Sevilla Narkkin

Sevilla Abrudas Narkkiana was the second Ferrum Primus of the Blackwatch and the second wife of Markus Abrudas, Primarch of Carthaan. Born on Palaven to impoverished parents, she was chosen by Markus from the rank and file of Aurelion's imperial forces to be the Palavenian representative of the Blackwatch. She would later succeed him when he stepped down from his position as Ferrum Primus to become the Primarch of Carthaan, on Aurelion's orders.

Sevilla married Markus late in life, many years after the death of Aurelion. Their relationship was purely platonic, the pair sharing each other's companionship in their twilight years. When Markus died, Sevilla fulfilled her promise to him by arranging for his body to be covertly shipped to Palaven to be secretly entombed beside Aurelion's. She remained close to Markus' son, Aurelion Abrudas, for the rest of her life, loving him as if he were her own son. She would never remarry.

## Relationship with Markus

Sevilla was Markus Abrudas’ second and final wife. While Markus had been married before to Trebia Aurelos, who had died in childbirth with his son, Sevilla had never been married, having instead chosen to devote her life to the Blackwatch and Aurelion's vision. She had known Markus for decades - it was he who had chosen her to be the Palavenian member of the Blackwatch upon its formation and had trained her to take his place as his successor. Beyond their professional connection, both were dear friends who corresponded regularly and shared intimate knowledge of each other's lives.

Like Trebia before her, Sevilla was very aware of Markus’ sexuality and his near lifelong homoerotic relationship with Aurelion, being one of only four people in his life who knew the truth. As such, their marriage was not one of passionate, sexual love but rather one of deep platonic love and compassion. Seeing how Markus was struggling to cope following Aurelion's death in 254 BCE, Sevilla moved from Palaven to Carthaan to better care for her old friend. In the years that followed, she became his emotional rock, sharing in his grief and keeping his head above water when his suicidal despair threatened to consume him. After spending years at his side, Markus asked Sevilla to marry him, professing that it was her loving companionship that had kept him going throughout the darkest chapter of his life. Sevilla agreed to his proposal and the pair were married in Sidea the following spring. Notably, they chose not to consummate their marriage and never had any children together.

Sevilla would remain at Markus' side until the end of his life. On his deathbed, he is purported to have told her: *"If I had been born otherwise, you alone would've had my heart. You're an incredible woman, Sevi, and my dearest friend.”* He then passed away peacefully in her arms. Markus left to Sevilla half of his worldly estate, with the other going to his son. Of everything he left her, Sevilla's most treasured possession of Markus' was his original copy of *A Song of Seven Colonies*, which he had dedicated to her in thanks for her support in the twilight of his life. For the rest of her days, she was referred to as the Dowager Domina by the Carthaaneans, who had adopted her as one of their own out of respect for Markus.

The most notable aspect of Sevilla and Markus' relationship was her final promise to him. As a member of the Blackwatch, Sevilla had unprecedented access to any resource, location or individual that she wished. She used this power covertly to fulfil a promise to Markus that would forever define their relationship - she promised him that, when his time came, she would ensure that he was buried beside Aurelion, Markus' one true love, without any outsider knowledge of his body's true resting place. This was a promise that she dutifully kept.

After Markus' death and state funeral on Carthaan, Sevilla arranged for his body to be secretly spirited away to Palaven, to be laid to rest beside Aurelion's. To ensure no one would ever learn the truth, she swore her accomplices to absolute secrecy as part of a blood pact, punishable by death should anyone break it. The pact has held until the modern-day; as far as anyone else is concerned, Markus Abrudas is buried on Carthaan in the Tyran Necropolis, in House Abrudas' ancestral vault, and has been for the past 2,500 years.