Emira Maresh

Emira by hadrihanah

**Queen Emira Maresh** is the Queen of Arnes, wife of Maxim Maresh, and mother of Rhy and Kell.

## Physical description

Emira has dark skin, long black hair, and honey-colored eyes. She is very beautiful; and as the Queen of Arnes, she usually wears royal robes and dresses.

## Personality

Emira is a very anxious person, who is dictated by her fear of the world around her breaking. Although she loves both of her sons very much, she is constantly terrified of them getting hurt or worse. This leads to her sometimes making poor decisions, especially regarding Kell.

Despite this, she is known to be a gentle and calming presence, especially to her husband Maxim.

## Biography

### Birthday preparations

Emira has tea in the palace courtyard with Maxim and Rhy and discusses Rhy's upcoming twentieth birthday. Rhy wants to extend the festivities to a week and party extensively, but Emira and Maxim dismiss his suggestion.

Kell joins them after returning from Grey London, and Emira tells him to sit down because he looks pale, though Kell assures her that he is fine. Shortly afterward, Kell and Rhy excuse themselves and leave Emira and Maxim alone in the courtyard.

### The Black Night

Two days later, Rhy's birthday ball takes place. Emira and Maxim greet the guests, among them Lila Bard who notices that they have been enchanted.

When Astrid and Athos Dane are defeated and the black stone's magic dispelled, Kell and Lila return to Red London and are promptly arrested and brought to the king and queen.

Maxim orders all guards to leave before he demands to know from Kell what happened. Kell tells him and Emira everything, from his smuggling to the Danes' plan to conquer Red London and tear down the seals; he also assures them that the twins are now dead—he defeated them with Lila's help.

Emira and Maxim are curious about Lila, wanting to know who she is and where she comes from; Lila lies that she arrived per ship a few days ago and decided to help Kell save his home. She also calls them out for treating her and Kell like criminals, but her words fall on deaf ears. The queen and king then inquire about Rhy, and Kell informs them that he is well. As soon as he and Lila are released, Kell will get him.

### The *Essen Tasch*

In February 1820, Emira has lunch with Maxim, Rhy, Lisane, and Parlo in the sunroom. They are going through the preparations for the *Essen Tasch* again and try to find fitting suites for their foreign royal guests to stay. Kell briefly joins them before he heads to Grey London for a letter delivery.

## Relationships

### Rhy Maresh

Emira loves her son dearly. She constantly worries about him and fears for him to get hurt, the sum of her fears causing her to not want another biological child out of fear of conflict.

### Kell Maresh

Emira initially wanted to raise Kell and Rhy as brothers, Kell as another son. However, after Rhy was kidnapped as a child, Emira becomes anxious and wants to raise Kell as a ward for Rhy. She attempts this too late as a brotherly bond has already formed, their closeness scaring Emira. In the series, Emira experiences conflicting sentiments of love, fear, and anxiety which hurts and at points isolates Kell. They struggle to understand each other, despite both caring for each other similarly to mother and son.

## Appearances

* *Brothers*
* *A Darker Shade of Magic* (first appearance)
* *A Gathering of Shadows*
* *A Conjuring of Light*
* *The Fragile Threads of Power* (mentioned only)

## Titles and styles

* **— March 1820:** *Her Majesty* The Queen

## Trivia

* General
* Etymology

* Emira is Middle Eastern.
* Emira is often falsely addressed as "Your Highness" instead of "Your Majesty."

- The name "Emira" is the Bosnian form of the Arabic name "Amirah." "Amirah" is the feminine version of "Amir" which means "commander" or "prince."

## References

1. ↑ *A Conjuring of Light*, III: Fall or Fight, II
2. ↑ *The Fragile Threads of Power*, III: The King's Heart, VII
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, I: The Traveler, III
4. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IX: Festival & Fire, III
5. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XIV: The Final Door, II
6. ↑ *A Gathering of Shadows*, III: Changing Tides, I
7. ↑ "Maxim Maresh is black. Emira is Middle Eastern. So Rhy is both."
(V. E. Schwab on Twitter)
8. ↑ Behind the Name — Emira
9. ↑ Behind the Name — Amirah
10. ↑ Behind the Name — Amir