Antedia

Queen **Antedia** rules the Regni tribe. Fierce and unforgiving, she feels humiliated and betrayed by both the Cantii tribe and the gods. The Druids decreed that her only son and heir, Gildas, was to marry the Cantii princess Kerra, which she confirmed with a visit to the underworld where her dead advised her the same. The marriage was short and bloody, and ended with Gildas' castration at Kerra's hand. Seeking revenge, Antedia sees the arrival of Rome and potential means for finally getting what she wants.

After meeting and discussing with Roman general Aulus Plautius she agreed to ally with Rome against the Cantii, on the condition that Lucius kiss her feet. Together, they laid siege to the Cantii stronghold for four moons, when after she met with Lindon of the Gaul, a spy for the Regni, she had him set fire to what little remained of the Cantii food to force Kerra to surrender. When Aulus met with Kerra, he turned on the Regni, firing catapults and arrows lit with fire at the Regni's encampment. Antedia attempted to flee with her son Gildas and several guards, but her guards and Gildas were killed. She cried over her son's death and cursed the Romans. She was captured and held prisoner.

Over the next two years, Antedia was kept prisoner and was eventually sold at an auction for 5 silver pieces, after she drank the auctioneer's urine.

Antedia was prisoner to her new owners for about a year, who mistreated her and threatened her, with the exception of Rook, who would occasionally show her kindness as he was sometimes mistreated by his family. One night Antedia told Rook how she was once a powerful queen, and if she ever remarried, her new husband would become king. Antedia tricks Rook into believing the plant Moon Tree could make weasel stew taste like swan and be a meal fit for a king, when in reality it was poisonous. She convinced Rook to put it in Brock's weasel stew. While they were vomiting and hallucinating, almost dying, Antedia told them the story of how as a young girl she met a witch who taught her how to poison her abusive uncle with Moon Tree and get revenge. Rook, Brock, Todge, and Beetle had all passed out, Antedia takes Rook to safety and ties down the other three next to their dead mum and sets their house on fire, killing the three of them. The next morning, when Rook wakes up, he sees his siblings dead with Antedia nowhere to be found.

Having freed herself from her prison, Antedia sets off on a journey, and it isn't long before she comes across the young Cantii, Cait. They start a scheme to con those they come across. After a successful con, while counting their money, Antedia lays out her plans for revenge against the man who betrayed her and took everything from her, Aulus. She begins to detail how her plans have several different stages, starting with emancipation and going on to what she calls Operation Warchest, but they are interrupted by a nearby Roman patrol, which they hide from. Antedia later spots a Roman cargo cart, which they follow to a nearby tavern, at which they continue conning the patrons. They meet an oil salesman, who they get drunk and Cait hexes to con him out of his oil cart, which they steal. The lamp oil is set to be phase three of Antedia's plan. She and Cait follow the Romans to their fort to negotiate an oil trade with the Roman Quartermaster. They agree on a deal and later that night, Antedia lures the Quartermaster away from the rest of the camp, knocks him unconscious, and then charges the flaming oil cart at the main building, immolating the building and killing all inside. Cait looks on in horror at this, growing ever disgruntled with Antedia.

Antedia and Cait decide to come clean to each other and reveal who they truly are. Antedia goes first and says how she was the Regni Queen, Ruler of a hundred hills, scourge of all foes, and daughter of Bork the Dread. Cait describes her life, and Antedia at first despises her for being Cantii. Cait tells Antedia what she did to Veran and how Veran thought she was part of a prophecy, but she denies being part of it, or at least, feels like she's walked away from it. Cait wants to split from Antedia because of her burning desire for revenge against Aulus, whom Cait wants to stay away from. As Cait is leaving the bar she spots former Roman Prefectus Lucius and runs into her father Sawyer who she hadn't seen since parting with him at Locerly Cross. Antedia leaves after Cait and meets Lucius again.

Antedia asks Lucius what made him leave the Romans, why he didn't return to Rome, and why he decided to stay in Britannia chasing the Druid's prophecies. He tells her about blinding Sawyer and meeting with him on the beach two years later and receiving forgiveness, and accepting his path and position in the prophecy. The Roman prisoners Rufus and Felix recognise their former Prefectus and tell their commanding Legionary, who with the aid of his comrades surrounds Lucius and kidnaps him. Antedia starts to fight off the Romans but is dragged away by Cait for being outnumbered. As they make their escape on a horsecart, they witness a Roman cart run down Sawyer, killing him.

In an attempt to console Cait, Antedia tells her the story of how her father, Bork the Dread became king; by boiling his father, Bork the Fearless, in oil. She also says he hates Aulus because he lied to her, betrayed her, and killed her beloved son Gildas, but she tells Cait that she has to accept that Sawyer is gone otherwise she would go mad like her. Antedia and Cait decide to go meet with the Druids, wary of how they might be treated after what Cait did. When Cait goes off to meet with Veran, Antedia ambushes Phelan for being Cantii, but he denies being Phelan anymore as he has since been reborn as Cwunt. Before Antedia can do anything, she is summoned by Cait in Veran's hut and she leaves. Veran asks Antedia about what Lucius told her about the spear. She replies that Lucius buried it but he didn't say where, so if Veran wants the spear he's going to have to find and rescue Lucius to ask him. After Veran assembles the Druids to discuss the spear, Antedia reunites with Ania, famed Regni warrior who still respects and acknowledges Antedia as Queen. As Cait and her chosen band prepare to embark, Antedia asks Cait about Rayne, and tells her she feels unsure whether this is her kind of quest, but Cait says that it is not a quest but cold-blooded revenge.

A short time after leaving the Druids, they find the bounty hunter Hella again. They compare their previous experiences with Hella, how she kidnapped Phelan, buried Cait alive, and nearly killed Divis. Antedia remarks how she likes Hella already. Hella informs the band that the Romans take their deserters to the Blue Hills in the west, five days' travel from where they were, and that is where Lucius should be. She tells the band that the west is too dangerous for her, so her sister Drella will take them instead.

Guided on their path by Drella, Cait asks Antedia what she knows of the Blue Hill Tribes, who says they always were a headache. The band is stopped when they come across a fork in the road, and a tree decorated with red ribbon by the Sun Folk. Antedia says how it's a tree of the Sun Folk despite these not being the Sun Folk's lands, but they at least respect Veran, or at least they used to. Ania offers to travel along one path to the Sun Folk, and if she doesn't return, the band should go the other way.

Waiting on Ania to return, Antedia tells Divis how she thinks Cait and Rayne will soon sleep with each other. Divis is sure that Rayne is a virgin and calls him an annoying cocky virgin, but Antedia is not so sure that he is a virgin. She is sure that Divis is a virgin, but Divis passes it off as being irrelevant. After returning from her trip to the Sun Folk, Ania lies and says the highroads are too dangerous so they should take the lowland way. Divis disagrees as his gut says it is the wrong path. Being the leader, Cait decides that they shall do as Ania says and take the lowlands. As the journey continues, Cait senses something is wrong and tells the band to stop, and Antedia can hear the trees talking. Members of the Belgae Tribe emerge and surround the band. Cait tells them they were sent by Veran, but they reply that Veran abandoned them so now they'll repay Veran with the band's blood. They threaten Antedia but recognise her as queen of the Regni, and they all bow before her.

The Belgae Tribe toast to Antedia, who they will always view as their queen. Years before the Romans invaded, Antedia and the Regni once helped out the Belgae in a war with another tribe, but the Belgae had since been slaughtered by the Romans. They know of Veran's prophecy and who Cait is, and they believe in Cait. Antedia deliberately antagonises Cwunt by mocking the Cantii, who by proxy were the enemy of the Belgae as they were allied with Antedia and the Regni. Cwunt begins to confess to being Cantii, but stutters and instead sings a song deprecating the Cantii and his former family.

The next morning, the band set off from the Belgae. It isn't long before they come across some Romans attacking a village. Rayne tries to convince Cait to leave, saying they are already lost, but she hears a woman call for help so rides back after her, followed by Rayne and Ania.

After the journey continues, Antedia watches Divis try to use Big Pebble on Drella to find out if she is the ally who will betray Cait, and is amused when she insults Divis. When Divis walks over to her next, she offers him a drink and when he refuses she remarks how he doesn't drink, just like Rayne. After this comparison, Divis decides to drink anyway. She asks why he doesn't try Big Pebble on her, but he says that it doesn't work on everybody, and doubts it would work on her. She asks if he's ever used it on himself, but he hasn't. He calls Antedia angry, but she tells him she remembers a time when she wasn't angry, but was actually bursting with happiness; back when Gildas was alive. But then Rome invaded and now all she has is anger, and she is only driven by revenge. Antedia believes that Big Pebble might work on Ania, and convinces Divis to try it on her. As he is leaving, Divis says he doesn't believe Antedia is angry because of what happened to Gildas, but because of something else.

The next day, Ania scouts the Roman deserter holding camp, but when she returns to the band she says she couldn't see Lucius as she was too far away. She tells them that if they do have Lucius, they do not know who he is, and she also says how the place is barely even guarded and it shouldn't be difficult to sneak in there. Just then, they see Aulus arriving at the holding camp, complicating things. They watch Aulus leave with Lucius before making their move.

On the road again, the band come across a large Roman viaduct bridge, and are perplexed as to what it is. Divis calls it a monster, and Antedia says how she has seen one before in Gaul. She calls it a road, and the rest of the band are in disbelief as to how a road can be in the sky. Rayne then points out that to cross it, the Romans will have to break formation, making it the prime location to try and rescue Lucius.

Cait asks Antedia if she can trust her and says she is worried about the mission. Antedia tells her she can always just turn around and run away from everything, and go back to being Cait from the salt-farm. Cait replies that she can't remember the old Cait fully anymore, and that she can't run because she is the chosen one. Later that night, Cait is sharpening her knife as Rayne tells her she has to believe that she is the chosen one, and everything she does is part of the prophecy. He tells her she needs to release herself from everything and take the step beyond. Antedia then walks up and tells him to leave her alone, and then Cait leaves. Rayne tells Antedia that their faith keeps the land whole, and gives strength in the darkness and hope to the weak, and that Cait is the one that will carry them through, as she is the one that the Gods have chosen. Antedia retorts that the Gods never chose Cait. She then tells Rayne that when she was 14, a Veran different to the current one walked past her three older brothers and chose her to be the ruler of the Regni. She then told Rayne that his faith doesn't come from the earth, the rivers, or the trees, but from the mouths of men, specifically Veran's, and Veran only wants to be feared, worshipped, and obeyed. She once again says that no Gods chose Cait, she's just a brave child called Cait. Rayne then leaves.

After the band realise that Cait has climbed the viaduct without them, they start climbing themselves. Rayne goes on ahead, and Antedia wants to go with him, but he stops her as he knows her desire for revenge could compromise the mission. Divis starts having a fit as Lokka tries to break through. Cwunt tries to calm him down, and Drella joins Rayne ahead. As Cwunt falls off the viaduct, he grabs a rope to keep himself suspended, and Antedia then joins Rayne and Drella. Antedia saves Rayne and takes his bow. She is presented with the option of shooting Aulus or saving Cait from the Roman who is carrying her off, and she chooses to save Cait.

The morning after, Rayne and Antedia start arguing and are overheard by Divis, following their tracks. Rayne accuses Antedia of wasting time pointing his bow at Aulus when she should have been saving Cait, and Antedia argues that she did save Cait, and she storms off. Cwunt is sitting beside them feeling useless, and is told by Rayne that Antedia has no faith. Divis asks where Cait is, and Rayne tells him she's with Ania because he found the breastplate Ania used to cook berries on, but Divis mentions he can't see the signs. Cwunt interjects that he saw Ania's eyes the night before, and thought there was something else behind them, controlling her. Divis gets upset at Cwunt for not mentioning this before and says Ania is the traitor. Cwunt then tells Divis that Drella is dead, falling from the viaduct. Divis, Cwunt, and Rayne leave, but are watched by Antedia.

Antedia then makes her way back to the Belgae Tribe. She convinces the Belgae to send flaming arrows into the Roman stronghold to kill them all, and laughs as they do so. As Aulus commands his legionaries to return fire, he sees Antedia laughing, knowing this is her revenge for his betrayal more than two years before.

Antedia enters the Roman stronghold and goes to the prison, where she knocks Hemple unconscious for attacking Amena. After going into the prison, Divis picks up a fallen Cait, and he carries her out, supported by the band.

After escaping the Romans, Divis betrays Cait by returning and giving her to Aulus. The band realise Divis and Cait are missing, and are left confused.