Queen Ransomed

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The Queen

Formerly known as the Slave Queen, the most exalted and most debased female in the Empire. Also now the Breath of the Living Air.

Physical Characteristics

The Queen and her first shapes, at the time of Even the Wingless

The Queen has slender, graceful limbs, with skin a deep pewter that shades to pearly gray over her stomach and throat. Her mane is dark. Unlike four-armed females, she lacks breasts. Prior to her ability to modify her own body, her wings were cut into patterns: scalloped edges and decorative cuts and incisions that rendered her incapable of flying. Her collar is silver set with amber cabochons.[1] Orange eyes, "all fire-reds and outrageous yellows." [2] She is thirty-seven revolutions (years of the Throneworld) old at the time of Lisinthir Nase Galare's tenure as Ambassador.[1]

Known Shapes

  • Karaka'An (gray striped with long claws) - obtained from one of her grandsire's slaves[1]
  • Human (orange-eyed with dark hair) - obtained from one of her grandsire's slaves[1]
  • Eldritch (orange-eyed) - obtained from Lisinthir Nase Galare[1]
In her Eldritch form, the Queen bears a strong resemblance to Liolesa Galare's relatives[1] and is almost tall enough for her head to be level with Sediryl's.[3]
  • Obtained from fellow slaves in the pirate base, by "gift" of Kamaney Foster (in order): Phoenix[4], Malarai, Aera, Akubi, Glaseah[5], Ciracaana, several different Pelted, Faulfenza, more unspecified presumably-Pelted, and Naysha[6]. She is said to have the shapes of all sentient species known to the pirate, so the unspecified shapes were Asanii, Harat-Shar, Seersa, Tam-illee, and Hinichi.

Biography

Prior to the Ambassador's Arrival

As a child, she practiced the Touch and the Change on her grandsire's slaves, obtaining both a human and Karaka'An shape, though at the time she didn't know their names. She told no one about this, but her dam saw her Change once and beat her for it. When her grandsire was defeated by the Emperor, she was captured and brought to the Throneworld Court as a prize, to become his Slave Queen, the most exalted and most debased of all females. She served as Queen for twenty-five years before the arrival of Lisinthir Nase Galare as Alliance Ambassador ad'Chatcaava.[1]

The Queen was aware of Chatcaavan history and customs dating back before the Empire was one of despotism and slavery.[7]

During the Chatcaavan War

Even the Wingless

As of the arrival of Lisinthir, the Queen was in a uniquely rarefied position: the most exalted and most debased female. She had a comparatively private space and a few duties of her own (including bringing slaves to the preparation room to be decorated and collared, and giving permission for females in the harem to attempt to conceive). She had an alien slave who attended to her: Laniis Baker, who she named Khaska after ancient Chatcaavan bellringers, because Laniis was distressed at being called "Slave." She was also protected from the attentions of most other males and from humiliating public use, though not because she was valued as a person, but because she was the Emperor's private possession and he was reluctant to share. For the most part, the only ones given frequent freedom of her tower were the Emperor and Second, and Second was usually gentle with her, requiring little more than bathing and wing-oiling. Nevertheless, her despair was only muted by the fact that she had never imagined freedom or personhood for herself and so did not miss it.[1][7]

The Queen's first, life-changing encounter with Ambassador Lisinthir was at his introduction to the court, which—due to the machinations of Third and his Baavo, along with the Emperor himself—also included the presence of three new alien slaves: a Malarai and Tam-illee, and, notably, an Eldritch like Lisinthir: Bethsaida Emil Galare, who the Queen did not yet know was the heir of the Eldritch queen. She noted Laniis's dismay as the new ambassador seemed indifferent to her plight and the plight of the new slaves. The Queen and Laniis told the new slaves that they were unable to do anything for them, and thus oversaw the rapid deterioration in Bethsaida, as she suffered from receiving too many violent and lascivious touches, and quickly became first ill and then unresponsive.[1]

Lisinthir's indifference (having never been true) did not last, as Lisinthir quickly requested permission to be able to visit the Queen, and the Emperor, amused, permitted it. Lisinthir used the time to assess Bethsaida's health and slowly begin to convince the Queen of her agency. This led to many additional effects: an increasing sense of restlessness and a desire to learn Laniis's real name and then her language among them. Ultimately the Queen and Laniis felt able to assist with a rescue operation. The plan required the Queen to take an Eldritch pattern to mimic Bethsaida during her 'presentation' and public rape, but Bethsaida, already traumatized from being handled by the Chatcaava, could not bear her touch for long enough for the Touch to succeed. Lisinthir instead provided the Pattern for her, and she stood in Bethsaida's stead, to be publicly raped and tortured by the Emperor while in an Eldritch form, as Bethsaida, Laniis, and the two other slaves escaped, though Laniis expressed sorrow at leaving her behind. In the aftermath, the Queen decided to ask Lisinthir to tell her more of Universal, the language Laniis had begun teaching her, and about his home.[1]

As Lisinthir rose in favor, the Queen counseled him on the ways that he would be challenged and tested by other males--most especially the Emperor. He came to her after he had been raped by the Emperor, and she called for the Surgeon to heal the honor wounds. Second also came to her, and shocked her by seeking information from her about Lisinthir; he spoke to her as if she knew things that were useful, which was a foreign and unsettling thing. Lisinthir continued to visit her every morning even as he was assaulted on a regular basis, and while he taught her Universal and told her about his people and how to think as they did, she continued to advise him. He, too, unsettled her by indicating that he was lifting the Veil for her because he trusted her, and that he was incapable of ceasing to see her as a person. She was further unnerved as the Emperor began to seek her without agitation or anger, content with "trivial obeisance," though he did still leave her bound in an uncomfortable pose for a full night.[7]

During the Mother's nearly-disastrous labor, the Queen aided Lisinthir in calling for the Surgeon, who normally did not treat females. After Lisinthir succeeded in convincing him, and the Mother was saved along with her newborn son, the harem warmed to the Queen and invited her to stay, crediting her with the Mother's survival. Later, Second came to her in agitation, and while she oiled his wings, she heard him discussing getting rid of Lisinthir with Third. She feared for Lisinthir, a fear borne out when Lisinthir informed her of Second's attempt at poisoning him. The Queen informed Lisinthir about the potential of using small doses of hekkret to build up immunity, and provided him his first rolls.[7]

The Emperor came to ask her about Lisinthir, and she acknowledged that he came to visit her every day, but only to talk, and the Emperor left without hurting her, puzzling and worrying her, as an "Emperor who could talk to her, consider her, and then leave her without marking her... was a stranger." Later, while she was taking breakfast with Lisinthir, Second attempted to send him off so that the Queen could serve him; Lisinthir refused, saying that her mornings were his. Later, prompted by a complaint by Second, the Emperor visited Lisinthir and the Queen in the morning to confirm Second's report, and demanded that Lisinthir prove that he is a male by "making use" of the Queen; forced into a corner, and with the Queen's subtle encouragement, he did so in the gentlest way he could find. The Queen later told him that it had been pleasant for her to ease him. Later, when he came to her broken, she suggested that he could ease his torment by allowing the Emperor to sacrifice her; when he protested, she indicated that she had learned some of his lessons of love and sacrifice. Later, Second came to her enraged that she had been passing information to Lisinthir, and beat and raped her; it was the first time he had been violent to her. The Emperor later, again at Second's behest, came to her for more advice about Lisinthir; he did not hurt her, and acknowledged that he himself, like the Queen, was enthralled with the Ambassador.[7]

Shortly thereafter, Third and his Hand arrived with more slaves--sixteen in all, both Pelted and human. The Queen, using her new mastery of Universal, explained their situation, warned them against violence or escape attempts, and sent them to the Preparation Room. After their presentation, she further explained that the Ambassador was not complacent, but had to play to the politics of the Court if he was to have any hope of success in having them freed.[7]

When she heard that the Emperor and Lisinthir had seriously injured each other, she left the Tower despite this being forbidden to her, and was escorted to the clinic to see them. She was then present when he sent Third's newly-acquired slaves back. When Third and his Hand arrived to take out their frustrations on the Imperial Harem--and Third threatened to rape the Queen herself, despite that being expressly forbidden except at the Emperor's word--she, for the first time, was successful in driving him away, and he hurt neither her not any other harem members.[7]

For a few days after Third's death, the Queen, Lisinthir, and the Emperor stayed together in her suite, having sex, both violent and not. Shortly after that, Lisinthir returned to show her messages of thanks from the slaves they had freed: a long one from Laniis, and more from others, including Bethsaida. However, the temporary peace was broken when Lisinthir came to her concerned that he had in fact convinced the Emperor to treat him as a male... and therefore, the Empire would treat the Alliance as a male to be broken, not a female to be largely ignored; she confirmed this, and they came up with a new plan.[7]

After Lisinthir convinced the Emperor to take his pattern and Change, their encounters shifted. The Emperor wanted to feel first the Queen's fear, and then to feel her suffering so he could know what it was to weep. Finally, he wanted to feel what Lisinthir had suffered through torture to see what that was like. The Queen asked permission to leave so as not to watch Lisinthir be tortured. After that, the Emperor treated her very differently: he had empathy for her and had no will to punish her even after learning that she had posed as Bethsaida. He renamed her Treasure, and the three spent days together in newfound trust and pleasure (and, for the Emperor and Lisinthir, challenge).[7]

Things finally came to a head with Second, and the Queen found Lisinthir very ill from poisoning by Second, and later learned that Second had challenged the Emperor. At the Emperor's behest, she fled to the clinic, where the Surgeon could shield her. Second was slain and the Emperor survived, and the Emperor sent Lisinthir away; she counseled him on the reasons and said her goodbyes. After, the Emperor asked her forgiveness, shocking her, and asked her to be the Queen Ransomed rather than the Slave Queen, his comfort as he was her protection; she asked him to see the sea.[7]

Amulet Rampant

After the Surgeon amputated her wing vanes, she bled so much that they were forced to put her in a gel tank, and then allow her to convalesce on a bed in the clinic. [8]

Relationships

  • As the Slave Queen, was made available by the Emperor to Second and Lisinthir. Second came to her primarily to be bathed and to have his wings oiled, and was normally kind to her. Third did not have general access to her.[1]
  • Thought fondly on the Mother, for several reasons: she was not as resentful as the other females toward her, she had been kind to Laniis, and she had sought out pregnancy with eager hope and was joyful upon becoming pregnant.[1][7]
  • Found Laniis's formality tiresome, but tolerated it.[1]
  • Laniis remembered her as kind, a person who made the nightmare of being an Imperial slave "bearable."[7]
  • Kept a piece of jewelry from every female who died in the harem, obtained for her by the Mother. [1]

Names

  • She has never had a name. Before the current Emperor took power, she was titled as her father's daughter, and after, she was the Slave Queen.[1]
  • Was initially called "pet" by the Emperor, which Lisinthir correctly assumed meant "one step above slave, one step sideways from 'female.'" The Emperor later took to calling her Treasure, meaning not the object but the Chatcaavan ideal form, not a lowly object but an exalted abstraction.[7]

What she calls others

  • Emperor: she refers to him as "the Emperor", "my mate", "my Emperor", or "my master". She calls him "my lord" and "my love". She also tells him that he is Greatness.[7] Unlike everyone else, she almost never addresses him as "Exalted".
  • Lisinthir: she most often thinks of him and refers to him as "the Ambassador", but also uses "my consort", "my Eldritch consort", "my mate", and "the Imperial Consort". She calls him "Imthereli-Lord" and "my lord" and "Lisinthir".
  • Jahir: she usually calls him and refers to him as "Gentle Guide".
  • Sediryl: she mostly calls her and refers to her as "sister" and "my sister", but she also sometimes uses "Princess Sediryl".
  • Liolesa: she usually calls her Empress.

What others call her

  • Many people mostly refer to her and think of her as "the Queen Ransomed" or simply "the Queen". Her other title is "Breath of the Living Air", which can be shortened to "Breath". Eldritch sometimes specify "the Chatcaavan Queen" or "the Chatcaavan Breath". Her underlings mostly address her as "my Queen".
  • The Emperor refers to her as (and calls her) "the Queen Ransomed", and calls her "my Treasure", or sometimes other endearments like "my pet" and "beloved".
  • Lisinthir calls her "Beauty" and "Beloved", and before others he says "the Queen". He also sometimes addresses her as "my Queen".
  • Jahir calls her "my lady".
  • Sediryl calls her "arii" and "sister".

Family

Grandfather was the Emperor before Kauvauc.

Spouses/consorts: Emperor Kauvauc Ueneuvin and Lisinthir Lauvet Imthereli.

Children
by the Emperor: Hope.[9]

by Lisinthir: Kolvin ("Kol"), Niriel ("Nelle"), Alari ("Ria"), and Sarkhan ("Sarkie").[10]

Trivia

  • Swears by the Living Air.[1]
  • Had a great deal of difficulty reading the facial expressions of alien slaves until she had spent a full year with Laniis and also gained an understanding of alien feelings by touching Lisinthir while using her Eldritch shape.[1]
  • The cuts in her wings were sealed with a liquid that sizzled, rendering them tough rather than supple and less prone to tears.[1]
  • Preferred to dress herself, except when her presentation jewels were too ungainly to don by herself.[1]
  • Two heads shorter than Lisinthir.[1]
  • Restored her equanimity by soaking in the hottest of her baths.[1]
  • Had seen twelve Mothers give birth before Emerald.[7]
  • Was proficient at massage, though not as talented as a four-armed female due to the lack of two hands.[7]
  • Did not generally love pain; "[t]he first time she had been ushered into the world that gave Moon so much pleasure she'd left it wanting to die." When she developed more agency, however, she made a distinction: "To be an object and to suffer... the suffering has no meaning. To be a person and to choose suffering... that is different. That cleanses."[7]
  • Occasionally chose her Eldritch shape so that she could mourn with "proper tears."[7]
  • Felt drawn first to the sky, and then to the sky and the sea, and ultimately asked the Emperor to bring her to the shore.[7]
  • learned to ride a horse during her first visit to Escutcheon [11]

Quotes

Even the Wingless

"Tell her I...I am the Slave Queen, the most exalted of all females in the Empire, and the most debased."[1]

"Some things must be known before they can be missed," the Slave Queen said. "I have never known freedom, so how can I miss it?"[1]

"It is what I am for, Ambassador. I am a vessel. It is all I do, suffering."[7]

"As long as you are willing to bow your head to spare the pain of the worthless, you are no Chatcaavan. No matter what you feel when you are defending your life and honor. It is what moves you that makes you who you are." [7]

"Perhaps what you have done here so far, the Alliance could do for the Empire. Perhaps if the Empire finds itself fighting a war it cannot easily win, it will remember its heart and become something greater than it is." -- to the Ambassador [7]

"I drove Third away from the harem. And I left the Tower to see the Emperor in the clinic. I am... I am not what I was. But your stories could only suggest, Master. Only I could have effected the change in me."[7]

Amulet Rampant

"I, too, am Outside, in a way. Females cannot partake of the world of power and agency of males, Surgeon. Some would say the Chatcaava have been lessened by that division. You, the other males who are Outside... how much more could you do if you did not have to live outside the world of males on the Inside? What could you accomplish freed from the necessity to maintain your neutrality? If you could choose sides, Surgeon... what an ally you would be! What amazing things you might do for the world you would choose to bring forth!" [12]

"I'm afraid the revolution has already begun. I am just trying to keep it from killing everyone I care about." [13]

Major Pieces

“Not every question needs an immediate answer. Not if you want the right one.” [14]

Farmer's Crown

"You are the Gentle Guide, and I was the Slave Queen, and people think we are patient and passive and kind, and perhaps we are. If we were not, our angers and our griefs would turn us into far more terrible people than those who were born to power, and who are comfortable wielding it. To have a master is safer. For everyone else." [15]

Quotes and Observations by Others

"Do not play the fool, Mistress. Not all power is shaped by talon and fang."

Moon[7]

"You never were an object," he said into her hair. "Even when you thought yourself powerless, you were changing the universe for the better. They tricked you into believing yourself no better than them."

Lisinthir Nase Galare

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 Even the Wingless, Part One
  2. Farmer's Crown, Chapter 9
  3. Healer's Wedding, Chapter 17
  4. In Extremis, chapter 12
  5. In Extremis, chapter 16
  6. In Extremis, chapter 19
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 7.12 7.13 7.14 7.15 7.16 7.17 7.18 7.19 7.20 7.21 7.22 7.23 Even the Wingless, Part Two
  8. Amulet Rampant, Chapter 18
  9. Major Pieces, "Hope's Navy"
  10. studiomcah Community on locals.com, illustration posted 18 May 2022: "Sneak peek: Children of the Fallowtide".
  11. Healer's Wedding, chapter 16
  12. Amulet Rampant, Chapter 8
  13. Amulet Rampant, Chapter 13
  14. Major Pieces, "Deserving," Chapter 6
  15. Farmer's Crown, Chapter 2