The Commoner's Queen

Serilda has known since childhood that she was destined to be a queen. She has studied statecraft from the time she could read, along with anything else that seemed like it might possibly help her. She has fought back against the machinations of those who would prefer her milder brother, and clawed her way to leadership of the high council. But there is no crown for her. Not in Escanthus. So when word reaches her that King Athan of Lore is searching for a wife, she seizes the chance she's been given. Rumor paints him as a fool with no head for statecraft, but that matters little; she's no stranger to either politics or plain hard work. Still, she can't help but be pleasantly surprised when it turns out there's far more to her new husband than rumors would have it. Nor can she deny that it's a relief to have someone on her side as she plunges into the labyrinthine tangle of plots and counter-plots and alliances that make up the royal court of Lore.
Athan is tired to the marrow of his bones. Deliberately under-educated by his mother, still grieving the deaths of his beloved wife and the uncle who practically raised him, surrounded by the painted smiles of the court and councilors who are still his mother's more than his even a decade after her death, he is nonetheless shackled to the throne until his daughter comes of age and he can finally step down. He spent his reign biding his time, filling his days with hunting and hawking and music to distract himself from his grief, and the gnawing unease that never seems to fade entirely. Then the content of an unsent letter, discovered by chance, shocks him out of his malaise and makes him question things he'd long taken for granted. Mired in a rut of his own making and unable to truly trust anyone at court, Athan seeks out a bride -- and finds Serilda of Escanthus, young and vivacious and at least ten times cleverer than he is.
Her dauntlessness in the face of all obstacles gives him new hope, and his faith in her only feeds her determination. She spurs him to be better and he softens her rough edges. He was never going to amount to much as a king, but she, the commoner's queen, is going to be legendary.

Relations

Protagonists

Serilda, Athan, Lysbeth

Allies

Herta, Valda, Ragnar, Tyr Al-Muruz, Meleri ir'Cedewain, Gwydion ir'Cedewain

Neutrals/Bystanders

Marcher Lords

Competitors

Nessa Druiryn-Builth, Selwyn Builth, Thierry Artanges, Esabel Almerry

Adversaries

Eliaz of Gris

Related Characters

• King Athan
• Queen Serilda

Related Organizations

• Escanthus
• Kingdom of Lore

Related Locations

• Cordonia