Princess Maya

Princess Maya is the catalyst for the adventure for the portal stone, and later becomes a rogue the farther she strays from her kingdom.

## Relationship Information

### Parents

King Kevin (father), Queen Kristen (mother)

## Affiliation

### Position

Princess, Member of the Portal Stone Quest

### Occupation

Adventurer, Princess of Akeela (formerly),Attempted Queen of Akeela (formerly)

## Additional Information

### Likes

Swimming, Poetry reading, Archery with Tyler

### Dislikes

Her parents, Arranged marriages, Being stuck in the castle

## Biography

Princess Maya serves as the catalyst in this story. She is the daughter of the rulers of Akeela with a known habit for trying to run away. Eventually she succeeds, fleeing to a village where she meets Amelia. Eventually the two are joined by physician Nina, and scribe Sophia, who agree to assist the princess in finding a quest. They travel to Thieves' Forest to meet Anna, a witch who offers them guidance and shelter. Maya is given new clothes and weapons to shed herself of the royal identity. While out for a run to clear her head she comes upon a part of the forest occupied by Nate and Tyler. Concealing herself, she spies on them as they play a game of archery tag. It isn't long before she accidentally draws their attention, causing Tyler to almost injure her until he sees she's harmless. Finding intrigue in the two she insists on joining their game, much to Nate's dismay. At sunset she returns to the cottage, hiding her knowledge of the boys. Feeling hostility from Anna, she confronts the witch and find the hatred stemming from a loathing of Maya's parents due to their band on magic, and by association, Maya. While the others train with Anna and Sophia, Maya takes one of Anna's spare bows and keeps meeting up with the boys, taking a specific liking to Tyler. While hanging out with him, her secret is discovered by Anna. The group rushes back to Anna's cottage to find the other girls captured. Maya watches as the guard demand to know where she is hidden, having been sent to look for her. With Anna's magic and the aid of Nate and Tyler, the guards are temporarily driven off. As the group make their way to find the items needed for the staff, Maya continues getting closer with Tyler. When they are once more attacked by the guard, Tyler yells at her to flee. She obliges, only to be kidnapped by unknown flying monsters. She is taken to a small valley where they threaten her and cut at her skin. Tyler soon arrives and saves her, murdering one of the creatures while the other escapes, promising to return. She is much more at ease once they are on Captain Charlie's ship, having a love for the ocean. On the first night, Tyler attempts to make his feelings known to her but she runs away before he can, refusing to hear it. On Canobie island, things between the two are awkward. They eventually find some amulets which can be used to retrieve the next item, but the witch giving them away seems to recognize Maya. While many of the others go back to the ship, Nate goes off with Tyler and Anna with Maya to find weapons. Maya confides in Anna and is told to go for things with Tyler. The two do not really speak much until they are at Queen Maureen's palace. He once again tries to gauge how she feels and she friendzones him. At the ball, she asks Tyler to dance and he reluctantly obliges. The two are silent for the most part until she reveals she ran away because her parents forcefully made her engaged to a prince from another land. Tyler assures her that he loves her and she reciprocates the sentiment. Their fun is ruined when Maya spots her parents among the guest attendees. Tyler uses his fire magic to cause a distraction, allowing the two to slip away unnoticed. Soon followed by the rest of the group, they plot to leave the palace for fear of being found. Maya watches as Anna nearly gets captured, after being recognized by King Kevin.

### Early Life

Having grown up in the palace, it seems as though her life has always been controlled by her parents. Dubbed "The Runaway Princess" by most of the kingdom, she has a notorious habit of trying to run away. Various attempts end in failure, until her escape which kicks off the story. Her parents set up an arranged marriage with a prince from another kingdom in hope to grow the power of Akeela.

## Appearance

Maya is fairly tall and limber with tanned bronze skin. Her hair is a bit longer than her shoulders and is black, although at some point later on she decides to cut it shorter. She has wide dark brown eyes and a dimpled smile. Her arms and legs are covered in scratches and marks from her former escape attempts and adventures. She starts off the story still clothed in a dress, until she tears it apart and is eventually gifted new clothes resembling that of a rogue.

## Personality and Traits

Maya is the catalyst for the story with her daring escape. She is extremely brave, although reckless and impulsive at times. She doesn't always make calculated decisions, taking a more "Do now ask later" approach to things. She is a bubbly social girl who is always up for an adventure- even one she isn't quite prepared for. She is good with people and a very fun person to be around. She worries about her friends and always tries to help in whatever way she can. She doesn't like being told what to do, as the kicker for her running away was when her parents were trying to force her into an arranged marriage. She is a very attached and loving partner to Tyler. She doesn't always seem to be the most aware of others however. While she likes to help, it usually isn't her actions that are doing the actual helping. She functions more as a moral support figure, likely due to her upbringing.

As the series goes on, her attachment to Tyler begins to take an effect on her. She slowly becomes more power-hungry, at the cost of ignoring what is best for the people around her. She goes so far as to joining Tyler in betraying their friends and trying to take over Akeela in a way which would devastate the kingdom. Her actions turn her into someone ignorant and manipulative. To the end she denies any wrong doing. Ironically by that point she has become as tyrannical as her parents were, although she avidly denies this as well.

## Abilities and Other Skills

* **Running away** - Despite having only successfully run away once (which is really all you need), she has shown elaborate planning and determination, even throwing herself off the castle. She is also noted to be a very fast and skilled runner, her abilities increasing with each escape attempt. She uses running as a way to bring peace to herself.
* **Swimming** - She is a strong swimmer, and loves the ocean and everything in it. She is quick and dexterous in the water, and has mentioned being able to hold her breath for quite a long time.
* **Archery** - Although wildly bad at it when the story starts, over time with Tyler's guidance she learns to be better at it, and can at least hit the target.

## Relationships

### King Kevin and Queen Kirsten (parents)

Maya's relationship with her parents is very poor. They kept her locked in the palace for almost her whole life and forcefully promised her to a prince from a neighboring kingdom. Maya also had to deal with a lot of people's fury due to her parent's stance against magic in the kingdom. Overall she was glad to finally get away from them.

### Tyler Rufield (husband)

Maya first meets Tyler after nearly being hit with an arrow. The two spend more time together, having a similar energy and sense of humor. After getting over the initial hurdle of challenges, like Maya shying away from admitting her feeling due to her engagement.

## Quotes

* "I'm gonna be honest with you, I have absolutely no idea where I'm going or what I'm doing. Frankly I half expected to plummet to my death when I was escaping but luckily I just landed on the gardener."
* "Did you drug me with muffins?"
* "Next time you give me drugs like that, at least make them the fun kind," she insisted.
* "DO NOT LIGHT THE ONE THING KEEPING US AFLOAT ON FIRE!"
* "Just let us go! Please!"
* "Maya paused, glancing at them all thoughtfully. 'What if we became pirates?' Nate let out a curt laugh. 'Yeah right, can you imagine?'" - A hint towards the later pirate story

## Trivia

* A plot where Maya says that the magic users locked up should stay locked up was considered. She reasoned that while there were a few good magic users (Anna, Max, Nate, Tyler), that the kingdom could easily be overtaken if they immediately let them all out. Tyler supports this (though for the reason that he doesn't want too many magic user more powerful than him to be running around)

## Gallery

Princess Maya - Quest for the Portal Stone MoodboardPrincess Maya (Quest for the Portal Stone) - Episode Appearance