Ashella
Ashella is the protagonist of the story When the Clock Strikes. Her real name is not mentioned in the story, but she calls herself Ashella, which is a wordplay on Cinderella. She is a very beautiful, and had the power to hold the attention of all the males in a place to herself. She is a very independent, confidant and focussed person. She is told as a kid by her dying mother that she should have revenge on the duke, and in spite of the years that pass since, she remains focussed to her goal and succeeds in it. She is an expert in dark magic, which she was introduced to by her mother, which she also uses it to bring down the Duke and his son.
Ashella's Mother
Ashella's mother, who remains unnamed, is a lady of high and noble birth. Her family is completely rooted out by the Duke, who wants to take over all their lands and titles, and she is the only one who escapes. She is a determined woman, also practical and intelligent. She marries a wealthy merchant for her safety, and later starts working against the Duke. She is skilled in dark magic and uses it to try to destroy the duke. When she is found to be a witch, she stabs herself after making her daughter swear that she would continue and complete her work of revenge that she started.
Ashella's Father
Ashella's father is a wealthy but illiterate merchant. He is married by his wife for the sake of anonymity. He is not pleased about the fact that his wife practiced black magic and he is the one who goes and gets neighbors to come to capture her to have her burnt at stake. When his wife dies, he remarries a widow with two daughters. At the ball, when Ashella arrives, he is the only one there who recognizes her.
The Duke
The duke comes to power by usurping the power of, and destroying the family of Ashella's mother, then-reigning family. He is revenged upon by Ashella's mother and later Ashella, who use black magic against him. Ashella kills him with her black magic.
The Prince
The prince is the duke's son. He too becomes a victim of Ashella's vengeance. He sees Ashella first at the ball he had organized and he immediately falls in love with her. Her beauty makes him so dazed that he doesn't even realize that she is cursing him, as the eleventh hour is ending. He dies, being waylaid and killed by intriguers, when he runs through the city half-mad, toward Ashella's house without guard or attendant.
Death
Death is personified in the story, and becomes a key-player in the movement of the plot. Death is the secondary narrator who tells the story of Ashella. He lives in the ruins same city that Ashella destroyed in pursuit of revenge against the Duke. In the story, she is seen to transform into Death, as represented in the old clock, as the clock struck twelve.
