The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, an undead assassin bound to the goddess Aeril and the Dead Cat Tail Assassins guild. She has no memories of her past life, having given them up when she was resurrected seven years before the story begins. The novel opens with her as a dutiful, cynical killer who follows the guild's three unbreakable vows without question. That changes when a contract to kill a sleeping girl triggers an impossible memory: the girl's face is her own reflection. This recognition forces Eveen to confront the architecture of her selfhood, the nature of her divine contract, and the moral choices that define her humanity.

Plot Role

Eveen is the engine of the plot. Her decision to spare the girl—who calls herself Cyanna "Sky" Darnsha Abeg—breaks the third unbreakable vow and sets off a chain of events that challenges the guild's authority, Aeril's law, and the political power of Patriarch Pol Oranus. From that moment, Eveen moves from being a passive instrument of divine will to an active agent who investigates her own past, seeks loopholes in contractual law, and ultimately orchestrates a confrontation with the goddess herself. Her journey drives the narrative from the initial assassination attempt to the final arbitration and the surgical revenge on Pol Oranus.

Motivations and Traits Shown Through Actions

Eveen's motivations evolve across the novel. Initially, she is motivated by duty and survival: she takes contracts because they are "just," follows the vows, and avoids unnecessary fights (assassin rule #240). Her resourcefulness is evident in her rooftop traversal, her use of a cloak that makes her hard to notice, and her staged feigned death to distract guards. She is pragmatic and darkly humorous, as seen in her banter with Fennis and her repeated oath "Aeril's fiery tits."

But the memory of Sky's face awakens a deeper motivation: the need to understand who she was. She tells Sky, "The dead can't have memories. But I had one," and this anomaly drives her to seek confirmation from the thaumaturgist Ennis, to consult Baseema, and to risk her own existence to protect Sky. Her compassion is shown when she fights guards non-lethally, gives Sky her cloak, and later refuses to kill her even when Aeril directly orders it. In Chapter Eight, she reflects that killing Sky would "sever the thin thread that connected her to her humanity," revealing that her identity is not rooted in memory but in the choices she makes.

Chronological Arc

Eveen's arc moves from obedience to defiance to self-reclamation. In Chapter One, she is a model assassin, climbing a tower to complete a contract. The recognition of Sky's face shatters that identity. In Chapter Two, she spares Sky and breaks the third vow, telling Fennis, "I can't exactly ship her here." Chapter Three confirms via Ennis's aura-linking device that Eveen and Sky are the same person, though later it is revealed Sky is from a parallel world. Chapter Four sees Eveen confront Baseema, who insists Sky must die to protect the guild from Aeril's hounds. Eveen defeats the four assassin sisters and receives a head start until dawn. Chapter Five introduces Rejik's attack and the safe house fire, while Chapter Six reveals Eveen's past as the "Angel of the Barrow," a killer of a child-murdering ritualist. Chapter Seven takes Eveen and Sky into the Shimmer, where they fight Valesh and are nearly controlled by a necromancer, until the old man saves them. Eveen then decides to turn herself in to Pol Oranus, planning to use the thaumaturgist's theories about parallel worlds. Chapter Eight brings the arbitration before Aeril, where Eveen reveals Pol Oranus's son was the Butcher of the Barrow and argues Sky is not under Aeril's jurisdiction. Chapter Nine sees a second Aeril appear, and Eveen tells the story of Asheel the Maniac Hunter to persuade the goddesses they are being manipulated. The contract is dissolved, Eveen's binds are released, and Sky hires the guild to contract Pol Oranus, with Eveen and Sky performing surgery on him.

Relationships

Sky: Initially a target, Sky becomes Eveen's mirror and companion. Their relationship is fraught with suspicion—Eveen worries Sky might be a magically created decoy—but grows into mutual trust. Sky's willingness to sacrifice herself in Chapter Seven and her invocation of a second goddess in Chapter Eight are pivotal. Eveen ultimately refuses to kill her, recognizing that doing so would destroy her own humanity.
Fennis: The guild's paperwork handler becomes Eveen's counsel and ally. He helps her understand the legal loophole that returning Sky to her own time would nullify the contract, and he stands by her during the arbitration.
Baseema: The guild boss initially enforces the rules, sending the quads and later a necromancer, but she also grants Eveen a head start and returns her knives. Baseema's warning about the "man from out of town" foreshadows the necromancer's attack.
Tamu and Mama Birgini: These figures from Eveen's forgotten past reveal her history as the Angel of the Barrow, showing that she had a moral compass even before her amnesia.
The old man: A child-like assassin who appreciates the "game" of the plot, he saves Eveen and Sky from the necromancer and encourages them to take the conflict to its end.
Pol Oranus: The antagonist, a Patriarch who contracted Eveen to kill her own past self as revenge for her killing his son, the Reaper of the Barrow.
Aeril: The goddess to whom Eveen is bound. Eveen's relationship with Aeril shifts from dutiful servant to defiant challenger, culminating in her using a story to manipulate the goddesses into dissolving the contract.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Sparing Sky: This breaks the third unbreakable vow, bringing Aeril's hounds and the guild's wrath. It also sets Eveen on a path of self-discovery.
Seeking confirmation from Ennis: This confirms the identity link and introduces the concept of parallel worlds, which becomes crucial in the arbitration.
Confronting Mael: This reveals the Shimmer and Pol Oranus's motive, but also leads to Valesh's attack and Mael's death.
Turning herself in: This is a calculated risk that allows Eveen to present her case before Aeril and expose Pol Oranus's crimes.
Telling the story of Asheel: This is the turning point. By framing the situation as a manipulation, Eveen persuades the goddesses to dissolve the contract, freeing herself and Sky.

Theme and Symbol Connections

Eveen embodies the novel's central themes. Her amnesia and the emergence of a memory speak to amnesia and the architecture of selfhood. Her relationship with Sky—who is both her younger self and a parallel version—explores identity across temporal and parallel selves. The contract and its loopholes highlight divine contract law and its subversion. Eveen's refusal to kill Sky and her exposure of Pol Oranus's crimes engage with justice versus vengeance. Finally, her use of the Asheel story to reshape the goddesses' understanding demonstrates narrative as world-shaping force. The Pirate Princess figurine and the Festival token serve as symbols of her lost past and the manipulation she endures.

Book-Specific Questions and Answers

1. Why does Eveen spare Sky instead of completing her contract? Eveen spares Sky because she recognizes Sky's face as her own reflection, triggering a memory that is impossible for an undead assassin. She tells Sky, "You're me," and cannot bring herself to kill what she believes is herself. This decision breaks the third vow and sets the plot in motion.

2. What does Eveen's past as the Angel of the Barrow reveal about her character? It reveals that she had a strong moral code before her amnesia. She killed the Reaper of the Barrow, a child-murdering ritualist, and earned the name "Angel of the Barrow" plus an extra century of indenture. This suggests that her later compassion for Sky is not a new development but a continuation of a pre-existing sense of justice.

3. How does Eveen's relationship with Aeril change over the course of the novel? Initially, Eveen is a dutiful servant who follows Aeril's laws without question. After sparing Sky, she defies Aeril's order to kill her, challenges the goddess's jurisdiction, and ultimately uses a story to manipulate Aeril and her parallel self into dissolving the contract. This shift from obedience to agency is central to her character arc.

4. What is the significance of the story of Asheel the Maniac Hunter? Eveen tells this story to the two goddesses to argue that they are being manipulated by Pol Oranus, just as Asheel was framed by a maniac. The story appeals to the goddesses' pride and sense of being played, leading them to dissolve the contract and release Eveen's binds. It demonstrates Eveen's understanding of narrative as a tool to reshape reality.

5. How does Eveen's identity as an undead assassin conflict with her emerging humanity? Eveen is dead, lacks memories, and is bound to a goddess who demands blood. Yet her actions—sparing Sky, protecting her, refusing to kill even under divine order—reveal a moral core that she fights to preserve. She reflects that killing Sky would "sever the thin thread that connected her to her humanity," suggesting that identity is defined not by memory but by the choices one makes. This conflict is resolved when she chooses compassion over obedience, reclaiming her humanity despite her undead state.

For further exploration, see the ending explained and questions and answers pages.