| Queen Berenice | |
|---|---|
|
Born |
12th century |
|
Family |
Esteban Diaz (father), Timoken (husband) Borlath, Amadis, Lilith, Cafal, Olga Guanhamara, Petrello, Tolomeo, Wyborn, Amoret (children) |
|
Hair colour |
Blonde |
|
Eye colour |
??? |
|
Endowment (if a child of the Red King) |
None |
|
Affiliation(s) |
The Red Castle, The Red King |
|
Ancestor (if a child of the Red King) |
N/A |
|
Department (current or past) |
N/A |
|
Gender |
female |
Queen Berenice (also known as Beri and Running Hare) was the daughter of the Knight from Toledo, Esteban Diaz, and the wife of the Red King. She and her husband had ten children, and the Queen had great intuition in matters concerning her offspring. She died after giving birth to her tenth child, Amoret. Queen Berenice is brought back to life in an experiment conducted by Ezekiel Bloor in the fourth book. Her favorite horse's bones are merged with her heart, so that she now lives in the horse's body. She resides within the forest, close to the tree that is the Red King, and looks out for Charlie and his friends, whom she views as her children.
History[]
Berenice was born in the twelfth century, in Castile. Her father was the legendary Knight from Toledo, Esteban Diaz. When she was twelve years old she was abducted by slavers and taken far from her home along with other children, but Timoken appeared with his flying camel and three leopards and rescued them. They returned to Toledo, where the enchanter Harken, accompanied by an army of Viridees, attempted to invade the city and killed Berenice's father, the Knight. After this Berenice joined Timoken and the rest of their party (which now included Timoken's elderly sister Zobayda) on his journey to England, where they settled for a time in Prince Griffith's castle, Castle Melyntha.
However, soon their peace was shattered, as Prince Griffith was killed in battle and his steward, Osbern D'Ark, sought to take the castle for himself. He expressed interest in Berenice, as she was beautiful and a maiden, and attempted to forcibly marry her. However, Berenice escaped with help from a small baby, and managed to find her way back to where Timoken and the others were. Soon after this Berenice and Timoken admitted their love for each other, and they later married.
Twenty-seven years after the events in The Stones of Ravenglass, Berenice had married Timoken and was the mother of nine children: Borlath, Amadis, Lilith, Carfal, Olga, Guanhamara, Petrello, Tolemeo and Wyborn. She realised that Tolomeo had inherited her father's gift as a swordsman, and secretly began to teach him how to use a sword and duel. When Amadis went missing in the forest, Berenice defied Councillor Thorkil and went out to search for him disguised as 'Running Hare'. She was almost captured by Osbern D'Ark, but was saved by Amadis, who used his gift of animal-speak to summon help. To escape, Berenice was forced to trade Osbern's life for the seeing glass which had been stolen from the wizards' tower.
Berenice died giving birth to her tenth child, Amoret, as she was weakened by a plague that had recently swept through the land. Nine centuries later, she was brought back to life in an experiment conducted by Ezekiel Bloor in the fourth book. Her favorite mare Elizen's bones were merged with her heart, so that she now lives in the horse's body. She resides within the forest, close to the tree that is the Red King, and looks out for Charlie and his friends, whom she views as her children.
Berenice carries Lyell Bone as he rides around the city disguised as the Red Knight.