Queen Lorelai Wilem of Flowers

Queen Lorelai Wilem of Flowers was the ruler of Fleur from 85 ME to 96 ME and was the successor of her mother, Queen Minerva Wilem, and predecessor to her daughter, Queen Minerva Wilem II. She was a well liked queen who expanded the infrastructure within Fleur as well as repairing business relations with the other kingdoms and territories.
== Biography ==
=== Early Life ===
Lorelai was born the crown princess on the 17th of Hor in 46 ME to her mother Queen Minerva Wilem of Flowers and her father Prince Consort Damian Wilem. She was born at Sea Star, not Evermere, as the summer heat had driven her parents to the coastal palace for relief. Minerva was only in labor for two hours, much to the surprise of her attendants. In fact, Lorelai's mother was back to her daily routine hours after the birth. Lorelai was a healthy baby and was presented to the public in Od while the family was returning to Evermere. 
When Lorelai was two years old her younger brother Prince Silas Wilem was born. The young princess was enamored with the little baby, often spending her days with their wet nurse helping care for the boy. During this time, she spent little time with her mother, who was away campaigning or busy with her duties. Her father, also part of the military, was somewhat more involved, but was reserved and formal. Both her parent's stern attitudes led to Lorelai becoming a very introverted and reserved young lady.
In her early teens, Lorelai suffered a bought of illness, possibly the Palus Flu or Yellow Fever, which nearly blinded her and left her hard of hearing. Around this time, circa 58 or 59 ME, she was moved to Sea Star in hopes that the air and warmer climate would assist in her recovery. Lorelai was isolated there, allowed only the company of her nurses and guard. She began to read heavily and work with watercolors. Her paintings would be reproduced as prints in Wilemberg where they became quite popular for their amateurish charm. In 62 ME she was allowed to return home, considered sufficiently recovered.
In 62, when Lorelai was seventeen, her parents had her presented at a debutante ball hosted at Evermere. In attendance were her cousins Armina, age fourteen, and Eurydicia, age ten. So already beautiful were her younger cousins, they took the attention away from Lorelai much to her despair. Her mother attempted to repair this by having her dance with the Crown Prince Felix Herminov to little success. Defeated, Lorelai became an even more inward individual. 
Three years later in 65 ME, Lorelai announced her engagement to the Commander Nikolas Wilem at the request of her parents. The Commander was a vulgar but stern man, a typical military type, who had gained prominence in the Skjolian standing forces. His family was close to Minerva and Damian, so they were quite excited to unite their families. The couple was married later that year, honeymooning in Media until their return to Fleur in 67 ME.
=== Prior to Queen Minerva's Death ===
When Lorelai returned from her vacation she brought with her a young daughter, the future Queen Minerva Wilem II of Flowers. Already pregnant again, she would have her second child, a son called Johan Wilem, later that year. Three years later in 70 ME, she would give birth to her final child Persepolis Wilem. During this time, the strained nature of her relationship with her husband was becoming apparent to the court. The two often would fight, sometimes in front of their young children. On more than one occasion this escalated to physical violence. It is believed that one of these fights led to the miscarriage of their fourth child, a baby son. 
Lorelai began spending her time reading about policy and money making. Her interest began after speaking to her mother on the lack of incoming funds to continue fighting in the south with the Arimanians. Becoming enamored with the art of financing, Lorelai began to contact her uncle, Prince Kyle Wilem, regularly about starting her own trade house within Wilemberg. While this never came to be, she did assist heavily in the operations of the Four Lily Company within Fleur. She did this from 72 to 85 ME. 
Unlike her mother, Lorelai attempted to raise her children directly, though this did not often work. She breastfed her youngest son on her own, though she used a wet nurse for the other children. She had a clear favorite in Persepolis, who delighted her with his tumbling skills and funny conversations. She often sent the boys to live with their uncle Silas, though Minerva II was forced to stay in Evermere often for her training. Lorelai and Minerva II did not get along, fighting regularly.
=== As Queen of Flowers ===
In 85 ME, Queen Minerva Wilem of Flowers was killed in battle at the age of fifty-three in Balalinople while fighting the pagans. Her funeral procession saw her coffin being carried from the border with the River Lands through Sea Star up to Wilemberg with a train of three hundred soldiers and a hundred cavalry men. Wherever they walked were thrown black lilies. A month after her death, Lorelai was coronated as the new Queen of Flowers. She was thirty-nine years old.
Immediately Lorelai began to loosen some of the harsher taxes and restrictions placed by her mother to gain funds for their war in the south. She consulted with the guilds of Wilemberg to understand their struggles then implemented reforms to foster business revivals. Lorelai loosened the ban on immigration for those born south of Arimania, allowing for the settlement of Ihjargan immigrants and freed slaves to begin again, bolstering the faltering fruit farms of the east. Lorelai raised taxation on the import of luxury goods while lowering taxes on outgoing ships. Her work on this front increased the income of the Crown.
Lorelai refused to gift her husband the title of Grand General, instead forcing him into a position of leadership on the obscure island fortress of Prate off the coast of Palus. He never returned from this position, dying of malaria only two years into his stay in 86 ME. He was forty-two. This move caused much bad publicity and lowered her reputation amongst the lower and upper class, though she remained very popular with the middle class. 
In 94 ME Lorelai began to consistently become sick with fevers and shakes, leaving her bed bound for much of the final years of her life. Her eyesight quickly deteriorated and her hearing became so bad she could only understand one when he yelled. Lorelai's last public appearance was on her birthday on the 17th of Hathoria 95 ME. She was dead the next year, aged fifty.
Lorelai was buried in the Royal Vaults at Wilemberg after a funeral procession through the city. Her two sons and brother were her pallbearers. 
== Appearance ==
Lorelai had long wavy golden hair which sometimes went to curls depending on the weather. She was very pale, with green eyes and freckles. Her eyes became glazed over in her later life, near completely fogy blue. Her face was somewhat rounded, her body plump in her later life after her final pregnancy. She was thin in her youth.
Lorelai cared not for any particular type of clothing, wearing her diadem and dresses picked out by her advisors to best win her love and adoration.
Category:Fleurian Characters
Category:Characters
Category:Wilem Royal Family
Category:Dragon