Meredith

Quick Facts

Names:
Meredith NicEssus
Merry Gentry
Other Titles:
Daughter of Essus
Besaba's Bane

Rank: Princess
Age: 33
Status: Alive
Gender: Female
Race: Unseelie sidhe, Seelie sidhe, mortal human, brownie

Relatives:
Andais (aunt)
Cel (cousin)
Taranis (uncle)
Essus (father)
Besaba (mother)

Significant Others:

Origin: Faerie/Illinois
Current Residence:
First Appearance: A Kiss of Shadows

Magics:
Hand of Flesh
Hand of Blood

Weapons:
Ladysmith 9-mm
Beretta Tomcat .32
Delica folding knife
Spyderco Military Model folding knife

Description:

My hair was deep rich red in the reflections of the mirrors. A color more red than auburn, a color that had black highlights instead of the usual brown that most redheads had. It was as if someone had taken dark red rubies and spun them out into hair. Blood auburn it was called in the high court of the fae royalty. It was actually my natural color. The only things I still had to hide were the vibrant green and gold of my eyes and the luminosity of my skin. I used dark brown contacts for the eyes. My skin–- that I had to tone down using glamour, magic.

Biography: Meredith NicEssus, daughter of Unseelie sidhe Essus and part brownie Seelie sidhe Besaba, is a faerie princess and the first sidhe born on American soil, following the exodus of the Fae from Europe. Meredith was never well-liked among the sidhe of the Seelie or Unseelie courts. At six, her aunt, Queen Andais of the Unseelie Court tried to drown her considering her worthless as she had yet display any abilities, evidencing her human antecedents. Following those events, her father shocked his sister by moving her to live among mortals with her half brownie grandmother.

Meredith's father was murdered during her teens, a true accomplishment given his immortality. The murder was never solved and Meredith felt taken advantage of by the press who, the courts agreed, invaded her privacy during a painful time. Meredith became the first fae to attend college and might have later studied medicine had court politics not interfered.

Meredith was affianced for several years to Unseelie sidhe Griffin, whom her father believed would make a better husband (if he got her pregnant) than her childhood love, Galen, who had no political savvy. Unfortunately, her love for Griffin was not returned, and after their breakup he sold their intimate photos to the press.

In the Unseelie court, Meredith was forced to defend herself in duels against sidhe loyal to her cousin Cel. Her mortality put her at risk but also helped her win as those who fought against her were forced to share it. Knowing she couldn't win many more challenges, she chose to run, taking on the alias of Meredith Gentry and hiding among humans in L.A., working as Private Investigator at the Jeremy Grey Detective Agency. With her talent for glamour, Merry was able to pass herself off as a human with fae blood.

It is her work that ultimately draws her back to Faerie. During an investigation of a human wizard, Alistair Norton, she is revealed as sidhe when the criminal spills Branwyn's Tears, a fae aphrodisiac on her hoping to drain power from her during sex as a part of his worship of a sidhe (Cel). Such worship was made illegal under an agreement between the fae, and Thomas Jefferson, which allowed the fae to move to the United States. Should Cel's behavior be revealed, the fae would be out of a home.

Unable to hide her identity following her rape, she reveals herself to her fae love Roane Finn and during sex, comes into her power for the first time, healing him and enabling him to return to the ocean as a selkie. Forced to go on the run to avoid being killed by her Aunt's warriors Meredith doesn't get far before she is found by King Sholto of the Slaugh and after demonstrating a terrifying new ability to turn a fae inside out with her Hand of Flesh, she is rescued by the Queen's Darkness, Doyle who insists Andais wants her alive and Sholto was given false orders by Cel.

Returned to the Unseelie court, Meredith is stunned when her aunt reveals that she has been elevated to co-heir. To win the throne, she must produce an heir before her cousin, Cel can do the same. Andais decides to left her law of celibacy for her personal guard, the Ravens, for Meredith alone. As co-heir Meredith manages to negotiate for Cel's punishment for his actions, though anyone else would have been executed for his crimes.

With Cel to be released in mere months and his guard still free to act on his command, Meredith must find a way to protect herself. She manages to negotiate an alliance with the King of the Goblins and, later, Queen Niceven.

As Meredith begins having sex with her aunt's guards, strange events begin to occur. In addition to an increase in her own abilities, she manages to bring back powers previously lost to her men. It becomes apparent that the Goddess is working through her to return both fertility and power to Faerie. Unfortunately, the magic is recreating the Unseelie court in Meredith's image and her kindness has won her the loyalty of guards, mistreated for centuries by Andais. Andais is not happy that Faerie has welcomed Meredith, and Cel continues to make attempts on her life.

Later, Meredith must also deal with the fears of the sidhe who fear her ascension to the throne will bring them mortality. When Cel is released, she returns to Los Angeles and suffers a personal loss and a shock when her uncle Taranis demonstrates his insanity by kidnapping her and bringing her to the Seelie court where he rapes her. His attack splits his court, forcing several nobles to pledge their loyalty to her and offer her the Seelie throne, angering Andais in the process. Complicating matters even further, she finds herself pregnant with twins, with five fathers making the role of consort even more complex.

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