Leila Aventen

Leila Darikun Aventiana Surina (known as Leila Victus Aventiana Surina before the dissolution of her first marriage) is the youngest daughter of *Primarch* Nasira Aventen of Parthia. She is the wife of Jeiran Darikun, the Parthian member of the Imperial Praetorian Guard, who is her bondmate. Before her marriage to Jeiran, she was in an arranged marriage with Keirix Victus, the second son of *Primarch* Fidellion Victus of Palaven, with whom she has a daughter named Livia Victus. Privy to her husband's homosexuality and relationship with his secret lover, Callian Vecturis, Leila acted as a shield for his true identity, concealing both his sexuality and serial infidelity behind the smiling mask of a dutiful wife.

The couple failed to produce any children together in the early years of their marriage, primarily due to Keirix's absence of sexual desire for women, which provoked a stream of damaging rumours about Leila's fertility. To protect her public image and the honour of her natal house, Leila secretly agreed to conceive Keirix's child via IVF, an idea presented to her by his mother, Marcia Abrudas. 11 months later, Leila gave birth to a daughter, whom Keirix named Livia. Despite their rocky relationship, both Leila and Keirix adored her and did everything they could to appear as a normal family to her.

By the time Livia had turned six, her parents' marriage had irreparably broken down. Leila, feeling neglected and miserable, routinely begged Keirix for a divorce, who repeatedly denied her on the grounds that it would derail his father's vision for the empire. The pair would often erupt into shouting matches with each other, late at night when Livia was asleep, resulting in both of them storming off - Leila to cry herself to sleep and Keirix to find comfort in the arms of Callian. Their mutual unhappiness would eventually culminate in Keirix attempting to take his own life by throwing himself off Cipritine's inner shield wall to his death (which was prevented by Callian's swift intervention).

This near tragedy finally prompted Leila and Keirix to have a heart-to-heart, in which they spoke honestly about how destructive the lie they were living was and how things needed to change for the both of them to find happiness and purpose in life. With Leila's support, Keirix was finally able to come out about his sexuality to his father, something which he had been deathly afraid of his entire life. Rather than being angry, Fidellion was instead completely accepting and supportive; he had Keirix and Callian covertly transferred from the Palaven Military Police Corps to C-SEC, to enable them to live their lives together on the Citadel as a couple.

Knowing that he would never be able to truly repay her, Keirix told Leila that she too should be free to choose her own path. While they would still be publicly married for the sake of politics, she could find love with whomever she chose and build a life for herself, albeit in private. In time, Leila would do as Keirix had asked of her, finding love with Jeiran Darikun, a fellow Parthian, who was a member of her father-in-law's Praetorian Guard. In him, Leila found the intimate companionship and familiar comforts of home which she had long yearned for. She and Jeiran were extremely careful to keep the relationship concealed and prevent the conception of any children.

After Leila's mother had died, she and Keirix began their long-awaited divorce proceedings with the support of Fidellion. Keirix would go on to marry Callian, leaving House Victus entirely and essentially becoming a turian commoner, while Leila married Jeiran and became a member of House Darikun. Rather than return home to Parthia, she chose to stay on Palaven to support her husband's career and be closer to her daughter's family. Livia would remain a member of House Victus under the protection of her paternal grandfather, despite the fact her parents no longer belonged to her house. After their marriage, Leila and Jeiran chose to bond with one another, mating for life and marking each other as their eternal soulmate.

## Trivia

### Theme claim

*Assassin's Creed: Mirage theme (menu version)* - Brendan Angelides, Layth Sidiq (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6yehpa59VA)