Helena Fenrich

**Helena Fenrich** is the twelfth and current ruler of the Kingdom of Quimere. She is known for her warm heart and strong sense of justice.

## Appearance

Queen Helena is a middle-aged woman who stands at average height. She has long, wavy brown hair that has grown a few streaks of gray as she has aged. Her eyes are gold. Her hair is often drawn back into a bun at the nape of her neck and is typically accompanied by the silver circlet she wears that marks her as queen. Following one particular battle, Helena's right arm is nearly completely gone with only a short stump remaining. Due to this injury, she is often seen wearing a prosthetic arm that resembles a ball-jointed doll's limb. She wears her wedding band on her left hand.

Her casual attire consists of a simple, loose light blue dress that is cinched at the waist with a silver belt. It's sleeves are long and flow past her elbow.

When in battle attire, Helena often wears her wedding band on a strip of leather around her neck. This is typically tucked out of sight to keep it safe and close to her heart.

## Personality

Helena is the kind queen of Quimere, with her kindness extending so far that it has earned her the adoration and respect of her people.

## History

### Early Life

Helena Fenrich was born the only child of King Alexander and his queen. While the king often attended to state affairs and protecting Quimere from the pirates that often ravaged the kingdom's coastline, Helena's mother instilled in her a love for the music that filled their home. She learned to play the lyre from her mother. However, her mother wasn't around long, passing away from an unknown illness when Helena was only eight years old. It was from that point that her father was more present, devoting his time to raising his daughter when he could and preparing her for what lied ahead.

Under her father's tutelage and guidance, Helena quickly became known for her warm and kind heart, sense of justice as well as her skill on the lyre, personally performing for visitors when they stopped by the castle. It is said that her music could put even the most fearsome of beings at peace. This would later earn her the nickname of The Bard Queen. Alongside her music lessons, Helena was also taught swordplay under her father's guidance.

### Ascending the Throne

Fifteen years after her mother's passing, King Alexander went to defend his kingdom from one of the latest in a long line of raids. With his age, he could not keep up with the flow of the battle. Alexander would not return home. Helena was twenty-three years old when she unexpectedly became queen of Quimere.

Already known throughout the kingdom for her heart and strong sense of justice as well as her skill on the lyre, Helena had the condolences and the support of the people of Quimere. Although she didn't think herself ready, there was no way for Helena to stop or step back. She was the only one left to rule. Swallowing her fears, she ascended to the throne and took on her responsibilities as queen with great stride and alone.

### Arranged Marriage

While Helena had the adoration and respect of her people, her kingdom was seen as an easy target for invaders and brutes who saw it as easy prey to ransack and take over. While a humble place, it was often the target of raids. After losing several of ships, crops and her own father to these raid attempts, Helena decided that she needed to find a way to strengthen her kingdom and protect the people she loved.

So, she set out to enlist the aid of a fair few kingdoms in hopes that at least one of them would ally with her home to help protect it. One kingdom had accepted the bard queen's plea -- a place set deep in a forest that had been untouched by others, inhabited by its denizens and ruled by elves. While they promised to help, it didn't come without a price. In order to earn protection for her people and an alliance with this kingdom, a marriage was proposed between Helena and the elven king's youngest son, Ilvris. If she agreed, she would get the help that she so desired. Desperate to stop the raids and spare her people's lives, Helena accepted.

Helena had to stay behind in the elven kingdom while things were arranged for the engagement to be publicly announced. Her entourage, meanwhile, headed back to Quimere to deliver the news there and prepare for their future king consort's arrival. She was alone in a strange new place for the time being.

The first time that she encountered the young prince, however, was when she was wandering the palace looking for her room after talking a brief walk to clear her head when she heard shouting from the library. Curious and wondering if there was trouble, Helena went to investigate. There, after hiding behind some of the shelves, found her soon-to-be fiancé ranting to two of his older siblings about his current situation. Ilvris didn't want to be married off to someone he had never met. He didn't want to marry at all. All he wanted to do was stay in the forest and study magic on his own, not be his father's political pawn. Helena is a bit distraught by this, especially when Ilvris tells his siblings that while he would do it for his father, and that was all. Helena was simply a human queen to him, and he would never see her as anything beyond that. She had hoped that this was due to frustration and said in the heat of the moment, but Ilvris' cold attitude towards her the next day when they formally met proved otherwise.

### Getting to Know Ilvris

Things didn't get much better upon the return to Quimere, either. Since the ceremony would take a lot of time to plan, it had been decided that Ilvris would leave with Helena to live with her as soon as they had been engaged. Not the most ideal in Ilvris's opinion. He was suddenly uprooted from his home with very little consultation on his part and taken to a place that he knew little to nothing about. He had a right to be upset and frustrated. But arguing against it was pretty much useless. So, he's silently brooding on the journey back and Helena is pretty much quiet, unsure what to do aside from tune her lyre and play, which gets on the prince's nerves about halfway through the trip.

Upon returning to the castle, Helena is kind enough to give him a tour of his new home -- partially because she remembers getting lost several times in the halls as a child and partially because she wants to spend some time with him to get to know him better. He may want nothing to do with her, but that doesn't mean that they wouldn't be working together in the very near future. The whole time Ilvris is quiet, his expressions are hard to read and Helena's doing her best to make him comfortable with the situation that they've found themselves in. While she's trying to remain positive and Ilvris is positively acting like an angsty teenager, there are a handful of staff that are gossiping about the newcomer, watching his every move as he follows their queen around the castle and turning away when he glances at them.

Needless to say that there are some in the castle, as well as in the kingdom, that are not all too happy about this sudden newcomer that their queen is going to be marrying. This caused rumors to spread amongst the people. It certainly didn't help that Helena seemed to be handling most of the preparations while Ilvris had locked himself behind the castle walls.

There are plenty of people who think that the marriage shouldn't go through at all. It's a pretty bad situation, but only Helena seems to be making an effort. A failing effort, but an effort nonetheless. She tries her best, honestly, but since her usual attempt with song doesn't work, Helena moves to the next best thing. Which would be food. Since Ilvris rarely came out of the room he had claimed as his study or his room and most of the staff had found him difficult to deal with, Helena took it upon herself to visit him and bring him a meal she made. As she expected, he is quiet. He says nothing as Helena speaks, simply making small talk before taking her leave and leaving him a bit confused. Helena keeps this up, talking to him every time she visits and even though he says nothing, merely continuing whatever he had been doing, she does take note that he does not tell her to leave. So imagine Helena's surprise when he speaks up one evening.

"Why?" he asks, stopping her in her tracks. "Why are you doing this?"

She places the tray down on his desk and explains, "I understand that this isn't ideal for you. It isn't for me, either. I wish to protect my people, and that is why I agreed." She turns to him. "However, that does not mean we have to be strangers. We are to be the rulers of this place. My father once described it to me as a partnership. And partners should know each other. At least a little." She leaves.

The next day, Helena finds him out in the open in the castle's library rather than his private quarters.

### Becoming the Royal Family

Things have been slowly improving between Helena and Ilvris to the point where Helena is certain that they've become friends -- their small talks turning into conversations when Helena visits. Talks about various topics such as the kingdom's history, geography, etc, etc as well as a bit of their own personal likes and dislikes. That's when Ilvris experiences one of the raids that Helena had sought help for in the first place.

It was a rather risky raid, with the targets being the farmlands that resided behind the castle. At the head of Quimere's forces is Helena. As their queen, it is her duty to defend her kingdom now that her father is gone. And with the invaders so close to the castle, it was an opportunity for them to see how the strong the queen was. What caught everyone off-guard during that battle, however, wasn't the enemy. Rather, it was Ilvris joining the battle with staff in hand. He explains that he had realized that if they were partners like she claimed that they were, then they should be working together. He then asks the queen why she said nothing to him. The raid had been so sudden that there was no time to warn him about anything, especially since she couldn't find him in any of his usual places. Somewhat satisfied with her answer, they continue to fight with Ilvris making her promise to "try a bit harder next time."

And so, the fight continues for quite a while until Helena begins to realize that they might be outmatched. With the raiders so close to the castle and already having taken out half of the farmland, her home's fall seems inevitable, and sadness graces her eyes once again. When her fiancé takes notice of this, he runs to the front line with staff in hand and ignoring Helena's shouts to come back. Even if the people have little to no magic at their disposal, Ilvris does. He manages to dispatch a large group of raiders fairly quickly with a large-scale spell. It's enough to make the remaining raiders retreat, leaving Quimere victorious. ...and then he proceeds to collapse right then and there, Helena shouting his name before catching him in her arms. Much to her relief, he is simply asleep.

Ilvris spends the next few days unconscious, much to Helena's worry. Unsure what to do, and so touched by his actions that her feelings for him have started to grow. He defended her home, and he came to her aid when she needed him. She was starting to break through the icy walls he had put up. And so, worried about him, Helena took up her lyre and stayed by his bedside. She plays a simple melody that her mother had taught her when she was young, hoping that the music would help on way or another.

After a few days of this, Helena looks up from her playing at him. She strikes a sour note when she realizes that he's staring at her, now awake. llvris slowly sits up, his head heavy as Helena asks if he's alright. Aside from the dull headache that he's currently dealing with as a result of his own actions, he's completely fine.

"You scared us," she tells him as she settles down in her seat, her lyre now on her lap. "For a moment, I thought you were dead."

"No," he reassures her. "I exhausted myself." Magic is a powerful substance and using too much of it all at once like that can have consequences. "How... How long have I been asleep?"

"Three days. Nearly four."

"..." The prince proceeds to hide his face in embarrassment. Helena tries and fails to hide a laugh. This is the first time he's been so relaxed around her. And he's kind of cute when he's embarrassed. She thanks him for helping on the battlefield but asks him to never overdo it like that again.

"I won't," Ilvris says, "but I'll break it if under dire circumstances."

"What?"

"...it's as you said. We're partners. We are to rule this place together. If it is to protect you--" Ilvris catches himself. "If it is to protect your kingdom, then I'll gladly repeat my actions." Helena is quiet.

"But I don't want you to get hurt." Ilvris looks up at her, somewhat startled. She looks like she's about to cry. "Please... Please never scare me like that again." And... he's not sure what to say, so he lets his body speak for him, drawing Helena close and wrapping his arms tightly around her.

"That's one promise that I can keep."

It takes him a hot minute to realize what he's doing, and when he pulls back, Helena is kind of stunned. When Ilvris can't find a rational explanation for his actions, he just sorts of crawls back under the blankets and hides his face. He misses the smile that crosses Helena's face. When she gets up to leave, Ilvris calls her back.

"That song. What was it?"

"...it was something my mother used to play for me when I wasn't feeling well. It may sound childish, but I thought that it would help."

"Can you... keep playing? Please," he asks. Helena is surprised for a moment since he had found her music to be irritating for a while. Her smile grows as she sits back down, playing her song once more.

So, after a few more misadventures, Ilvris and Helena are eventually wed, having fallen in love with each other. Ilvris becomes the king consort to the Quimerian queen. The celebration lasts for about three days, and if we're being honest, the king consort barely remembers half of it. And eventually, over the years, the royal family grew: Crown Prince Sylvan, Prince Brienne, Prince Leone and Princess Althana.

### Fateful Battle

While time passed and things appeared to be at ease, they were quite not. The raids had died down over the years due to Ilvris' presence brings the possibility of magic into Quimere's forces. The raiders lost the only advantage that they had. But that didn't mean that they were willing to give up. So they kept coming at them. It was on particular battle that would change the royal family drastically, when the children were still young. Sylan's tenth birthday had barely passed when the raid commenced. As per usual, the queen and her king were at the front of the fight, directing troops and doing their best to defend their home.

Over time, people began to respect their king the same way that they did their queen. But not everyone felt the same way. Including a few members of the kingdom who had allied with the people who were attacking them in hopes to dethrone the current royal family. There were a few of these traitors on the battlefield that day. And one in particular had their sights set on the king.

Ilvris and Helena had, over time, come to fight as one unit. So, there was little need to worry about one of them being hurt. Until it was too late. Helena had heard someone shout as she turned to see someone raising their weapon towards her husband. Ilvris was too slow to react to it. He turned to defend himself, but Helena had been faster that day, crying out his name and shoving him out of harm's way. However, she was too slow to pull back in time.

There had been a sickening snap, and Helena screamed. Her arm fell to the ground, and she herself went down shortly after. The pain was too much, the queen crying on the ground as she clutched the bloody stump where her right arm once was. All she heard was her husbands cry and the faint feeling of his magic rippling out through the air. Through her tears, she saw her husband's rage and it made her heart ache. It was only when Helena called his name did he snap out of it. He dropped his staff, running over to where Helena was, quickly being tended to by the medics who had rushed out there. He held her as she sobbed, shaking and crying until she had passed out. Ilvris carried her home.

### The New Normal

It's a day or two before the children were allowed to see their mother. The four of them immediately rush to her bedside. Helena is tired, unable to sleep for the past few days. All that's left of her arm is a bandaged stump where it once was. Ilvris is silent as he ushers the four in, sitting down next to his wife to help put her at ease.

It's Brienne -- the second oldest and currently nine years old -- that makes the first move, doing their best to make sure that everything's okay and help to ease their siblings into getting used to this new normal. But it becomes abundantly clear that there's one thing that's changed from their "normal" and it has a heavy impact on not only the family, not only the castle, but the whole kingdom itself. With the lost of her arm -- her dominant hand... Helena can no longer play her beloved music. Songs that the children had come to know and love, the moments where their mother would soothe them with her lyre and the lessons that she had been passing down to them were all gone now because of someone's selfish act. The loss of her ability to play hit Helena pretty hard. It was her favorite thing, and now it was gone from her grasp.

A few months later, Althana manages to creep to her mother's side with a surprise for her. It's a lute that she and her siblings made. It's messy and probably not the best because it was made by a bunch of kids and the one adult who did help had no idea what the fuck he was doing, but it's playable. Helena watches as Althana crawls up onto the chair beside her, carefully plucking marked strings to play a very familiar tune. She lets her daughter play -- although it doesn't sound quite right, Althana is still proud of herself -- before speaking up.

"Thana," the queen asks her daughter softly. "That was lovely, but what are you up to?"

"It's the song that you always play for us when we're not feeling good," states the princess as if it were obvious. "You haven't been smiling, so you must not be feeling too good, too! I wanna help the same way that you help us, Mama."

It makes the queen crack a smile. *Cute*, she thinks. She ushers her daughter closer and into her lap, using the one arm that she does have to adjust Althana's grip on her new instrument.

"Thank you, Thana," says Helena. And slowly, with her daughter's permission, Helena begins to teach Althana how to play the song properly. It takes the little girl a while to get it, but soon, she's able to play well enough for a four-year-old. Sometime after, the court physician begins to wonder why Helena's injury has healed quicker than normal when they're certain that no magical remedies or spells were used on her at all.

Three years later, Ilvris would present Helena with a gift for her that he had been working on with the city's alchemist for the past few years. It was a prosthetic arm to replace the one that she had lost. Crafted using the alchemical arts instead of simple magic, it would be possible for those without magic -- much like herself -- to be able to use easily. Helena cried upon receiving it and cried once more upon playing her lyre once again for the first time in years.

### A Proposition and Althana's Disappearance

Shortly after Althana's eighteenth birthday, a visiting dignitary had come with the offer of an alliance between their kingdom and Quimere... an offer that they made sure the royal family couldn't refuse. They would provide Quimere with soldiers and stable protection all in exchange for their youngest daughter's hand. The dignitary made that expressively clear with their proposal that the Fenriches would have to follow through with the offer of something bad would happen to them and their home. Helena and Ilvris were left without much of a choice but to accept. History begins to repeat itself with Helena arranged to marry someone that she has never met before. This is something that Ilvris went through himself, and with the support of his wife, he goes to speak with her to help ease her into what was happening.

Later that evening, Ilvris explains what a disaster the talk was -- ending with Althana leaving the garden in tears after her father had told her that she would "learn to" love her future suitor. With Ilvris not understanding what had happened, it doesn't take Helena long to realize that Althana had taken her father's words based on his own experience the wrong way. After listening to his wife's explanation, Ilvris makes up his mind to try and talk to her again, this time with Helena by his side to sort of help. But they don't get the chance.

The next morning, Brienne rushes to their parents and siblings with a note in hand. Althana wasn't in her room when they went to wake her and try to talk to her. Most of her belongings are gone, and her lute -- her most prized possessions -- has vanished as well. The note that Brienne has is a goodbye. To Althana, if they were going to take her freedom away, then she was going to seize it herself to keep it. So, she ran away, heartbroken to begin her own journey herself and left her family and home behind.

### Amorevole

Helena takes the time to celebrate hers and Ilvris's wedding anniversary, setting off fireworks alongside King Kai and Lucifer. The following day, the royal family and their visitors released lanterns into the sky in hopes that it would guide Althana home.

## Abilities

* **Swordsmanship**: Under the guidance of her late father, Helena was trained in the art of swordplay since she was thirteen.
* **Instrument Proficiency**: As the queen of a kingdom that has music deeply ingrained in its culture, Helena is trained to play several different instruments. The one that she is most commonly seen playing, however, is the lyre.

## Trivia

* Her name, "Helena", means "Light".
* On an alignment chart, she would be Lawful Good.
* If she had to be given an adventuring class, then Helena would fall under "Rogue".
* Queen's Helena's prosthetic arm is an alchemical marvel that took quite a few years to develop and create. When attached, it is able to move like a real limb, despite having no feeling to it. Upon first glance, it almost looks like a doll's arm, despite being harder than diamond. It was the first of the many that Quimere would later produce.