Briar Luvesta
Briar Luvesta
Royal mistress of Marcus Grey, mother of Pervalius Luvesta. She and the king have a deep love for each other, though this love has gotten a little rocky over the years as she continues to have miscarriages. She has become desperate to have a second child for her lover, and will do anything if she believes it will make her more fertile.
She was born the disgraced half-breed child of her basilisk mother, exiled at the age of ten as is their tradition. She had her legs cut off and was left in the woods to be devoured, but was able to save herself using the magical ability she inherited from her father's blood. She would never have legs again, but her ability to tame beasts helped her make it to civilization in time to be tended to by a healer. She grew up a street rat, able to make it by begging on the streets. Being crippled inspired a lot of pity, but not enough to earn lodging. When she was thirteen, she was noticed by the palace blacksmith. He took her in and built her a set of prosthetic legs. He raised her as his own daughter, even getting her a job as a maid when she turned seventeen. Although the blacksmith belongs to the church of the Divine Trinity, and although her own kind worship a snake goddess, she does not buy into religion and after her traumatic experience in childhood, does not believe that any god could possibly exist to create such a world.
She met the king while she was working, and the two became somewhat acquainted over casual conversations which eventually led to a friendship. He was particularly curious about her because he had never met a legless woman who could perform the labor that she would do around the castle, nor had he ever met a half-basilisk before. The two found that they had a similar sense of humor and taste in music. He would at times request the bard to play songs he knew she liked when she was present in the room, a tendency that his wife would catch onto after a few years. Marcus was also known to take meals in his room sometimes when he had a lot of work to do, but he began to take them alone once in a while to sneak Briar in and have a meal together. She developed a taste for some of the dishes available only to royalty, and he would order the cooks to make her favorites here and there on these secret dates. This trend also, his wife started to take note of, though she didn't yet know that he took these meals with the maid. After a few years of flirtation and mostly innocent bonding, the two finally slept together for the first time. For a time, they actively avoided having a child. Yet, after Queen Busanni started resisting the idea of having more children, the king and his mistress threw caution to the wind. He became very adamant that he get Briar with child, and she was very attracted to the idea of being the mother to a child of the king. They soon conceived Pervalius, and the king made Briar his official mistress.
Briar adored the attention that she received from her lover after her official status became known. She was showered with gifts and had regular, unhidden, visits from him. She adored her home and her son, and was glad to be welcome (if only by the King) to royal events and feasts. Her rivalry with the Queen was less savory, however, and she was ever watchful of the Queen who had threatened her more than once. The Queen became abruptly unkind after the pregnancy with Pervalius was announced and was unkind to the child once born so long as the King wasn't around to see it. She and the Queen would have their schemes between one another and out of spite and mere wishfulness, Briar hoped that the King might cast Busanni aside in her favor and make her son his heir.
Briar's greatest grief is her frequent miscarriages, and the illness that would come alongside them. She would be bedridden and attended by a physician for the weeks that they would last. Yet she refuses to give up, even for her own health. The physician notes that her condition is unusual, especially since the pregnancy and birth of Pervalius was very healthy. Briar is told that it may be due to physical stress caused by her crippled body, but she suspects otherwise. She worries that the Queen has found some way to poison her to prevent the conception of healthy children, and possibly to cause her eventual death. This paranoia has consumed her and she makes sure that she has her own eyes in the castle to watch for foul play. She is also very distressed by the treatment of her son in the keep, especially by those who are supposed to be close to him like his half siblings.
Relationships
Species
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Gender
Female
Eyes
Pale grey
Hair
Tightly curled, snow white
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Translucent white
Height
5' 10"
Belief/Deity
Athiestic
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