Kyra Manderly

Kyra Manderly is the eldest daughter of Bennard and Alys Woolfield, and the wife of Warrick Manderly, the heir to Newcastle and White Harbor.

## META

### Alternative Characters

Samantha Peake, Cyrenna Penrose, Helaena Targaryen

## Appearance and Character

Kyra is average height with a slim build and toned form, as she likes to ride when she can. She has pale skin, striking dark eyes and matching dark wavy hair that she keeps under firm control as it has a tendancy to grow wild.

As a person, Kyra is intelligent and quiet, an active listener and perceptive problem solver. She has an air of aloofness that people often perceive as cold, and she does take a while to warm up to people. That being said, she is kind and giving, hard working and driven and ambitious, though not maliciously so. She is an introvert who is very good at pretending to be an extrovert, and though she entertains often and readily, she will often retreat within herself once on her own, and prefers to be alone for long periods, especially after hosting one of her many feasts or other events.

Her marriage with Warrick has not been easy for her, as she has seen it as a curb on her own ambitions, though their nuptials have not been unhappy at all. She was surprised to find that she does not like children very much, and while she has an infant son by her husband, she does only what she must in the way of maternal duty, leaving the majority of it to a small army of wetnurses and servants. She does love her son, in her own way, and insists he has nothing but the best for his welfare and upbringing, but finds it difficult to have any real interest or input in his development. She has a constant nagging guilt about this, especially as her husband dotes on the boy and takes special interest in their child.

## Early Life

Kyra was born in 76AC, the first child of Bennard and Alys Woolfield, and her sister followed two years later. Try as they might, Alys did not conceive again, and Bennard had no option but to accept that he would have no sons to continue his line, reverting instead to his hope in matrilineal continuity of his line. As such, from an early age, Kyra was given extensive education. This was added to as she grew older, and her father did not bother with combat training or anything else he deemed unnecessary for a woman. Why would a woman learn to wield a sword, when she can command able men to do it for her? Kyra learned the art of warfare on paper through her lessons with their maester, studying past histories of the Seven Kingdoms, the houses of each, and focusing especially on accounts, economics and industry. Bennard held a very lucrative trade on fabrics, and used the port at White Harbor to import and export regularly, with his usual and generous contribution to the tax coffers of House Manderly.

On other days, Kyra would spend time with her mother and her septa, accompanied by her younger sister, and she would learn the more womanly arts - to sing and to sew and weave, to ride and hunt adequately, and to study the finer aspects of running an efficient household and staff - something that she was also expected to do when she was older. Kyra accepted this with studious determination, and never complained about her workload. As she entered her teens, she began to accompany her father on his regular journeys to White Harbor and other trade hubs within the North, learning how the trade works, and familiarizing herself with the importers and traders and merchants who were the hub of what would one day be her own business. Kyra proved herself useful and quietly charming, a shining addition to her father's position. She became more and more adept, and became focused and driven on her goal - she would become the head of her House, and she would surpass her fathers expectation and legacy.

## The Passing of Alys Woolfield

The year 94AC seemed to be the start of nothing extraordinary, though there seemed to be a fair amount of sickness in the Woolfield holdings during its first few moons. At first it seemed to be a standard fever, that was seen to by the maester, who quickly became overwhelmed when dozens in the household succumbed to it at once. Many fell prey to its symptoms, and while most would recover within days of its first showing, many fell prey to the clutches of death.

The Woolfield women both did their part in looking after the people of Ramsgate, and nursed the sick around the clock with other volunteers and the poor maester. The first sign of the disease was a red flush of the face, easily mistaken for the bright red cheeks that many men exhibit after exposure to the frosty air of a cold day, typical of the Northern air. But fever followed, slight at first, but rising, ever rising. Bleeding did not help, nor garlic, nor any of the various potions, poultices, and tinctures that were tried. Packing the afflicted in tubs of snow and icy water seemed to slow the course of the fever, but did not halt it, the maester soon found. By the second day the victim would begin to shiver violently and complain of being cold, though he might feel burning hot to the touch. On the third day came delirium, sweats, and vomiting blood. By the fourth day the victim was dead…or on the path to recovery, should the fever break.

Kyra would spend days changing linen, bathing the sick, and hauling in pails and pails of cold water to try and bring down the fevers. Then, her mother began to show symptoms of the fever. The maester dropped everything and began to administer what useless help he could, while Leona was quarantined immediately for her own safety and retreated to the godswood to pray. Bennard tried to isolate Kyra also, who flatly refused and nursed her mother herself, feeling a quiet and cold panic begin to rise in her as her mother shook and shivered and complained of being cold, while burning so hot she could barely be touched. On the third day, Alys lost all sense as her fever burned through her mind, and she began to hemorrhage. By the fourth morning she lay dead, with Kyra weeping over her mother's body. She was burned the same day, along with six others who had died in the night. Burial was not an option, as both the maester and Bennard feared the sickness would continue to spread. It would be another two moons before the disease exhausted itself entirely, and Ramsgate would begin to recover.

## The Heir to White Harbor

In 96AC, the then twenty year old Kyra traveled once again to White Harbor with her father, as a new shipment of silks had arrived from the Free Cities. Bennard wished to host the captain personally, as having him on friendly terms would be useful if the shipments were to continue. Kyra went along, and did her part in hosting, providing intelligent conversation and amusement to break the monotony of the tedious business talk. The small event went well, and her father was pleased.

The following morning, Kyra had set out on her own to explore the marketplaces before the journey home the next day. She would often do this while in the city, and especially after having to host events, as she found her own company soothing. Not having to talk to anyone was calming for her, whilst still being surrounded by people. This was thwarted when she was approached by a man of approximately her age. He quickly introduced himself as Warrick Manderly, the son of Lord Medrick of White Harbor. His enthusiastic attention took Kyra aback, and while she was not rude, she flatly did not encourage his advances. This did not work, however.

She was taken aback again, when, upon returning to the manse they used as a second home in the city, she was informed that she would not be going home the next day as planned. Her father told her that the lords of White Harbor had heard of their vassels presence and wished to host them at New Castle. Kyra's mood soured even further, having a sneaking suspicion she knew how they had come to know, though she was grudgingly surprised at how quickly the lordling had acted.

She was utterly floored when, a week later, after lingering in the city for days longer than expected, and being hosted by the Manderly heir in extravagant fashion, her father proudly informed her that he had made a match for her, with the lordling of White Harbor. He was oblivious to the fact that she was entirely unhappy with it, that her ambition was to be the head of her own House, not the wife of someone else's, no matter how influential or important. Having no say in the matter made her resentful, especially knowing that now her younger sister would be stepping into the role that she had worked for so hard herself.

Weeks later, Warrick and Kyra were wed before a weirwood tree and the Old Gods, with her new husband doing his all to accommodate his new wife, including forgoing the Sept of Snows that the Manderly's used. The wedding feast was elaborate and the celebrations lasted for days, and Warricks clear and total adoration of his new bride did nothing to help her attitude. It was not what she had wanted, and yet she had no choice. In the following months, the new couple fell into a sort of easy routine, mostly helped by Warrick's clear infatuation and his efforts to make her life as perfect as possible, despite her almost-indifference to him. She fell pregnant very quickly, and Warrick was ecstatic when she presented him with a healthy dark haired son, Daryn, nine months later in 97AC. She was surprised to find that her maternal instinct was not very strong, and while she gave her son nurturing and attention, it was only through a sense of duty, rather than motherly love. This is countered by Warrick's devotion to their son, and he dotes on their one year old with great enthusiasm.

Kyra preferred to make the most of the situation she was now in, and took a hand in the day-to-day running of the household in New Castle. The previous Lady Manderly had passed on long before Kyra came along, and Lord Medrick was gone for months at a time attending to duties in Winterfell as Winters Bounty. This meant that Warrick and Kyra stood in as White Harbors lord and lady in the interim, and Kyra took to it with her usual hardworking attitude, even during her pregnancy. Orders she made and events planned were done quickly, with the help of the voice of her husband, who supports her endeavors wholeheartedly.

## Family

* Bennard Woolfield
* m. Alys Woolfield (d. 94AC)
	+ \*\*Kyra Woolfield\*\*
		- m. Warrick Manderly
	+ Leona Woolfield