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I have always said that life is for living and I have never been one to waste a day, but I think if anyone were to ask me, I might give up one of those days for another hour in that man’s arms. The pleasure he brought me was incredible—and as you know, diary, I am no stranger to seduction and pleasure. Plus, I was able to take one of the Blood Queen’s guards away from his Royal duty for a while. Just long enough for what I saw in my vision to manifest—or at least I hope.

I guess we’ll see.

Still, tonight was definitely an encounter fit for these pages.

Willa

QUEEN ILEANA (A.K.A ISBETH) †

Click here to see a full-size image of Isbeth by art.bymikki.

Isbeth is a complex ruler. She started out as merely a woman in love, but circumstances embittered her and caused her to become something cold—and all of that was before she had time to let the circumstances of her unusual Ascension affect her. I could give her a pass; she did, after all, lose her child and have her love stolen from her, and all after being denied the one thing she wanted most. However, we all have a choice in how we behave and whether we use the things that happen to us in our lives to make us better, transmuting that negative energy so we vibrate at an even higher frequency and then using it to help others. Or if we fall into the despair and let it turn us dark. Isbeth embraced her need for revenge and let go of all her light to reach her ultimate goals.

Hair: Dark auburn in loose, waist-length curls.

Eyes: Nearly black.

Body type: Slender. Almost impossibly narrow waist.

Facial features: Pale skin. Lush, red lips. High, arched brows. High cheekbones.

Distinguishing features: Nose pierced with ruby gem. Faint glimmer of silver in her pupils.

Other: Also known as Queen Ileana. Laugh like tinkling bells. Smells like roses and vanilla.

Personality: Cruel. Conniving. Vindictive. Strategic. Dramatic. Narcissistic.

Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Still loves Malec. Has a thing for cleanliness. Incredibly detail oriented. Wears Malec’s ring on her index finger—Atlantian gold with a pink diamond.

Background: Demis—was Ascended by a god. Malec’s heartmate. Queen of Solis.

Family: Son = name unknown † (killed by Alastir). Daughters = Millicent and Penellaphe.

ISBETH’S JOURNEY TO DATE:

As the Queen of Solis, Ileana was always on my radar. As an Atlantian, I simply couldn’t abide what she and her people were doing. But when I started getting glimpses of overlapping items for her—layered images, even—it was then that I realized there was much more than meets the eye when it came to the Blood Queen.

When I saw the meeting between Poppy and Ileana, whereupon she revealed her true identity, I knew that nothing would ever be the same. It answered so many questions yet created a multitude of others at the same time.

From the minute Poppy, Cas, and their people come face-to-face with Ileana/Isbeth following Ian’s invitation, the Blood Queen employs the snark. There is seemingly no end to her narcissism. When Poppy gives as good as she gets, Isbeth remarks that Ian didn’t tell her that Poppy had found and sharpened her tongue.

She asks Poppy if she’s bonded to Kieran. When she responds that she’s bonded to all the wolven, the Queen taunts Malik and tells him he missed out. She then adds that she knows Poppy became Queen of Atlantia—just as she hoped—but that she married the wrong brother. Malik chimes in and confirms that, yes, Poppy was to be Ascended, and that he was to be her Ascension of the flesh.

Cas lashes out at his brother, and Ileana chimes in that she’s curious about which of the brothers would win in a fight. She says she’d bet on Casteel as he was always a fighter, even when on the verge of being broken.

She makes it clear that she invited them so they could come to an agreement regarding the future. She says she is fond of Poppy but warns her against thinking that the care is a weakness because she is the Queen and demands respect.

Ileana reveals that Alastir told her about the ultimatum Poppy and Cas came to give and doesn’t hide her joy when she finds out that he’s dead. As they talk about the deal some more, Ileana vehemently states that she will see the entire kingdom burn before she offers even a single acre of land. She then counteroffers: claim Atlantia in her name and swear fealty to her. She tells them they can keep their Prince and Princess titles but that she will send several of her Dukes and Duchesses over to establish Royal Seats in Atlantia. Once they make the citizens believe it’s what’s best for the kingdom and dismantle the armies, they are then to bring Queen Eloana and King Valyn to Carsodonia to be tried for treason.

As talk of war surfaces once more, Ileana tells them she has over one hundred thousand mortal soldiers and several thousand Royal Knights if it comes to that. Still, they should really be worrying about the Revenants…because they’re not mortal. She demonstrates this by having Millicent killed so they can all watch her resurrect. She explains more about the Revenants and says she has enough to make an army.

She states that the War of Two Kings never ended; there has merely been a strained truce. She then adds that she wants the Atlantian people’s respect, which is why she hasn’t yet attacked. Poppy argues as Poppy is wont to do, and then Ileana reveals that the people likely won’t be so accepting once they discover their new leader is the Queen of Solis’s daughter.

Poppy tells her that Duchess Teerman said that Ileana was her grandmother. In response, Ileana calls her loyal but stupid. She tells Poppy that she is her mother and explains why she had Cora raise her. She then claims that she had no idea about the abuse Duke Teerman inflicted upon Poppy and says she would have flayed the skin from his bones and left him to be eaten by buzzards had she known. She also reveals that Cora was a Revenant and that she survived the Craven attack at Lockswood but not Ileana’s wrath for absconding with Poppy.

After that big revelation, she adds that she isn’t actually Ascended and wasn’t the first vampry. She then details her poisoning at the hands of Eloana, as well as her Ascension by Malec, whom she insists Eloana ruined.

Seeing the doubt, Isbeth proves she’s not Ascended by ripping off the curtains and remaining unharmed in the sunlight. It shocks those gathered, but not as much as her next tidbit. She tells them that Malec is a god, and that Eloana didn’t know. She shares Malec’s plan and what happened and says that the former King and Queen of Atlantia took everything from her when all she did wrong was love. She says she’ll never feel again what she felt for Malec and vows to take everything from them—from Atlantia—in retribution.