Isabene Rhian

> "If Emrys is to protect the Once and Future King, who is to protect Emrys?”
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> -Kilgahrrah, Destiny's Beginning
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## Appearance

Isabene had darker skin than most of Camelot's citizens, but not quite as dark as Gwen or Elyan's. She had green eyes and brown, wavy hair that she never let grow past just below her ears. She had freckles and a scar on her left cheek from when she was young.

Isabene would generally wear a forest green tunic, brown trousers, and boots. She would only wear dresses when forced by Morgana or Uther, always some shade of green. She always had her mother's locket around her neck.

## Background

When Princess Isabene Rhian of the Kingdom of Deira was ten years old, a sorceress cast a curse on the Kingdom that killed everyone who didn't use magic in less than twenty four hours. Isabene was the only member of the royal family to survive, along with four peasants and two nobles. The remaining Deirans dressed as Knights and took Isabene to Camelot. They claimed she had been in Northumbria visiting family when the curse was cast and asked that the young princess be kept safe in Camelot, where magic had been banned for over eight years. Uther agreed to take in Isabene as a second ward and the fake knights disappeared the next day.

Isabene was never one to fit in with girls her age, or girls at all. Only a few months after arriving in Camelot, she asked Arthur, having seen the eight year old swinging a wooden sword, if he wanted to spar. Arthur protested that he couldn't fight Isabene because she was a girl and princesses weren't trained in combat like princes were. They ended up fighting with the wooden swords and disarming each other, the battle only ending when Isabene punched Arthur in the face.

Isabene became quick friends with Arthur and Morgana, and Gwen when she eventually became Morgana's maidservant. She earned her place as what Arthur liked to call 'an honorary knight' by besting all of the knights, save Arthur, who's fights with Isabene usually, if not always, ended in a draw.

## Involvement

### Destiny's Beginning

Isabene first spotted Merlin amongst the crowd during Thomas Collins' execution. She followed him to Gaius' chambers where she eavesdropped on part of their conversation, learning that Merlin, like her, was a warlock. Two days later, Isabene watched Merlin fight Arthur and that night she heard the Great Dragon's voice in her head for the first time since she was ten years old. He was calling Merlin. Trying to understand why the dragon was summoning him, Isabene when down to the cave where it was chained and met Merlin on the way there. The dragon revealed to Merlin that Isabene had magic and the former princess learned that the warlock Emrys that she was destined to protect was actually Merlin. At the feast, when the sorceress sang an enchantment that put everyone to sleep, Isabene was unaffected. She pretended to fall under the spell and reached out to Merlin, telepathically telling him what to do. When Mary Collins threw the dagger at Arthur, Isabene was able to slow time enough for Merlin to knock the Prince out of harm's way.

Isabene disliked most Knights who visited for tournaments as a basic rule, mainly out of bitterness that Uther forbade her from competing, so she immediately despited the rather shady Knight Valiant. She spent the first day of the tournament watching from the stands with Morgana and Gwen, but the second watching from the sidelines with Merlin after giving Arthur a token. She stayed in Gaius' chambers while he treated Sir Ewan and Merlin dragged her along when he went to spy on Valiant and discovered that the snakes on the shield could come to life. Isabene was furious that Uther refused to believe the claim of Valiant using magic and following Merlin to talk to the Great Dragon did not help any. She spent the rest of the day in silence with Arthur, unused to being put in a situation where she personally was involved in keeping the prince safe and unsure what she was supposed to do. Isabene was back in the stands watching when Merlin cast the spell to out Knight Valiant, and was unable to talk to Arthur until well into the feast. He returned the favor she gave him, the strip of green cloth having been woven tightly with a red one in an attempt to make a joke about Uther planning to arrange their marriage.

### Destiny's Discovery

Merlin did not tell Isabene his plan to poison Morgana and when she was dying. He cast a spell to prevent her from using magic to heal Morgana.

### Destiny's Path

Isabene told Morgana that she had no intention of telling anyone about Morgana's powers as she did not think Morgana was evil like Morgause. She believed that there was still good in her and that the light in her heart would overcome Morgause's darkness.

Outraged at Uther's decision to stand by his original ruling, Isabene decided it would be best to leave Camelot for the time being and left with Gwaine after telepathically saying goodbye to Merlin and asking him to let Arthur know she had left a note for him in her chambers.

In the note, Isabene told Arthur that she was leaving becuase she could no longer stand the judments the King was making, becuase she needed to get out of Camelot for a while, and because if she stayed, Uther would have had her marry Arthur and she didn't want to be his Queen while she was keeping such a large secret from him. She promised to return, hinted that she had magic, and told Arthur that he would do great things.

When Morgana, Merlin, Arthur and Gwen were returning to the Castle of Fyrien to save Elyan, Isabene appeared int heir camp, interrupting a moment between Gwen and Arthur. ... Isabene elected not to return to Camelot with the group, having "places to go, people to meet, friends to get out of tavern brawls." Arthur told her that if she was to return, he would keep her secret and wouldn't let Uther arrest her, but Isabene refused to force Arthur to choose between his loyalty to her and his loyalty to his father.

After a disturbing dream about Arthur in the Perilous Lands, Isabene left Gwaine's company, only to meet up with him and Merlin again at Grettir's bridge, where the dwarf called her 'Love'.

When Isabene received a letter from Merlin telling her that Gwen was to be executed as a sorceress for enchanting Arthur, she returned in time to find Merlin, having aged himself, hiding a fake poultice in Arthur's bed.

When Merlin and Arthur are captured by Jarl, Isabene is the champion that Arthur has to duel.

### Destiny's Battle

After receiving a letter from Merlin telling her that Arthur was planning to sacrifice himself to close the tear in the veil, Isabene makes her way to the Isle of the Blessed. She steps in to save the five Knights from the Dorocha after Merlin and Arthur leave the group, revealing her magic to the four Knights of the Round Table who weren't already aware.

### Other Events

* At some point during the three years between Destiny's Battle and Destiny's End, Arthur and Gwen named Isabene their heir and she was made the crown princess of Camelot.
* Following Arthur's death, Gwen takes Leon as a consort and, since they pass without having conceived an heir, Merlin had convinced Isabene to take the throne following their deaths.
* Isabene's promotion to Queen sparks a rebellion of sorts led by people who didn't want a creature of magic on the throne. With the help of the Druids, Isabene and Merlin were able to keep the rebellion at bay for almost a century before a secret faction of rebels start the final battle for Camelot which ultimately ends with Isabene's death by half-enchanted sword wound leading to the fall of Camelot.

## Death

As a warlock involved in the Once and Future prophecy, Isabene was supposed to have the same immortality and eternal youth as Merlin. When she took Gwen's place as Queen of Camelot around 560, a faction that was against her formed and thrived in Camelot for ninety years. The faction attempted to recreate Excalibur, since only a sword with that level of magic would be able to kill her. The sword they used to fatally wound Isabene had enough magic that she wasn't able to survive it, but there was not enough to properly kill her. The result was that, instead of being reborn with Arthur, Merlin found her again fifteen year later. None of her incarnations until Bennie Ryan had the same immortality as the first Isabene, so the cycle would repeat every time she died.

By the time she became Bennie Ryan, she theorized that in compensation for loosing control over her original destiny, Fate would dictate her new lives by having her next incarnation be born while she was still alive. The birth would start a cosmic countdown of exactly eight years and when the countdown ended, she would die. The next incarnation would be discovered by Merlin about fifteen years later, always when she's twenty two years old.

The only exception to this cycle was Bennie Ryan, since she was the incarnation destined to be around when Arthur rose again. She was born in 1986 in Wales, before Isabel Raine even met Merlin. The countdown to Isabel's death lasted for seventeen years and Bennie found Merlin five years later.

## Personality

Isabene is strange by most standards in Camelot. She refuses to willingly wear formal attire, has a total of two female friends, and spends most of her time wandering around the city or sparring with the Knights. She is highly protective of Merlin in most cases, but is far more subtle when around Arthur, for fear of inadvertently shifting the dynamic between the two men and disrupting the prophecy.

## Relationships

### Merlin

According to the prophecy of the Old Religion, Isabene is to Merlin as Merlin is to Arthur. She was told when she first arrived in Camelot that it was her destiny to protect Emrys from anything that could prevent him from fulfilling his destiny with the Once and Future King. Merlin and Isabene became quick friends during his first few weeks in Camelot and became progressively closer. He was the first person in Camelot to know about Isabene's magic. Isabene considers Merlin to be "the little brother she didn't know she wanted."

### Arthur Pendragon

After a duel between eight year old Arthur and ten year old Isabene, the two became very close friends. Isabene going as far as to see Arthur as a replacement for her younger brother, Bran, who had died with the rest of Deira. Arthur was the first non-magic user that Isabene revealed her magic to and he faithfully kept her secret. Arthur and Isabene had a sibling-esque relationship based off of their mutual love of teasing each other, specifically about the fact that Uther was planning to arrange their marriage before she left Camelot.

### Morgana Pendragon

Morgana and Isabene quickly fell into s sister-like relationship not long after the latter arrived in Camelot. They bonded over being Uther's wards and, later, their dislike of the King and his choices. Morgana was one of the sole two people in Camelot who could convince Isabene to dress formally. When Merlin poisoned Morgana in an attempt to save Camelot, Isabene begged him to allow her to save her life. Until Morgana's death by Merlin's hand, Isabene maintained that Morgana was redeemable and, underneath all of her hatred, was still the same person at heart.

## Reincarnations

### Isabene Rhian

Isabene Rhian was Isabene's first incarnation and died during the final battle for Camelot from a sword wound.

### Isabel "Izzy" Raine

Izzy Raine was born in 1975. She met Merlin in 1997 while working at her part time job as a bartender. Izzy, unlike her previous incarnations, had nightly dreams of her life in Camelot, but couldn't remember anything about them except for Merlin. She also worked as a private investigator, and Merlin joined her as a partner. She was shot in the chest and killed in 2003.

#### Appearance

Izzy wore green t-shirts, black leggings, and trainers. She still had the scar on her left cheek and it was during this incarnation that she gained one above her right eye. Otherwise, she looked identical to how she did when she was Isabene Rhian.

#### Personality

Izzy was lighthearted and curious. She had a bubbly and outgoing demeanor that clashed with Merlin's general lack of enthusiasm.

### Bennie Ryan

Isabene Ryan was born in 1986. She was born with the memories of all her past incarnations and was a child genius. Isabene legally changed her name to Bennie when she was eighteen and moved to London from Brecon in 2008. She was able to track down Merlin's address, break into his house while he was out, and move in.

#### Appearance

Bennie was the first incarnation of Isabene to wear her hair differently. She wore it in an undercut style, the sides were dyed purple and the top dyed teal. she had multiple piercings on each ear and two above their left eye. She wore baggy green t-shirts, jean shorts, fishnet tights, a spiked choker necklace, and combat boots.

#### Personality

Bennie was a generally irritable and skeptical person. All interactions not with her xBox or Merlin were generally attitude-laden. She was a genius hacker and very cocky and confrontational, much to Merlin's chagrin. She mellowed out after Arthur's return, but remained slightly bitter until reuniting with Gwaine.

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