Béatrice de Rune

*Monsters are those things to which we have never given a name.*[src]
Béatrice

**Béatrice de Rune** is Amicia and Hugo's mother. Aside from her role as a noble woman and wife of her husband Lord Robert de Rune, she was a practiced alchemist who dutifully spent years treating and caring for her son.

## History

### Background and Early Life

Little is known of her early life, only that she likely bore Amicia de Rune when she was in her mid to late teenage years (as was common for married girls of any station). It is likely that her Parents arranged an advantageous noble marriage between her and Robert de Rune before the two courted. It is implied that their relationship was one of affection, for the two agreed to meet in a forest on the de Rune property, leaving a ribbon tied to a tree to signal where they planned to meet. After they wed, Robert and her sired two children; first, a daughter named Amicia and then a son named Hugo.

An accomplished alchemist, along with her associate Laurentius, she discovered that the Prima Macula, an ancient blood curse traced to disasters occurring more than 800 years ago, had awoken in Hugo's blood at birth. Working with Laurentius to cure or at least stall the Macula's progress, and her husband to hide Hugo from concerned eyes, they kept their son under close watch for five years. Despite their best efforts, the Inquisition had caught onto Hugo's condition; while she wanted to cure the Prima Macula, Vitalis Bénévent desired to control it and even transfer it to himself. As a result of her intensive work, she became estranged from her daughter as she became desperately involved in finding a solution to cure her only son.

### The de Rune Legacy

After Amicia and Robert returned from their walk in the forest, where an unseen force had mutilated a boar and taken Lion, one of the family's dogs, Robert sent Amicia to find Béatrice in her study, working as always to try and cure Hugo. As they talked briefly, Béatrice heard a noise outside and saw the Inquisition raid on the estate begin. She left Amicia with Hugo, giving them orders to hide. When the two are almost caught by an Inquisition soldier, she knocks the man out with a rock and guides them to a back gate, where her bodyguard is waiting. She ushered her children past the gate, telling them to find Laurentius, and then shuts the gate behind them to prevent their capture by Nicholas, seemly to be killed by him for her efforts.

### Alive

Rather than being killed, the Inquisition instead captures and tortures Béatrice in their headquarters, as well as using her to try and bait Hugo out of hiding. This would eventually succeed; while taking her to be tortured, Béatrice is discovered by Arthur, a friend of her children, who then relays the news back to Amicia, which Hugo happens to overhear. The boy, aching for his mummy, then turns himself over to the Inquisition in order to see her.

### Blood Ties

Now at the Inquisition Bastion, Hugo escapes custody, and at long last finds Béatrice in her cell. Beatrice endures physical impairment for the remainder of *Innocence*.

At this point, she has been constantly tortured and can barely stand up. Initially, she warns him away out of fear of his capture, though she ends up utilizing his assistance in freeing her from her cell. With the First Threshold of the Prima Macula burdening him, she tenderly guides him along, awakening his ability to control the swarms of rats. They attempt to leave, but Vitalis sends his men to kill Béatrice, forcing Hugo to use his abilities to kill in order to protect her. Inexperience with using the power drains the boy of energy, leading to their capture. Béatrice is imprisoned once more, despite her urgent pleadings for the Inquisition forces to leave her son alone.

### Coronation

When Hugo rejoins with his sister, they and their friends agreed to use their power to end the Inquisition and rescue Béatrice. When they reached the infested Cathedral, they found Béatrice locked in a dangling cage as bait. Once Amicia and Hugo defeat Vitalis in an epic battle between their rat hordes, Melie and Lucas rescue Béatrice. While still alive, the extensive torture she endured left her weak, but with the threat now defeated she will have time to recover.

### For Each Other

Béatrice is last seen resting in the back of a cart as she, Amicia, Hugo, and Lucas leave Aquitaine behind in search of a new "castle" which will serve as their new home. She will likely receive the best of care from her loving children and the expertise of Lucas' alchemy.

### Under a New Sun

Six months after the Inquisition is defeated, Béatrice and her children, Amicia and Hugo, and their friend Lucas, are summoned to Provence by the Order, an organization of alchemists whose local representative Vaudin may be able to shed light on how to further remedy Hugo's condition. Along the way, they are caught in false allegations of robbery, which triggers the dormancy of Hugo's Macula. Amicia is forced to battle the angry farmers. She manages this, even killing a man who was preparing to kill Béatrice in retaliation. Béatrice attempts to console her daughter, who is shown to be deeply shaken by the events of the fight.

### Newcomers

The group enjoy the market after finding refuge in the new town. After they reach their new house, Hugo suffers a nightmare as the Macula's hold on him advances, and Béatrice asks Amicia and Lucas to go find the magister. Along the way, they discover that the rats and plague have spread to the region.

### A Burden of Blood

Béatrice sends off Amicia and Lucas to bring back nightshade to aid in the treatment of Hugo's seizures.

### Protector's Duty

Hugo's condition hasn't improved for days despite being under the care of Magister Vaudin. Béatrice tries to soften the news that Hugo is condemned; no potion can save him at this point. Soon after, the rats devour the city, forcing the group to flee by boat.

### In Our Wake

A band of mercenaries led by "The Wall" ambushes them as they ride down a boat. The siblings confront their aggressors, but decide not to join their mother and Lucas in the boat as it sails away. Béatrice is left in shock by this event, as Amicia is aware that Hugo has limited time left alive, but separates the boy from his mother anyway.

### Death

Béatrice meets her end at the hands of Countess Emilie de Arles. Amicia tries to save her, but her efforts are thwarted by Count Victor de Arles. Her throat is then slit by Emillie.

## Physical Appearance

Béatrice was a slender, beautiful woman with her brown hair in a braid similar to Amicia's, but interwoven with green ribbon instead of pink and only woven at the back, leaving her hair at the front to sit free. She appeared to be in her late 20s to early 30s judging by her composure and facial structure.

In *A Plague Tale: Innocence*, Béatrice wore a green, fitted dress, a necklace set with five green stones or jewels, and a circle around her forehead which goes under her hair.

## Personality

Béatrice was a very composed, calm and level-headed woman, and her intelligence was evident in how far she progressed in her search for a cure without the aid of vital books like the Sanguinis Itinera. She was also shown to be a gentle and caring person in how she cared for Hugo and even expressed protectiveness of Amicia despite their distant relationship. Béatrice was also quite resilient, withstanding mistreatment from the Inquisition in the hope of sparring her son from their abuse.

The details of her past are a mystery that are not elaborated upon in *Requiem*. While Béatrice maintained the role of matriarch of the surviving de Rune family, she was challenged constantly by an increasingly combative Amicia. On account of her daughter's insistence, the two become embroiled in a rivalry centered around how they interpret the best way to care for Hugo's ailing condition. As a member of the Order, Béatrice placed faith in the organization being the best equipped to provide care for her son. Assuming this to be a logical choice for Hugo's survival, she was unconvinced by Amicia's arguments to take Hugo away to a mysterious island where he dreamt he could be healed.

Despite Amicia's betrayal by separating the terminally ill boy away from his mother, Béatrice resolved to place her shock aside when Lucas and her track the duo to La Cuna. Her effort to reconcile with her daughter led to her death when her throat was slit after being captured by Countess Emilie.

## Abilities and Skills

* **Alchemist**: Trained and well-learned in the arts of alchemy and science, Béatrice was talented in making remedies and concoctions. Even without the vital manuscripts needed to do so, her skill and dedication were so great that she came very close to making the elixir that her son needed.

* **Stiff Upper Lip**: Béatrice had incredible composure and resistance to suffering. Even under torture, Béatrice remained cold and unassailable, refusing to help the Inquisition or turn over her children to them.

## Relationships

### Hugo de Rune

Hugo became the focus of her life with her efforts to cure or stall the Macula in his blood. Her constant care and watch over the child caused him to become completely devoted to her. She dearly loved Hugo and did everything in her power to protect him, even potentially risking her life and enduring severe torture.

### Amicia de Rune

Due to her endless work to cure Hugo and to watch over him, Amicia and Béatrice had become distant from each other, and what little interaction they shared was short, somewhat cold, and to the point. Béatrice dismissed Amicia's attempts to tell her about what happened in the forest, expressing irritably that she wished she had time to listen to the girl's stories. She never truly showed appreciation for Amicia, although this is because she had a lot of pressure with Hugo and his illness. Amicia felt betrayed that her mother never let her in on what was going on, but Béatrice left her out of the loop in order to protect her daughter. She loved and trusted her daughter, even going so far as to leave Hugo in her care as they fled the Inquisition.

In *A Plague Tale: Requiem*, Béatrice was much warmer to Amicia, however, the latter openly challenged her judgment and even questioned her care for Hugo. This caused frequent conflict between the two as they have different ideas on what is best for Hugo. Assuming the Order to offer the best solution to Hugo's dilemma, she argued that he ought to be taken in by them for close care. As the only parental figure among her group of survivors, her hope for the Order's promised care exemplified her desire for a safer option; she was unwilling to risk her son travelling to La Cuna based on a dream. This caused Amicia to resent her, since she believed she was more trustworthy of Vaudin than she was of her. Overall, Béatrice was still concerned about Amicia, and over time, she was seemingly more concerned about her than Hugo.

In "Under a New Sun", Amicia killed a man who was ready to kill her mother in retaliation. In the aftermath of the fight, Amicia is shown to be deeply shaken by the events as she was consoled by her mother.

In "The Life We Deserve", Amicia felt devastated as she watched their mother die, and Béatrice murmured with her final breath how proud she was of her.

### Robert de Rune

Prior to the events of the game, Robert courted her and she was reciprocal of his advances. The two married and had two children. She trusted him with the protective care of Hugo while she researched a cure or a treatment. While she talks little of Robert after his death, she likely misses him and is embittered towards Lord Nicholas for personally taking his life.

### Laurentius

As a fellow alchemist, they often worked together and teamed up to stall the Prima Macula in Hugo's blood, entrusting him to be Hugo's personal physician. She also trusted him to help her children in a crisis, as he was the first person she directed them to seek out when the Inquisition raided the estate.

### Nicholas

Béatrice had little interaction with the Captain of the Purple Guard, but she recognized him as a threat and did everything she could to keep her children out of his reach, potentially risking her very life to do so. As Nicholas murdered her husband Robert in cold blood, she was embittered towards him and refused to so much as speak to him.

### Vitalis Bénévent

While she shares a goal with stopping the threat of the plague, Béatrice wanted to eliminate it to end her son's suffering while Vitalis wanted to use it as a means of obtaining power. Thus, she refused to work with the Inquisitor from the start and did everything in her power to hide him from Vitalis. She regarded him as a monster given the way he experimented and brainwashed Hugo.

## Trivia

* It is unknown if Béatrice was familiar with alchemy prior to learning of her Hugo's fated condition, or began to practice it out of necessity in the vain hope of slowing the spread of his disease.

## Gallery

Béatrice senses the incoming troops of the InquisitionBéatrice prompts Amicia to find her brother and hideBéatrice reunites with her son Hugo