Mariya of Aurveldt

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Mariya of Aurveldt
The Queen consort of Hanseti-Ruska
mamamariya.png
Mariya of Aurveldt c.1808
Queen-Consort of Hanseti-Ruska
Tenure: 11th of the First Seed, 1807 - 14th of the Grand Harvest, 1815
Predecessor: Isabel of Valwyck
Successor: Annika of Reza
Born: 18th of Snow's Maiden, 1793
Death: 14th of the Grand Harvest, 1815
Karosgrad, Haense
Spouse: Henry II of Haense
(m. 1810)
Caspian d'Arkent
(m. 1819)
House: Amador
Father: Warren Ingolf Amador
Mother: Anya of Krusev

Mariya Antoniya (Common: Maria Antonia) (18th of Snow's Maiden, 1793 - 14th of the Grand Harvest, 1872), regally Mariya of Aurveldt and monikered Mariya the Young, was the 15th Queen-Consort of Hanseti-Ruska through her marriage to Henry II of Haense in 1810. Her marriage was arranged after serving as a ward to the Queen-Mother, Isabel of Valwyck. She was known for her eccentric personality resembling the late Queen Viktoria of Metterden as a squire to Dame Anabela Ruthern, and a dual axe-wielder. In 1815, she would fake her death, being the only queen in Haense history to be confirmed to do so.

Early Life

Mariya Antoniya Amador was born on the 18th of Snow's Maiden, 1793, to Lord Warren Amador and Anya Kortrevich. She was the pair's only child who bore no other children due to her mother's death in 1795. Furthermore, she was entitled Mariya after her maternal grandmother, Mariya Baruch, a Lady Speaker and Margrave-Consort of Korstadt.

A month after her birth, her grandfather, Ruslan Amador, the 5th Baron of Modstadt, would also die which left the barony to her older cousin, Sosnia. Mariya would grow up in the Baronial house under the familial protection of her father and older cousins. In this youthful time, she’d enjoy the frivolities that came with childhood, lacking structure and rules.

The majority of her education was lacking in comparison to other girls her age. Sosnia and Ingrid, her older cousins, were much too told and entranced in their own lives to offer guidance or wardship to Mariya. Therefore, she became entrusted entirely to her father who knew little about the womanly way of life. She’d learn how to ride a horse, swing a sword, shoot a bow, and wield axes.

Eventually, her cousin would force Mariya to socialize with other children her age in the city and aid the girl in gaining a wardship under Queen Isabel in 1799. With the wardship, Mariya began to spread her wings into other subjects such as the formation of festivities, the structures of the courts, and basic etiquette. However, the etiquette never seemed to catch on and Mariya would spend her entire life with a direct demeanor.

Squireship

Mariya would begin her squireship in 1805 under Dame Anabela Ruthern who had earned her crow knighthood through the defeat of a Yeti in the wastelands, saving three commoners. Mariya long admired the Dame, jumping at the opportunity to page and later squire under her.

With permission from the matriarch of Amador, Mariya would hone her childhood skills under Anabela for four years until she was forced to take a step back on her journey to damehood to hold up the alliance between Amador and Barbanov finally. Before her wedding though, she had accomplished three of the five trials to become a crow knight, setting her on the path towards damehood shortly after the wedding.

Her first trial was a quest given to her by Irene Ruthern who tasked the girl with creating a map of Rubern which was known as a place of dark magic. Her second was given by the Archchancellor Franz Sarkozic who wanted to know why people were disappearing in the pale. Once Mariya discovered the origin was monstrous spiders, she would defeat them, garnering a scar on her cheek. Thirdly, she completed a cultural exchange with the Taiping District, gaining insight into a unique lifestyle while also instructing lessons on military training. Lastly, on a quest that almost destroyed Varhelm, she would clear out the Norland sewers of a plague of rats for the High Keeper Alisa Camien.

After the completion of her fourth trial, Mariya would find out she was pregnant with her firstborn child, Princess Royal Petra Emma, and was forced to bedrest by her husband who was driven mad by want of an heir. The disappointment of a girl was an immense weight on the already troublesome marriage, and Mariya would be outright banished by her husband from continuing her trials until a male heir was produced. Thus, she would never complete her fifth and final trial and she would never become a crow knight.

Marriage

This fire in the adolescent Mariya inspired pride and confidence in the Queen whom sought a bride for her son that would protect him as she had. Through the underworkings of contracts signed between the families, Mariya would be officially engaged to King Heinrik in 1802 and the Barony of Mondstadt would be raised to the Viscounty of Aurveldt before the wedding in 1907. Although her engagement was a key factor in the new denomination of her family, other factors such as cultural impacts and increased financial imports did play a role in the ascension.

The betrothal was planned for when Mariya was 16 she would wed Heinrik and the pair would be coronated together, however, ill planning put off the wedding until 1810 when Mariya had just barely turned 17. She was the youngest Hanseni wife to a King in such a long time, the public seemed shocked by her childlike features.

In the Basilica of St. Henrik on the 10th of the First Seed, 1810, Mariya and Heinrik would finally be wed with major celebrations taking place. Mariya wore a gown designed for her by the long passed Queen Viktoria of Metterden along with the warrior Queen’s wedding tiara. After the nuptials, a feast took place in which the whole kingdom was fed and the noble families were gifted grains for the winter. The following day a grand tournament was held to title a new Champion of Karosgrad.

Later on, this union would turn sour as Heinrik would become hungry with ambition and slowly fell insane. Mariya would only escape by faking her death.

As Queen-Consort of Haense

Two months after Mariya’s wedding to Heinrik II of Haense, the royal couple would be coronated in the Basilica of Saint Heinrik by Jude II in the traditional helming ceremony followed by Kings of Hanseti-Ruska for centuries. After the ceremony, the couple opened the Nikirala palace where yet another feast occurred with an address to the populace and a large dance in the ballroom. It would be Mariya’s first royal event hosted and ended with a general buzz of the people who were hopeful for the newly titled Queen’s reign.

It took almost a year for the new Queen to settle into her life, aiding briefly in the publication of the fashions of Hanseti-Ruska by her sister-in-law, Princess Royal Katerina. While it is commonly credited to Annika of Reza, Mariya’s Predecessor, the beginning of an insurgence of Ruskan fashion, that is simply wrong for it was Katerina and Mariya’s work that carved Annika’s curiosity into the topic.

The Queen of Ruska (circa 1812)

In 1811, Mariya would celebrate the 25th anniversary of the independence of Hanseti-Ruska. Over the course of a year, monthly events would gather together the populace of Karosgrad culminating in a ball and a parade of the military and knights in which Mariya herself would walk as a squire. Independence was a huge landmark for the Kingdom, and the Queen herself was at the center of this historical celebration.

The following year, she would finally find time to complete her fourth knighthood trial but right before her chance to begin her final trial, she would find out she was pregnant. Heinrik would force Mariya into bedrest for the health of the future heir, but because a girl was born, Mariya was only kept in bed longer. She was unable to run her courts freely or complete her squirehood trials.

In fact, the same year Heinrik would entrust the courts in action in the lady Rosalind de Astera and only in Mariya’s name. Her second pregnancy would only be worse, partially because her spirit was suffocated by Heinrik’s control and old Hanseni ways. Once she finally bore a son, Sigismund Karl, her prison of a home was relaxed slightly. However, Rosalind had already entrapped the entire court in the palm of her hand, allowing not even a step in a different direction. Mariya had been snuffed for her role as consort, her love at home, and her passion for knighthood, sending the juvenile Queen into a deep depression.

Of course, the courts functioned much the same under Rosalind with yearly events such as a grand horse race and garden parties in the spring, but Mariya became less and less public with her appearances at these events, spending time dotting on her children for it was the only relief she had from the ever crushing reality of being queen.

Death

Faked Death

Queen Mariya was tragically murdered only five years after her ascension to Queen-Consort of Hanseti-Ruska. In 1815, while in the chambers of the King, she was stabbed with a blade and left on the floor for her husband to find hours later. When he did, a great commotion took place as everyone seemed to spring to action. Her body was unrecognizable, but she wore the crown of the Queen Consort so it was only assumed to be her. No one could place the assailant, leaving her death to go without justice and a funeral to be hosted in a solemn Kingdom by Isabel of Valwyck.

Albeit, for years rumors of sightings of Mariya haunted the royal family and Heinrik who married again only eight years later. Astonishingly, this became known as a fact in 1845 as Mariya would come forth to confess her sins to the Pontiff. She informed the church that she had to fake her death and appearance through alchemical means in order to flee her marriage with Heinrik and live in Providence only to remarry years later to a Caspian d’Arkent under the alliance Anna Mariya.

But, the revelation put into question the marriage between Annika of Reza and Heinrik along with the legitimacy of the children produced from said marriage. The Pontiff would solve this problem by issuing a back-dated dissolution to the nuptials between Mariya and Heinrik, titling any children produced by all marriages to Heinrik legitimate before God.

Actual Death

Anna Marie (circa 1850), a depiction of Mariya after her coming out of hiding

Many years would pass and Mariya would begin to conjoin the two separate lives she had lived, spending time with all of her children and reconnecting with old friends from her time as Queen Consort. But, her age and lifestyle eventually caught up to her, and in 1872, at the age of 79, she would pass from old age writing her final note to the people she loved the most.

Her legacy was dim and overshadowed by her predecessors, however, her children would live on with her memory in mind. Mariya was a brave woman who found an escape from a life she saw as not worth living. Through her determination, the abundance of women's rights movements would see rise and abuse of husbands would be more heavily punished.


Titles, Styles, and Honors

Titles and Styles

  • 1786-1815: Her Ladyship, Mariya Antoniya Amador
  • 1810-1815: Her Majesty, the Queen of Hanseti-Ruska
  • 1815-1872: Her Ladyship, Miss Anna Marie

Style as Queen Consort

Her Royal Majesty, Mariya of Aurveldt, Queen-Consort of Hanseti and Ruska

Issue

By Henry II of Haense
Name Birth Death Marriage
Princess Royal, Petra Emma, Duchess of Karosgrad 2nd of the Amber Cold, 1812 1856 Yvo Mondblume, Baron of Richtenburg Firstborn daughter of Henry II.
Sigismund III of Haense 9th of the Deep Cold, 1813 11th of the Grand Harvet 1873 Emma of Jerovitz Firstborn son and heir of Henry II.
By Caspian d'Arkent
Name Birth Death Marriage Notes
Elaine Victoria d'Arkent 1820 1846 Philip Hughes de Rosius Firstborn daughter of Mariya and Caspian
Daniel Viktor d'Arkent 1823 Unknown Unwed Firstborn son of Mariya and Caspian
Kathrina, Duchess of Reutov 1823 1880 Ivan Viktor, Duke of Reutov Secondborn daughter of Mariya and Caspian