Alice VI

Queen Alice VI Candlebrook, born Belladonna "Bella" Forge and more infamously known as "Alice the Tyrant," was the thirty-fifth monarch of United Merion, ruling from 741-749 Years of Grace. She is widely considered the worst monarch the kingdom has even had, and is remembered to this day for her cruelty. Her reign came to an end following the Wickish War and her subsequent execution, leading to the coronation of Queen Grace I.

## Early Life and Rise of the Tyrant

Little is known about the Tyrant's early life. Belladonna Forge was born in 705 YoG to a family of bellows manufacturers. At the time of her birth, her family had a very close relationship with the Anvils, one of the at-the-time Four Corps of the City of Wick, which led to both wealth and more notability than the average commoner family could expect to hold. This proved beneficial for Bella as she was eventually accepted to train as a Knight of Air, which, despite the Knights of Air being the order of Knights most likely to accept commoners, was still an uncommon honor. However, Bella did not finish her training and instead returned to Wick (it is unknown if she left of her own accord or was expelled) where she officially joined the Anvils. Using her family's wealth and influence, as well as the skills she learned during her time at the Academe, she quickly rose through the ranks to become the leader of the Corps and, subsequently, a member on the Council of Graces.

During her time on the Council, Bella became an close and confidant of Petra Candlebrook, the future Queen Petra II. Despite the age difference between the women (Petra was 38 years older than Bella), their relationship grew quickly. Petra, who had recently lost the crown to her niece Queen Alice V following a surprise change in the line of succession due to the sudden death of King Lawrence VII, confided to Bella about her anger and bitterness at losing the throne, as well as the regency for the young queen, which the Council of Graces had elected not to grant her. Bella was sympathetic, or at least acted as such, to Petra's plight and began to use her power and influence to plot for Petra's eventual rise to power, all while continuing to reaffirm Petra's belief that she deserved to be queen. The specifics of what the two women, primarily Bella, did to achieve this goal are unknown, although the most commonly-accepted rumors include Bella being the cause of Alice V's untimely death, Bella convincing Petra that the Council could not be trusted after refusing her the regency, and Bella convincing Petra that anything she did would be for both the greater good of Merion and for Petra's family line in the Candlebrooks. Regardless of the specifics, Alice V eventually died in 731 YoG and Petra became Queen Petra II.

During Petra's reign, Bella continued to serve as one of the queen's closest advisors, all while, unbeknownst to Petra, continuing to exert her influence over the Council of Graces and, eventually, all of Merion. This was done primarily through populist propaganda. In a sharp contrast from her previous attitude, Bella began to plant seeds of doubt about Petra's right to rule. Petra was already considered a monarch of questionable trust, partially due to her older age (Petra was crowned when she was 65) and partially due to her perceived instability, and Bella did everything she could to exacerbate these flaws, all while continuing to reassure Petra that everything she did was for the greater good. This eventually culminated in an incident involving Petra's two daughters, Crown Princess Petra and Princess Alice, nicknamed Petra III and Alice VI by their mother. Queen Petra favored Alice over her elder sister, especially due to Crown Princess Petra having no children to continue the family line while Princess Alice already had multiple children. By Bella's recommendation,the queen began to ostracize the older girl, doing everything she could to make it clear to the heir-apparent that she did not want her to one day claim the throne. How the daughters felt about their mother's obvious favoritism is unknown, but it is suspected, given later events, that Princess Petra grew to loathe Alice. All the while, Bella continued to consolidate power, most notably by exerting her influence to place those loyal to her on the Council of Graces and removing those who would not support her.

Finally, Bella put her final plan into action. The specifics of what came next are lost to time, mostly due to the Tyrant's own work to hide them. What is known is that Princess Alice, Queen Petra's younger daughter, was found dead, presumed killed by her older sister, Crown Princess Petra, though most now believe it was Bella who ordered the killing. Additionally, thanks to Bella's growing control of the Council and royal court, Queen Petra was accused of pushing her daughter to commit the murder and being, unwilling or otherwise, an accessory to the princess's murder. This led to Crown Princess Petra's execution and the imprisonment of Queen Petra. At the same time, Bella "revealed" herself to be a long-lost descendant of Queen Elena I, the queen that fled the kingdom without a trace more than two centuries earlier. The Tyrant was then granted the throne by the Council of Graces, now heavily under her control, and took the name Alice Candlebrook, both to honor/compare herself to Alice the Great and to add insult to injury to Queen Petra for the loss of her favorite daughter. Thus, Belladonna Forge became Queen Alice Candlebrooks VI. Her first act as queen was to order the execution of the former Queen Petra, her old "friend," as well as all of her grandchildren born to the recently killed Princess Alice, removing the possible threat of one of Petra's heirs one day seeking revenge against her.

## Reign of the Tyrant and the Wickish War

Alice VI's reign was one of death and sorrow. Though the Council of Graces was firmly under her control as a whole, individuals, both from the start of her reign and those elected to the position later, still pushed against her. These dissenters were executed quickly and publicly, and their heads were typically placed on spikes that adorned the walls of the Candelabra, the royal castle. However, in ruling the kingdom as a whole, the Tyrant was incredibly relaxed in her direct rule. Aside from drastically increasing taxes, almost all of which now went directly to her for use in throwing celebrations for the elite and purchasing fineries for herself, she did not much care what happened to the kingdom or its people, provided she could continue to do as she pleased and nobody moved, or even spoke, against her. This lead to a significant amount of unrest for both nobles and commoners, perhaps most notably shown in the Schism of the Heartwood. Over time, as dissent began to grow, many and more citizens began to hope or plot for the Tyrant's removal from the throne. That opportunity eventually came from the future Queen Grace I and the Wickish War.

Despite it's grand name, the Wickish War was fought all across Merion, although the majority of the fighting did occur in and around the capital city, and lasted less than half a year. Organized by Grace Candlebrook, a direct descendant of Alice I, a plan was made to overthrow Alice VI and place Grace on the throne. In 749 YoG, during Krakentide, council members loyal to Alice VI attending the month-long event were assassinated by rebels under cover of the large number of casualties that occur during the fights and celebrations. Immediately after Krakentide ended, and the armada of ships used to patrol the Wax was free of fighting Kraken for a short time, the rebels sent their full forces to conquer Wick. Twelvescore houses from Starry Mark provided ships while houses from Closethrone provided ground forces and the rebels quickly worked in tandem on both land and sea to surround and infiltrate the city. The Tyrant's forces consisted primarily of soldiers from the Four Corps, all of whom were unflinchingly loyal to her. The rebels' plan was for Wick to be taken and the Tyrant to be killed before she could call for aid from other regions of Merion (or before Barande or the Eastern Duchies sent forces to invade during Merion's civil war). While the rebels had the numerical advantage, Wick's defenses, especially around the Candelabra itself, as well as the tenaciousness of the Tyrant's Four Corps troops proved difficult for them to overcome, extending the fight for the capital, and thus the war, to last all summer.

However, after a truly brutal fight for Wick, the rebels were eventually victorious, and the new, free of Tyrant-influence Council of Graces crowned Grace queen. While it is known that the Tyrant died, and that there was no trial and formal execution for her, it is not clear as to how. Some believe that she died in battle during the final fight of the war, while others believe that she took her own life to avoid the retribution that was possibly to come for her. In any case, the circumstances of her death and final resting place are unknown.

## Trivia

* Alice VI's real name of Belladonna is a reference to the Belladonna plant, also known as deadly nightshade, which is extremely toxic.
* Alice VI has been compared to Marie Antoinette, specifically for her infamous, though mis-attributed, phrase "Let them eat cake."
* Alice VI referred to her rule as "The Fourth Consolidation." However, the name did not remain following her death, and the use of it in United Merion now has been compared to the public display of Nazi iconography in modern day Germany.
* Following Alice's mysterious death, it was common for people to make fake heads in the style of hers and mount them on spikes, claiming that theirs was the true head of the Tyrant.