Eleyna Velenosa
Description
While Eleyna is still considered fair and delicate in coloring, with her alabaster skin and pale golden hair, she seems more substantial now than the creature of fragile beauty that arrived to Arx years ago in the wake of her aunt's death. Perhaps it is the curviness of her figure granted by the birth of her children or perhaps the gravity of her new position, but the Archduchess exudes presence whenever she walks into a room, with every half-smirk she grants or lift of her exquisitely shaped brows.
Personality
While few would consider Eleyna an especially kind woman, she is a generous one in her effort to live up to the ideal that the Velenosa do not merely punish those that have harmed them but reward those who are loyal. As one might expect for a woman that started life as just another disposable cousin and worked her way to Grand Duchess of the Lyceum, Eleyna is focused and intelligent, determined to unite the Lyceum in an unstable age. Yet, those that fall under the banner of friends and loved ones see the warmth and humor beneath the ice and ruthless ambition.
Background
Eleyna Velenosa started her life as just another Princess in a very large family, destined to be offered in marriage to create treaties between the House of her birth and its chosen allies. With no living mother and a mostly disinterested father, she was at the mercy of her ambitious aunt. Three times, she served in such a role. Three times, it ended in tragedy. Even the most spotless reputation cannot withstand the rumors that accompany three dead husbands.
In the Lyceum, they called her the Black Widow of Lenosia. They sought to shame her for the tragedies that befell her.
Eleyna took an insult meant to humiliate her and turned it into something to fear. If they wanted her to be a spider, she would be a spider. It was the spider's machinations that brought her to Arx in the wake of the King's Rest. That same spider built webs to climb from disgraced Princess to valued Voice and, eventually, all the way to the Grand Duchess' throne.
It's amazing how power seems to wash away the sins of past. So, while the sharp mind and ambitious nature remain, the Black Widow is no more now that Eleyna has both remarried and ascended to the pinnacle of power within her House and within the Lyceum. Lenosia is the City of Flowers, so it makes sense that Eleyna would be the White Lily, the palest of blooms but also the one symbolizing rebirth for her and her people.
