Wynflæd Klüpfuchs (ˈwynˌflæd ˈklʏp.fʊks)
Princess of Bernicia
"He should have had a sister to take care of him all along, poor dear. But he didn't, and now he's in an awful mess, so I'll have to fix it all. I am his cousin, but I can be his older sister too." - Princess Wynflæd, in a ciphered letter to her father.
Princess Wynflæd of Bernicia is the eleventh child of Beornric the Shrewd and the twin sister of Prince Ælfred. Her mother was Beornric's second wife, Briganta ferch Cadwaladr, a Cuneddan noblewoman who was a cousin to Maelgwn the Tall, the grandfather of the current King of Cunedda, Rhys ap Maelgwn. Of all of the Young Foxes, as Beornric's children are known, she is often considered the most charming and beautiful. She has a close relationship with her siblings and step-siblings, and often takes on the responsibility of making sure the family gathers together from their disparate appointments to spend the winter holiday of Kerzennächte together. She is currently serving as the Bernician ambassador to Cunedda, where she has become deeply involved in the difficulties facing her cousin.
Early Life
Wynflæd was born into a busy family, with ten older siblings and step-siblings (counting her twin brother). At first, it seemed unlikely that the twins would survive, as they were born premature and underweight. Nurturing the twins became a special project of the court for a season, with doctors and healers brought from all over the country. After the first three months had gone by and neither had died, the fervor died down, but the twins have always received a certain amount of consideration from their elder siblings after their perilous few months.
When Wynflæd and Ælfred were three, their mother fell ill suddenly and died. It was later revealed that she had been the victim of a plot aimed at the king, but an inept poisoner had chosen the wrong cup. In the aftermath of Queen Briganta's death, King Beornric created the Lorekeepers of Foxbridge to serve as the intelligence arm of the kingdom, to detect and forestall any future plots against his family. The Lorekeepers successfully uncovered the plotters who had orchestrated the poisoning, and their heads were mounted on the walls of Dunwulf until they rotted away.
At this time, Wynflæd's elder step-sister Godifu took the twins under her wing. Godifu had been only slightly older than Wynflæd when her own mother had passed away, and she empathized deeply with their loss. She had just returned from her grand tour of the Great Ring, and entertained them with stories of her adventures. She took them on adventures of their own as well, even bringing the twins along when she and her new husband Oswin traveled throughout Ynys after their wedding. Wynflæd idolized her older sister, and they have continued to have a very close relationship. When Wynflæd was nine years old, Godifu had twin girls of her own and named one of them Wynflæd in her honor.
Ambassador to Cunedda
"That schandrat tried to poison me!" - excerpt from a ciphered letter from Wynflæd to Godifu
When Wynflæd agreed to become her father's ambassador in Cunedda, she was looking forward to meeting her cousin, Rhys ap Maelgwn. She had read the Lorekeeper reports on the state of his kingdom, but little could have prepared her for the disaster she found when she arrived. Rhys himself was a sweet and intelligent person, but also sheltered, naive, and completely unprepared to rule. His lords ignore him, running each cantref of the kingdom as their own fief, and are constantly at war with each other and antagonizing the neighboring kingdoms, especially Mathrafal to the south. Eyjamaður and Dumnonian raiders attack the coastal settlements at will, as there is little to no attempt at coordinating a defense. Rhys himself has no confidence in his ability to rule the kingdom, and without some major changes, it seems unlikely that he will ever have the opportunity to gain any.
Upon assessing the situation, Wynflæd decided that it was unacceptable, and has begun to build plans to fix it. She has become her cousin's closest friend and chief advisor, and has begun to call in favors from her other siblings on his behalf. Most notably, she has extracted a promise from King Owain of Mathrafal to not invade and subdue the Cuneddan lords who have been raiding across their border until a year has passed. In the meantime, she is giving Rhys a crash course in statecraft, and helping him select trustworthy and effective people to help support his rule.
One major obstacle to Wynflæd's work in Cunedda is Rhys's wife Gwawl. She is the younger sister of Guortepir of Dyfed, and their marriage was arranged by Maelgwn the Tall as a part of an alliance between the two kingdoms. Gwawl is jealous of the influence Wynflæd has over the King, especially as her own relationship with him has never been warm. She has publicly accused them of carrying on an incestuous relationship, and has gone so far as to have Wynflæd's food poisoned in an attempt to be rid of her. Luckily for Wynflæd, the Young Foxes were all trained in how to handle poison, and she was only inconvenienced by it. But Gwawl's attempt to murder Wynflæd has enraged the Young Foxes, and their retribution is certainly coming.
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