Erika Anton/ Nicolas Bexley

### Backstory

I was always told to do what was best for my people. Ever since I was a child everything I did was for the betterment of my Kingdom, The Kingdom of Morenna. I was born into royalty as an heir to the throne and a symbol of hope for the future. My life was easy as a child, when I wasn’t constantly bombarded with the responsibilities of a princess. I of course had to learn in order to grow, so I spent most of my day as a child with one of my many tutors. That never left any time for play, but that was okay because I never had anyone to play with. Well that was until another girl, the daughter of a rich and noble family, came until the castle. Her name was Bridget Sture and we got along fairly well. She wanted to be my friend and I allowed her, although she doesn’t always respect my position above her. I’ve started to get used to seeing her more as an equal anyway. It gets annoying to have her always tell me how to act so I decided that I should at least be nice to her.

I started to spend more time with Bridget as I got older. My mother gave birth to a young boy named Thomas. He would always try to get into my things or my tutors would have to help him with his work. I didn’t like him stealing my things but I was going to be queen some day and not him so he could borrow my books all he wanted. That of course meant that Thomas tried to spend time with us and I never wanted that. He was annoying and always tried to get into my belongings. I was always civil about asking him to leave but he would cry and scream whenever I threw one of my dolls at him. If I wanted my belongings then he wouldn’t mind having them. My parents lectured me anytime I was rude to my brother. I was told that it wasn’t “befitting to the crown” and that I needed to act more “Ladylike”, and I of course listened. I had been raised to listen and do what was expected of me.
As I got older I became more invested in my studies. I learned everything that I needed to know in order to become the best heir to the throne. I only spent my free time with Bridget but as we got older she started to run off and do her own thing. I buried myself in work and ignored my brother. I was going to become queen soon, I would be in charge. I was happy that things were finally starting to look up. The day soon arrived where I was to become queen. I spoke to Bridget as I was getting ready. “How many people will be there? Do you think people are happy for me?” She asked Bridget, her friend nodding and giving a small chuckle “I think the whole kingdom will be there. Everyone is excited to see the young queen.” Of course they were, I was me and everyone loves me.

The ceremony went perfectly and I was crowned queen. Young men from all over had come to get a dance with me, of course they did. I was gracious to all of them and used the smile I had been practicing since I was a girl. Thomas even came to congratulate me, he obviously is happy for me. I watched as the day grew dark and the festivities of my coronation continued. I didn’t think I would ever grow bored of this new life surrounded by people who adore me. I tried my best to remember the names of some of the particularly handsome noblemen with whom I danced with. Once the festivities came to an end in the coming week I still had people trying to come and please me. I was correct and I never bored of the love and attention I had received. My father had become ill shortly before my coronation but the royal healers took care of him, I had more important matters to attend to. I spent my free time meeting new royals and playfully flirting with the young noble men who would visit, of course none of them ever going anywhere.

As time went on I thought that everything was going amazing. The people who surrounded me always had a smile on my face. Bridget was going to get married to a noble and I was of course looking for a perfect suitor myself, even if I didn’t want one. There was of course minor things that went on in the background but my royal advisor helped me with those. Things seemed to be joyful and prosperous. We have an amazing military and no one would ever dare hurt me, especially with the best men on the front lines. I always felt safe within my castle. Everyone was busy caring for me so I spent my time enjoying the amazing company.

One night, just like every other night, I was resting in my chambers as I waited for Bridget to come and assist me. It was all silent before my lady in waiting and closest friend hurried into my room with urgency in her eyes. I greeted her at the door but she quickly pushed me back and shut the door. She spoke with urgency in her voice. “Sit Erika, we don’t have a lot of time and I need to get this all started if we are going to succeed.” I was confused because everything was going splendid and she had nothing to fear “ What are you talking about?” I asked before she explained to me what was happening. Thomas, my own brother, was planning to form a coup. They were going to imprison and kill me. I wasn’t going to give up everything I had been given this easily “We can stop them Bridget!” She shook her head and grabbed my arm “NO we can’t! He has all of the nobles and their men. Just shut up and listen to me or we both die!” I was now understanding the danger I was in but everything was going so quickly. She had a dagger in her hand and she held it up to me. I thought in that moment that my closest and quite frankly only friend was about to kill me. Instead she grabbed a large handful of my long raven hair and cut it short and mess. I tried to stop her and pull the dagger from her hand. She didn't stop until all of my hair was gone from my head and on the floor and bed around me.

My worries and racing brain were stopped when there was a loud knock on the door. That was food from the kitchen. Bridget raced to the door to get it and I felt my head which now had short and messy hair. I turned back to my friend to see her dumping the food on the floor, grabbing clothing from the basket. It was peasant clothing, it looked absolutely disgusting. She tried to force me to wear the clothing and I quickly refused. There was nothing I could say to her that would let her get me nicer clothes. We both ended up in dirty peasant clothing with our hair chopped. She instructed me that we were to wait till night so we could make our escape. As the light started to go out we made sure we looked nothing like our former selves. Our makeup and jewelry was gone, our hair chopped and covering the floor of my chambers, and our chests wrapped in uncomfortable bandages to hide who we really were. Once it was fully dark we snuck out there the peasants quarters and hurried through town. I looked back at my beautiful palace that had been my home. I didn’t want to leave but I was being pulled along to the docks. We had enough money to pay for a small boat and to keep the men quiet about us leaving. No one was to know where we were going.

In the cover of night the queen and her lady and waiting left their kingdom. We were in search of a new place for us to live, somewhere safe and happy. Until then I would no longer be Queen Erika Anton of Morenna. I would be a peasant boy and would respond to the name Nicolas Bexley.

### Life on Sykrovia

After arriving on Sykrovia Erika searched the land with Bridget and got used to their new names and life. They stumbled upon the campsite of Averil Humes where they also met Cynbel Ó Mordha and Brandon Padraig Leonith IV. The group found a few others and decided to find a place to settle on the side of a cliff, which was later named Holwick. Everything went smoothly as they built the city and she lived her life as a peasant. She was questioned once by Cynbel but not found out yet.

After a year on Sykrovia and living peacefully in Holwick, a drunk night at the bar lead to her secrets getting revealed and the count found out that she was a girl. It was not a big deal and led to a friendship forming between her and the now Duke Cynbel. The friendship developed and eventually became romantic. It was a slow start but after almost 2 years the two of them eventually got married. She was soon with child and gave birth to a baby girl.