Lady Annabelle Alyssenne
Welcome to the Empire of the Covenant! In this federal empire, tensions are increasing between the Light and Dark political factions. Light Lady Annabelle is the target of the Leader of the Dark faction and in order to gain allies to protect her, she starts Courtship Rituals to make suitors compete for her hand—but then the Dark Lord joins in. Come read about Annabelle's Courtship and her world!
Introduction to the story | Lady Annabelle Alyssenne | The imperial nobility | Novel upcoming
Introduction to the story | Lady Annabelle Alyssenne | The imperial nobility | Novel upcoming
Annabelle is the main character of Book 1: Deadly Courtship. She is the new lady of House Alyssenne, one of the co-founder of the Empire of the Covenant, and the traditional leader of the Light political faction. However, after a childhood in an orphanage, Annabelle has troubles regaining control of the Estate ruled by House Alyssenne and rejoining high society. Worse, the leader of the Dark faction, Lord Véridice Lyrienne, is after her life.
Childhood
Annabelle was brought to an orphanage in the Estate of Arianie in mysterious circumstances when she was a few months old. This is not an uncommon fate for children from poor families and did not make her stand out. With nothing known about her past and few resources available at the orphanage, she had few prospects in life. The major challenge with living in Arianie is that people are forbidden from using strong magic anywhere in the capital—a rule put into place to reassure the lords and ladies that gather there for the senate. However, cutting people off magic entirely is impossible given how all everyday technologies rely on it, and so even orphans are given a minimum amount of education in how to use it. Thanks to her sensitivity to magic which gives her the ability to see it, Annabelle has always been fascinated by magic and by runes in particular. Annabelle did her best to studying any enchanted magical artefacts she could get her hands on, the only way to be closed to any powerful magic in Arianie. Her hope at the time was to find an apprenticeship with a tailor to learn runecraft from them.Return to the South
When she was 15 years old, a representative of the government came to the orphanage and tried to force her to marry an unknown noble. During the attack, Annabelle discovered her link with the faraway Estate of Alyssenne and escaped there, only to discover she is the lost heiress of House Alyssenne—and the target of her parents' murderer, Dark Lord Véridice Lyrienne. Since the senate was refusing to recognise her identity without her going back to Arianie to meet them, and since her time before Lyrienne came for her was short, Annabelle and her new allies opted to raise the full wards around the Estate, thus isolating themselves completely from the external world. This was supposed to give her the time to learn what she could and to prepare to face her enemies but ended up lasting 10 years.Nowadays
Annabelle has just turned 25, which means that she is a full adult and no lords or ladies can attempt to force her under their guardianship. She can join the senate with one less risk. However, after so long without external contacts, House Alyssenne and Annabelle are in urgent needs of powerful allies to help her survive Lyrienne and the upcoming war between the Light and Dark faction. She has the perfect plan: start Courtship Rituals and make the noble Houses vie for her favours and her hands—hopefully by offering her alliances. This also has the advantage of giving her one year during which the Dark may refrain from attacking her, out of respects for ritual magic and out of curiosity. What happens next is the subject of Book 1: Deadly Courtship.Current challenges
Character: Annabelle is attempting to behave as a proper lady but she is afraid to assert herself against the opinions of her advisors and potential allies, as this could push them away from her. Conflict: Survive while dealing with the brewing war between the Light and the Dark political factions, reestablish the place of House Alyssenne in the Light alliance, and rule in a way that satisfy her people—who do not appreciate the consequences of all this political turmoil and of having been cut off from all contact with the external world for 10 years.Table of Contents
General information
Pronunciation: Annabelle AlyssenneHouse: Alyssenne
Position: Lady
Politics: Light
Line-gifts: magical sensitivity
Secondary line-gift: weather magic
Power level: extremely high
Living Place: Estate of Alyssenne
Age: 25
Skin: pale skin of the Southerners
Eyes: blue-green
Hair: brown, long and always worn up
Family
Parents: Lord Justinien Alyssenne [dead, killed by Lord Lyrienne] and Lady-Consort Léonie Alyssenne [dead, killed by Lord Lyrienne].Grandparents: Lord Matthieu Alyssenne [dead under mysterious circumstances] and Lady-Consort Joséphine Alyssenne [dead under mysterious circumstances].
Cousins: Goodwoman Béatrice Watron [Annabelle's close friend and advisor] and Goodwoman Clémentine Watron [close to Béatrice but not Annabelle].
Hobbies
Dislikes
Children
Annabelle Alyssenne and Véridice Lyrienne during her Courtship Rituals by AmélieIS
I love the fact she had the metaphorical balls to reclaim her estates and just put a ward up around it for ten years instead of subjecting herself to the whims of the senate. Good on her.