Donatella Dragna

Donatella Dragna by Niru

**Donatella Dragna**, also known as **Tella**, is Scarlett Dragna's half-sister and the daughter of Marcello Dragna and Paloma Dragna.

## Appearance

Donatella is a sassy and beautiful young woman with honey blond hair that hangs in soft ringlets over her shoulders. She inherited the majority of her fathers' light looks. She looks like her grandmother Annalise did when she was young. Tella has a short frame around 5’3 and a "cherub's face with a devil's grin." She has naturally pink lips. She is shorter than Scarlett and very pretty. Tella has a rounder face and long spirals of honey blond hair.

## Personality

Tella is very impulsive, reckless, and acts before thinking. She can come across as selfish and uncaring about the consequences of her actions. When she's set her mind to something there is no changing it. Scarlett often fears Tella has a death wish, while Tella thinks Scarlett worries too much. Raised on her grandmother's stories of magic and Caraval, Tella loves magic and adventure. As she grew older, her dreams of magic only increased and her mind was often lost in thoughts about Caraval and Legend. She is vibrant, headstrong, and loves life. While Tella likes being the center of attention, she doesn't like scrutiny.

Tella is a runner rather than a fighter. This changes after she dies and is brought back to life. She is no longer willing to give up when things are scary or hard but fights back fiercely.

## Plot

Tella has been in contact with Legend and made a deal with him.

### Caraval

Tella is caught by her sister Scarlett kissing a boy named Julian in the barrel room of their family's estate. Scarlett had come to show Tella the letter she had received from Caraval Master Legend, who had also sent three tickets for the upcoming Caraval. Tella is excited about being able to attend Caraval, as both sisters had grown up wishing to go. As they were discussing how they could get off their island, their father, Governor Marcello Dragna, finds them. Marcello first asked Julian if he had liked the rum, which to Julian said he did. However, by the fact that Julian's breath did not smell like rum, Marcello assumed that Julian had been tasting one of the two sisters. After both sisters saying it was the other, Julian finally said that he had been with Scarlett.

At that, Marcello hit Tella. After witnessing what their father had done to them, Julian offered them passage to the isle for free and told them the ship would set sail at dawn. Scarlett didn't want Tella nor herself to go with Julian to the isle, so she met up with Julian on Del Ojos Beach. Scarlett told Julian that he could take all three of the tickets to Caraval that she had received if he didn't take Tella or Scarlett. However, Tella had gotten to Julian first, and Julian put a cloth over Scarlett's face, making her fall asleep.

When Scarlett and Julian found out they were given the same room, Scarlett walked into the hall, where she heard Tella in her room, along with a young man.

Once Scarlett had found Tella, Scarlett won the game, but Tella acted as if Scarlett had gone crazy during the game. Scarlett told Tella that they needed to go, but Tella refused. She pretended that she thought that Casper, who was the actor playing Legend in that Caraval, was her fiancé, and when Casper revealed that he was Legend, Tella jumped off the edge of the balcony. After Tella died, Scarlett managed to wish her back to life with some magic from the real Legend. Since Marcello now assumed Tella to be dead, he fled, and Tella and Scarlett were free from their father's grasp.

It's time for the after-party, but Scarlett doesn't feel like going. Tella says she needs to go anyways because it is rare for non-performers to be invited. At the after-party, Tella gets drunk on champagne and dances with everyone. A man drops a note and a coin in her dress pocket and disappears. This note is signed from "a friend." It says that her mother will be proud of how she survived Caraval and Tella should be able to see her soon. But first she must keep up her end of their bargain, which he hopes to collect very soon. Tella finds herself laying down on the forest floor with Dante and they spend the night together.

### Legendary

It is the morning after the Caraval after-party and Tella wakes up in the forest with Dante. She sneaks off before he wakes up. Tella comes across Julian and Scarlett. Julian invites the sisters to go with him to Empress Elantine's upcoming special edition of Caraval. Tella accepts his invitation as she needs to continue her search for Legend's real name in order to pay her "friend" back. This person was the one who got Scarlett into Caraval, but did so in exchange for Legend's real name. And now Tella needs to uphold her end of the bargain. She also wants to get a second favor from this person. She thinks he can give her information about where her missing mother is. Scarlett decides to go with Tella to help her, even though she is worried about running into her fiancé the Count.

Tella goes searching for the coin that fell out of her most recent letter from her "friend." She finds herself back in the forest where she woke up with Dante. Dante has the coin and gives it back to her. He asks her why she has this particular kind of coin as it is a Luckless Coin, which are used by the Fates to track humans.

On her way back to her room, Tella sees the Count. Suddenly, Juliann appears and stops Tella from approaching the Count. He reveals that this isn't the real Count, just another Caraval performer. Julian begs Tella not to tell Scarlett this because he wants to solidify their relationship before Scarlett learns that the Count might not actually be the evil person that she believes him to be. Tella agrees to keep this secret if Julian tells her Legend's true name. Julian says he can't, but that Nigel the fortune teller can help her. Nigel tells Tella that she can win Legend's real name as the prize in the upcoming round of Caraval. In exchange for this information, Nigel takes four days of rest from Tella. Tella begins to fall into her magical sleep just as she makes it to Dante's room. Four days later she wakes up, but now she is in Scarlett's room.

Before Caraval starts, Tella has some mix-ups involving her room, and Dante steps in, saying that Tella is the heir's secret fiancé. Tella ends up getting a room in the Golden Tower. The heir finds out about her claim of being the heir's fiancé, and he sends her a letter and a dress. The letter tells her to wear the dress to the Fated Ball.

Once at the Fated Ball, Tella finds out that the heir is also her "friend," and now Jacks wants more than just Legend's true name. He wanted Legend himself too. Jacks and Tella kiss, and Tella starts bleeding, after Jacks bites her during their kiss. Tella realizes how wrong it was, and she also realizes that Jacks is a Fate. She reluctantly allies herself with Dante during Caraval.

Later on, Tella is lured to Idyllwild Castle where she is attacked by the Undead Queen and Her Handmaidens. The Undead Queen tells Tella that they want to return to their full power and thus they want the cards Paloma stole, which Tella plans to give to Legend so that he can destroy the Fates and take all their magic and power for himself. The Undead Queen threatens Tella by demanding she tell them where the cards are and she will only scar one half of her face. When Tella refuses, the Queen commands Her Handmaidens to attack Tella. They aim for her eyes and cheeks, scratching and clawing. After an intense and violent fight, Tella manages to stab the Undead Queen in her eyepatch, but not before being brutally beaten and having the bones in one hand and wrist shattered. The Undead Queen and Her Handmaidens vanish. Just as she is about to fall unconscious, Dante arrives. Tella admits to Dante that she only kissed Jacks at the Fated Ball to make him jealous. Dante tells her that it worked and he "never wanted to be someone else until that moment he saw him kiss you on the dance floor." Dante brings Tella to safety and he and Julian give her some blood to heal her.

After recovering, Tella visits the Temple of the Stars. Tella finds out that her mother gave her up in exchange for being able to store the cards in her vault there. Tella was very upset about this and ran out of the Temple of the Stars.

Dante takes Tella to a fountain, where he tells her a story. There, they kiss after Dante finishes the story, and Tella falls in love with Dante. Later, Dante says that he can find a way to pay Tella's debt. Once Tella gets the cards, she meets Legend, who turns out to be Dante. Tella decides to put herself into the card in place of her mother, but Legend didn't want to give her up, so Legend freed all of the Fates to free her. However, once Tella is freed, Legend leaves Tella in a very cold way, and Jacks carries her to her sister. She tells Jacks that she doesn't love him, which he says is probably for the best. Julian talks to Tella about Legend, saying that Legend always walks away in the end. Every round of Caraval, Legend makes someone feel like the center of his world, but it's just for the sake of the game.

When the bells begin tolling, everyone knows this means Empress Elantine has died. Tella goes to watch the mourners and see the presentation of the new heir. Legend steps out onto the royal balcony; he is the heir. Tella realizes that she was wrong, that she wasn't the key to the game. Legend has been playing more than one game. He chose Valenda for the special session of Caraval because the Deck of Destiny was here and because he has always wanted to claim the throne.

On her birthday, Tella receives a single red rose from Legend with an accompanying note saying that Legend believes he owes Tella a prize and to find when whenever she wishes to collect.

### Finale

It has been two months since the special edition of Caraval ended. Legend has been visiting Tella in her dreams as Dante and asking her if she wants her prize for winning. Tella says no every time. She is heartbroken and had never intended to fall in love with him. It makes Legend shattering her heart hurt just that much more. One night, Legend stops showing up. Tella is fearful and believes something awful has happened to him.

Tella sees her mother being killed by The Fallen Star. Jacks helps her free herself from her feelings of trouble and anger at Destiny. She sees Legend in her dreams and discovers that he is immortal. She understands that the weakness of the Fates is love. She sees Legend in the labyrinth and he asks her to become immortal. Despite his offer, she refuses and asks him to love her, but he replies that he can't do it. Legend asks her to flee before he is killed by two Fates. After seeing Legend in the labyrinth, she goes to the Vanished Market to find a secret to kill Gavriel, the Fallen Star. In exchange, the vendors ask for her future daughter's weakness, when she does not have a child yet, and Legend appears, asking who the father of the child is.

After Scarlett's coronation, Tella writes a letter to Legend asking him to kidnap her again and take her on a new adventure.

### Once Upon A Broken Heart

Evangeline Fox is invited to a tea party with Tella and Scarlett. Scarlett wants Evangeline to go to the Magnificent North's traditional celebration called Nocte Neverending. Scarlett says she can't go because she has so recently been crowned empress. Tella says she can't go because "there's someone in the North she's been avoiding." Thus, the sisters are hoping Evangeline will be their ambassador and go in their place. After discussing it a bit more, Evangeline agrees to go as their representative. When she asks if the sisters know anything about the royal family, both sisters say they do, but as they try to tell Evangeline, they suddenly can't remember what they know and their eyes turn foggy and glazed.

## Relationships

### Scarlett Dragna

Scarlett and Tella are close. They deeply care for one another and blame each other for mistakes. It is revealed that if Scarlett took the blame, Tella would be “punished” by their abusive father. Even with Scarlett’s marriage, Tella forces Scarlett to go to Caraval by asking Julian to help her do so. Tella saw Scarlett’s stress and insecurities all due to her future marriage and their father and brought her out of her comfort zone. Even if they get in trouble. Scarlett wants to keep Tella safe and keep her from their abusive father while Tella wants Scarlett to have fun and live her life instead of keeping safe. Tella thinks Scarlett has forgotten how to live and is trying to remind her. She wants her sister to have proper adventures and to see that some things are worth more than safety. Tella describes her sister as a very brave person. Scarlett tries to guard Tella from their father by letting her believe that Scarlett is just extremely overprotective. Scarlett is the only one who knows that they can never safely leave Trisda unless she had a husband. Scarlett is willing to do whatever it takes, even giving up on her dream of going to Caravel, if it means Tella will be safe.

Through everything that happens to the sisters, their relationship deepens and grows. They strategize together and work to help each other achieve their goals. They really balance each other out, while also both feeling deeply and loving strongly.

### Marcello Dragna

Marcello was a better man and father when the girls were younger. However, after Paloma left them, he became abusive towards Scarlett and Tella. Whenever one of them breaks one of his rules, he will punish the other, as it will bring them more pain. Once Scarlett and Tella tried to leave Trisda with the help of Felipe, the son of one of their father's guards, but they were ultimately found out. Marcello and his guards came to collect them, and as the guards dragged the sisters back to their home, Scarlett watched as Marcello held Felipe's head underwater, killing him. Later, he told everyone that Felipe had accidentally drowned.

### Legend

At first, Tella and Legend, disguised as a performer named Dante, try to avoid falling for each other. Dante pretends not to care about Tella, but she can tell that he does. For example, he easily lets her leave the forest the morning after the after-party, but then finds her again shortly after. During the opening night ball at Idyllwild Castle, Tells tells him, "If I didn't hate you, I might actually enjoy your company." She wants to prove to him that she doesn't need him taking care of her. However, they are undeniably attracted to each other. They share multiple kisses and close moments, but Legend decides to abandon Tella when she wins the second game of Caraval.

Later, Legend tries to make Tella immortal so he can have her without giving up his own immortality. She refuses to do so because immortals cannot love. After Gavriel is defeated, Legend finds Tella, who is still under Jacks's emotional control, and gives up his immortality for Tella and admits that he has fallen in love with her. Based on the bargain Tella makes in the Vanished Market, it can be assumed that in the future they will have a daughter together.

### Jacks

Jacks and Tella have a fiery relationship. In the beginning, Tella avoids Jacks and even hates him. Jacks forces Tella to pretend to be his fiancé so that his position as heir to the Meridian Empire can remain secure. As punishment for not bringing him Legend's real name as she promised, he kisses her. Jacks tells her that if she does not keep up the charade of being his fiancé and bring him Legend's true name by the end of Caraval in five days, his kiss will kill her. When Tella and Jacks get into yet another argument, she hits him in the chest and feels a heartbeat. As only his one true love can cause his heart to begin beating again, Tella realizes this means she is his one true love and that the kiss he gave her will not actually kill her.

Jacks flirts with Tella constantly, and they begin to grow closer when Jacks comforts Tella after watching Gavriel murder her mother and when Legend abandons her. Jacks develops an obsession with Tella because she is his one true love that he has spent so long searching for. He often shows up out of nowhere to aid her. Tella begins to feel attracted to him as well. Jacks offers to take Tella's grief over her mother's death away. Despite being furious at him for threatening to kill her in order to make Legend return his powers to full strength, she agrees. Jacks has Tella recite words in an ancient language, giving him control over her emotions. Eventually Tella discovers that the ancient words she spoke not only gave him control over her emotions, but married them as well. Tella immediately confronts Jacks and severs their bond, essentially divorcing him. Jacks admits to feeling obsessed with her and after the breaking of their bond, Jacks becomes distant and eventually disappears to the North.

## Gallery

Donatella by Gina, Dark And Beautiful ArtDonatella by magicalmindofmineDonatella by MakaScarlett and Donatella by Micheline RyckmanDonatella by Micheline RyckmanLegend, Donatella, and Jacks by Micheline RyckmanDonatella and Scarlett by NiruDonatella and Scarlett by Niru (colored version)By @morgana0anagromDonatella by Micheline RyckmanDonatella and Dante by Micheline RyckmanLegend and TellaBy artbreederJacks and TellaBy @NiruskyartBy Micheline RyckmanBy Micheline RyckmanScarlett and Tella by Micheline RyckmanScarlett and TellaDante and TellaDonatella by @bethgilbert\_art
## Trivia

* Donatella is cursed to unrequited love.
* Donatella is a name of Italian and Latin origin meaning *beautiful gift*, *given by god*, or simply *gift*.

## References

1. ↑ *Caraval*: page 46
2. ↑ *Legendary*: page 279
3. ↑ https://www.babynames.com/name/donatella
4. ↑ https://www.babycenter.com/baby-names-donatella-63965.htm
5. ↑ http://www.babynamewizard.com/baby-name/girl/donatella