One of the three protagonists of the novel and its first-person narrator, Penellaphe “Poppy” Balfour is a resourceful, brave, and compassionate young woman with supernatural powers. Poppy is 19 years old at the start of the novel. Poppy lost her parents Corena and Leopold in an attack by the zombie-like Craven when she was a child. When Poppy was 13, she was made to don the veil of “the Maiden,” an almost imprisoned chosen one kept by the rulers of Solis. As the novel begins, Poppy is kidnapped by Prince Casteel Da’Neer. As he takes her to his native Atlantia, Poppy discovers that most of what she’s been told about Solis and Atlantia is a lie: Poppy realizes that her powers are greater than she thought and that the Atlantians are not the cruel degenerate people she was told. In the process, she falls in love with Cas and shares his dream of creating a fairer, more just society.

Poppy is red-haired, green-eyed, and beautiful. One side of her face and body is scarred from the attack by the Craven. When she feels a surge of power, she glows silver. Though she was raised as the pious and demure Maiden, Poppy is skilled in warfare.