Agrona Goldbranch

Two years younger than her brother, Ithel, Agrona was born in the fifth year of the reign of her parents, King Ailill and Queen Catriona. Largely ignored as a child, Agrona was free to explore as she grew, and when she was five, she found a girl named Arya hiding in the garden beneath the willow tree. The two became fast friends.

When Agrona and Arya were sixteen, Agrona helped Arya move into the barracks as the red-headed young woman became the first female member of the guard. It was at this point that Agrona met Alastar Redleaf, the twin brother of Rhiannon Redleaf, who was being courted by Agrona’s brother at the time. That same day, Agrona apprenticed herself to Arya’s father, Aidan Summerbreeze, choosing to learn the arts of potions and healing.

Despite knowing that Ithel would marry Rhiannon, Agrona allowed herself to fall in love with Alastar. The two courted for a while, but Alastar decided he liked Arya better, and broke things off. Though her heart was broken and this caused a long-lasting rift between Agrona and Arya, it healed, and Agrona found herself courted by another young guard, Lucas Bluewater.

Shortly after Ithel and Rhiannon were engaged, Agrona found herself pregnant, though she and Lucas had not wed. Unsure how to tell her lover that he would soon be a father, Agrona was going to speak with her mother, but that same day, the Heart of Linwood, a precious gem, was stolen. Finding that the elite unit of guards that Arya and Alastar both belonged to stood accused and disgraced, Agrona became upset.

A week later, unable to handle the stress that came with being pregnant and unsupported, Agrona was drinking tea when she began to feel great cramps. Seeing blood, she panicked and went to the first person she could find. This was Rhiannon, who helped her to clean up and then chastised her for becoming pregnant out of wedlock even as she promised to keep Agrona’s secret. Agrona was twenty-five at the time, and she vowed vengeance against her harsh soon-to-be sister-in-law.

Ithel and Rhiannon were married the next year, and it wasn’t long before Rhiannon was pregnant. Their joy turned to pain, however, when Rhiannon miscarried, unaware that Agrona was responsible. Shortly after this, she met a traveling sorcerer named Bhimar, who took her under his wing and began training her in secret. She took him as a lover, in addition to Lucas.

Agrona continued to train with Bhimar for fourteen years before she saw her parents killed before her very eyes. Bhimar was among the murderers, and Agrona longed to disassociate with him, but he blackmailed her. Another fourteen years passed in this manner, and she became lax as she continued to ensure that not a single niece or nephew lived. Bhimar raped her to make it clear that he could get to her, however, and she became stricter.

For another hundred and sixty-six years, this was all that she did. Then, Bhimar rode into town carrying a baby boy. He gave the boy to her, told her that his name was Rowan, and to take good care of him. He was a gift to Agrona for her long years of service.

By this point, however, Agrona could no longer bear to see a living child. The guilt of what she had been doing overwhelmed her. She told Bhimar to go away and never contact her again, and she hid Rowan away in the orphanage.

Two years later, even as Rhiannon labored once more to bring into the world a child that Agrona knew would be stillborn, Agrona helped the handmaid Cliona to give birth, as well. Cliona named the baby girl Tesni, and Agrona breathed life back into her after seeing the umbilical cord wrapped twice around the baby’s neck.

It was four years after this incident when Bhimar returned to finally punish Agrona. He slaughtered Rhiannon and Ithel, as well as a child that Agrona had allowed to live to almost six months of age by this point. Cliona fled with Tesni, and Agrona fled to a keep in the north, leaving behind Lucas for what she thought would be forever.

Another four years passed when Agrona learned that a young thief named Wits would be able to help her get the Orb, a powerful artifact that would show that she was the rightful queen of Linwood, suitable to take her brother’s place.

By this point, Agrona had turned cruel. She nearly killed Wits, who Agrona now realized was Tesni, several times. When the girl was ten, Agrona took in a twelve-year-old boy named Aeron, who she trained in her own ways for four years before sending Aeron to seduce Tesni. Later, she was shocked to learn that the Orb had glowed for Tesni, and it was only then that Agrona came to understand that Cliona was no handmaid, but a hidden princess, as was Tesni, and that Cliona was dead.

The two of them fought, and Tesni killed Agrona. It should have been the end of her story, but it wasn’t, for more than twenty years later, Tesni’s son, Eogan, chanted the spell that allowed Agrona to return. Taking this chance to start anew, Agrona helped prove that Rowan, the boy she had once helped hide, was in truth the prince of Seos.

Agrona and Tesni began to bond, then, and she even repaired her friendship with Arya and Alastar the same day that she finally married Lucas, already a month pregnant with their second child, who she swore to protect. It was around this time that she also took Eogan as a student of the magical arts.

When she traveled to Seos for the marriage of Rowan’s twin brother, Nisha, to Agrona’s foster son, Aeron, Agrona found herself kidnapped, along with Arya, and the two of them learned a great deal more about each other as they sat for more than two months in Bhimar’s camp, repeatedly raped and forced to do various chores.

Agrona’s job was to brew potions, including one for a mute slave girl named Pari. When Agrona, Arya, and Pari were rescued, however, Agrona stopped giving Pari the potion, and the girl’s appearance changed and she regained her voice. Pari was, in fact, Cliona, long thought dead.

Back in Linwood, Agrona continued to teach Eogan, who progressed quickly. When he turned twelve, though, Agrona watched him begin his Ranger training, acknowledging that she had taught him all she could about healing magic and leaving the rest of his training up to his mentor, Enid. Having found that she enjoyed teaching and passing on her knowledge, however, Agrona turned to her grandniece, having sensed when the younger woman was a child that she had the ability flowing through her.

The next spring, Agrona gave birth nearly two months early. Much to her and Lucas’s surprise, she gave birth to twin boys whom they named Lorcan and Rordan. Caring for the twins exhausted her, but she continued to teach Tesni, who quickly developed a talent for fire magic.

When Tesni was attacked by an assassin, it was Agrona who recognized the poison and its effects, immediately warning Rowan to be prepared to say goodbye to his wife at any moment. Though she remained seemingly calm, inside Agrona worried, for she knew and understood the turmoil that could happen if Tesni died.

When the Seosan royal family had to evacuate to Linwood, Agrona befriended young Nasrin, recognizing in the girl something of herself. The young princess proved herself to be helpful, and together she and Agrona figured out an antidote with which to save Tesni. Agrona was also able to help guide Nasrin to Cliona, who could teach her in Dream Walking.

When those in Linwood were forced to evacuate to Yewsel, Agrona went with them, along with Lucas and the twins. There she bided her time, learning from the local shaman and continuing to teach Tesni, who was also beginning to work with Allaria to create a twisting spiral of wind and fire. Agrona wholeheartedly approved.

During the battle, Agrona acted in her role as sorceress, weaving illusions on the northern side of the battlefield, working alongside the Shield Maidens of Fannar. She also used her powers to force an enemy soldier into the path of Vígdís, the leader of the Shield Maidens, allowing the warrior to have her revenge against a man who had once attempted to force her into an unwanted marriage.

When Agrona learned of the deaths of Aeron and Rowan, she mourned. She had begun to grow fond of her grand-niece's husband, had loved Aeron as her own. There was much to do, though, and she had twin sons to keep her busy.

A year later, Agrona was at the signing of the Treaty of Alliance. A year after that, she took joy in teasing Tesni at the ball celebrating the twenty-fifth year of Tesni’s reign. Agrona went so far as to offer to teach Tesni how to use her whip, accusing her of drooling over a member of the Shadow Guard named Gareth. Though her grandniece denied everything, Agrona was certain of it.

Her patience was rewarded, of course, when, a few years later, TEsni and Gareth were married.