Astrid Dane

Astrid by Mona May.

**Queen Astrid Dane** is the ruler of Makt alongside her twin brother, Athos.

## Physical description

Astrid is a tall, thin woman with long colorless hair which she keeps in a braid and pale blue eyes. Because of her misuse of magic, her veins stand out black against her pale skin. Except for the fact that he has broader shoulders and shorter hair, Astrid looks exactly like her her twin brother. Like him, she usually wears close-fitting white protective clothes that cover most of her body.

There are various runes engraved in her body; one of them is a translation rune that allows her to speak and understand any language perfectly.

## Personality

Astrid is a cruel and sadistic woman who enjoys torturing people for her amusement. She has no regard for others, except for her brother. Like him, she is power-hungry and experiments with magic to become even stronger.

Unlike her brother who prefers games with "tangible" stakes, Astrid likes challenges of wit and will.

## Biography

### History

Seven years ago, Astrid and Athos poisoned Ros Vortalis and bound Holland Vosijk to become the rulers of White London.

Once, while she and Athos were playing a game of Ost and torturing a man, they took turns telling the story of the darkest vein. Astrid won the game and made Holland kill the man. Holland then told them the end of the story before he left. Amused, Astrid and Athos began another round.

### The black stone

In October 1819, Astrid is in the throne room when Holland brings a visitor to her: Kell Maresh, the Red London *Antari*. She is delighted to see him and beckons him forward. Kell reluctantly walks to her, and Astrid grabs his hand and shoots lightning up his arm to force him to fight back. He tries to be steadfast and not engage; only when his leg buckles under him, Astrid lets go and expresses her wish to keep him.

Then, Athos enters the throne room with Holland who fetched him. He joins Astrid on the dais and invites Kell to drink with them. He commands Holland to cut himself and fill a goblet with his blood; unable to refuse, Holland complies. Athos then shares the blood with Astrid while Kell drinks alcohol; Astrid makes sure he drinks a lot and keeps refilling his glass.

### The Black Night

Two days later, Astrid possesses Rhy Maresh through a necklace she ordered Holland bring to the prince, and captures Kell with the help of some enchanted royal guards. She tells Kell that she and Athos want to conquer Red London by destroying the seals and permanently opening the doors between Red and White London. For that they need the black stone which they tricked Kell to transport between the worlds.

Astrid demands to know where the stone is, and when Kell tells her he does not know, she attacks him. Not long afterward, Lila Bard arrives with the stone and shoots "Rhy" in the leg. Astrid does not let go though and threatens to kill Rhy if Kell and Lila do not hand over the black stone. They refuse, and Astrid throws the necklace to Lila before making Rhy stab himself. Lila jumps aside, and an enchanted royal guard takes the necklace.

Now controlling the guard, Astrid attacks Kell, and he throws her off the balcony. Her necklace then ends up in the hands of a party guest who Astrid subsequently possesses. The guest passes the charm to a royal guard who brings it to Maxim Maresh. Astrid, now controlling the king, issues an order to arrest Kell, stating that he committed treason and kidnapped and tried to kill Rhy.

In White London, Lila sets out to kill Astrid. However, by the time Lila destroys the shield that protects Astrid, the queen wakes up in her own body and attacks Lila. Astrid overpowers Lila and disguises herself as her before she knocks her out and goes to find Kell.

She tries to persuade Kell to give her the black stone. Even in his dazed state, Kell realizes that she is not the real Lila and stabs her in the stomach. He then turns Astrid into stone and shatters her body.

## Skills and abilities

* **Magic:** Despite the scarcity and peculiar nature of magic in White London, Astrid is a remarkably strong magician. She particularly uses a distorted kind of lightning magic, is able to use magic to disguise herself as others. According to Kell, she uses her powers more creatively than Athos.

## Possessions

* **Possession charm:** A necklace made of glass with blood-red edges; two of them exist. The charm allows Astrid to possess the other pendant's wearer, even if they are in another world because the necklaces were prepared with *Antari* blood. She uses it to take control of Rhy, among others.

## Appearances

* *Winner Takes All*
* *A Darker Shade of Magic* (first appearance)
* *A Gathering of Shadows* (mentioned only)
* *A Conjuring of Light* (flashback only)

## Trivia

* There is a rumor that Astrid once cut off the lips of a man who spat at her for refusing to wear dresses.
* V. E. Schwab once described her as "Tilda Swinton or Cate Blanchett but much, much meaner."

## References

1. ↑ "[The Dane twins] are roughly the same age as Holland, who is in his mid-30′s."
(V. E. Schwab on Tumblr)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IV: White Throne, II
3. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IV: White Throne, IV
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, Bonus short story: "Winner Takes All"
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, IV: White Throne, IV
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XI: Masquerade, II
7. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XI: Masquerade, IV-V
8. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XII: Sanctuary & Sacrifice, III
9. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XIII: The Waiting King, III-IV
10. ↑ *A Darker Shade of Magic*, XIII: The Waiting King, IV
11. ↑ "Week1- Shades of Magic Readalong" — V. E. Schwab on YouTube