Rea Aurix

> ***"He is the golden sun. We are inexorably drawn to his light, yearning to feel his warmth wash over us...only to be blinded and burned by that same radiance. One by one, we will each be called to sacrifice ourselves upon the pyre, for the sake of his legacy."** - Rea, regarding her father and imperator, Aurelion Aurelos.*
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Rea Arterius Auriana Nereidina is the eldest child of Aurelion Aurelos and the first of his three illegitimate children. Aurelion fathered her at just sixteen years of age, after laying with his mother's handmaiden, Nereida, on the night before his arranged marriage to Septonia Halabrian. She was raised by her maternal grandfather, Nereidus, after her mother died in childbirth. Aurelion was unaware of her existence until she turned sixteen. He would later break with tradition by publicly acknowledging her as his daughter and inducting her into his Imperial Family.

Rea married Pallix Arterius, her father's adopted son, and would sit beside him as his *Conjux Domina* after her father's death. She was the very first of Palaven's *Conjux Dominae* and held the title for 11 years, from her father's death in 254 BCE until the death of her husband in 243 BCE. History paints her as a model consort; loyal, diligent and unassuming. She is often referred to by her unofficial titles of *Imperatrix Sine Corona*, translating as "Imperatrix without a crown", and *Domina Porphyrima*, the "Most Purple Lady".

## Biography

### Birth and childhood

Rea was born in secret, out of wedlock, on the planet Macedyn. Her mother, Nereida, was a handmaiden in the service of Polixena, the mother of Aurelion. When she discovered she was pregnant with Aurelion's child, Nereida went to her mistress and confided in her the truth of the child's parentage. She had expected Polixena to help her by discreetly dismissing her from her service and providing her with a new life, where she could raise her child in obscurity. Polixena however, believing the child's existence to be a threat to her son's public image and his recent marriage to Septonia Halabrian, attempted to force an abortion on Nereida. Fearing for her unborn child's life, Nereida managed to escape from her mistress and flee from the capital. She successfully evaded Polixena's spies for several months, moving from place to place and changing her name as she went. When her time finally came, she gave birth alone. She experienced complications during labour; without medical aid, she died shortly after giving birth to a girl, whom she named Rea with her dying breath. The name Rea was a homage to Aurelion, "Rea" meaning "gold".

Ultimately, Rea's existence was the catalyst for the ensuing Massacre of the Heredi, in which Glabius Imperator and all his heirs were slaughtered, except for Aurelion, who survived his encounter with Nereidus. Aurelion was completely unaware of her existence and would not learn of his illegitimate daughter until the trial of Nereidus several years later. When Nereidus finally confessed his motivations for the mass killing of the imperial family, Aurelion's first action was to have his Blackwatch track down his daughter and have her brought to him. Markus Abrudas, Aurelion's secret lover, located Rea in an isolated farming village on Macedyn. There he told her that she was the daughter of Aurelion Imperator, unifier of the empire, and that he wishes to meet her. Rea was initially scared by this revelation. Like the majority of her father's subjects, she viewed Aurelion as a living god - a mortal man with a divine spirit, who had unified the known universe through sheer will alone. The idea that such a man could have sired her was, for a time, beyond her comprehension. But Markus, with his kind heart, managed to allay her fears and convince her to travel to Palaven with him to meet her father.

Rea, then fourteen years old, was brought by Markus before her father for the first time. Aurelion promised to care for her and provided her with a home in Cipritine, staff to attend to her every need, and a tutor to help improve her standards of education. Aurelion spent a lot of time with Rea, introducing her to her illegitimate siblings Flavia and Orian. In time he would also introduce her to Trebia, his only legitimate child and heir to the throne. Rea became very close with Flavia and Orian, with whom she lived in Cipritine.

* Desolas Arterius II is a direct descendant of Rea and, through her, Aurelion. She and Desolas shared the same icy blue eye colour, a genetic trait which has become a hallmark of the Arterius bloodline over the millennia. Desolas is descended from Elia Arterius in particular, who was the illegitimate lovechild of Rea and her adoptive brother-in-law, Castus Arterius. Rea passed Elia off as her husband's daughter so successfully that neither Pallix nor the annals of history would ever know the truth. To this day, history still believes that Elia was Pallix and Rea's legitimate daughter.

Despite her secret love of Castus, Rea eventually acquiesced to her father's wishes and married Pallix. The wedding ceremony took place in Temple Palaven and was attended by the Imperial Family, the colonial primarchs and their families, the imperial and colonial duarchs, and other high ranking military officials, including members of the Blackwatch. As head of the Imperial Family, Aurelion walked his daughter down the aisle, wearing his ceremonial gold armour and leaning on his Imperial Sceptre of Office. Pallix walked himself in as he was already the head of his house. Rea wore a white dress embroidered with gold lace sunbursts and a long train made from cloth of gold, with a blue diamond necklace and bracers which her father had commissioned for her wedding day. Pallix wore his ceremonial silver armour, engraved with the corivel of House Arterius, a long blue cape embroidered with more black corivels. He finished off his look with a ceremonial mexta which hung from a studded shatha-leather belt and silver bracers inlayed with onyx stones.

Rea would bear three children throughout her life; two daughters and a son. The first, Elia, was the product of Rea's affair with Castus Arterius, her husband's identical twin brother. Rea gave birth to her at the age of 30, which, during this period, was considered old for a first-time turian mother. She passed Elia off as her husband's daughter so successfully that neither Pallix nor the annals of history would ever know the truth. Elia was named in honour of her paternal grandfather, Aurelion, her name meaning 'golden'. The second, Nereia, was her first legitimate child, sired by her husband. Rea gave birth to her two years after Elia, at the age of 32. She was named after Rea's mother, Nereida, and her maternal grandfather, Nereidus, who had raised her after her mother's death. The last, Castian, was her only son. He was born 10 years after Nereia and was named after his disgraced uncle, Castus, in the hopes he would redeem his name in the future. Rea was 42 when she gave birth to him, a highly risky age for pregnancy. Despite the risks and some complications during the birth, both Rea and her son were able to fully recover from the ordeal.

Up until 2272 CE, Rea was the longest serving member of the Palavenian Imperial Family in turian history, having worn purple for 86 years of her life. She lived through the reign of her father, Aurelion, her husband, Pallix, and would live to see the reign of her half-brother, Orian Aurix, come to fruition. She died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 100, two years before her half-brother's death. As is custom with members of the Imperial Family, Rea lay in state within Temple Palaven for eight days, to allow members of the public to pay their respects. It is estimated that approximately 500,000 people filed past her bier to say their final farewells in honour of her life. On the ninth day after her death, Rea received a state funeral, which was followed by eight weeks of official mourning. She was interred with honours beside her late husband, who had predeceased her by five years, in the Aurelian Funerary Palace, located in Cipritine's Grand Necropolis.

As of 2272 CE, Fidellion Victus is now the longest serving member of the Palavenian Imperial Family, having been a member of the Imperial Family of Adrien Victus from birth, in 2186 CE. By the time of his death in 2337 CE, he had worn purple for 151 years - the entirety of his life - being the grandson of Primarch Adrien Victus, the son-in-law of Primarch Desolas Arterius II, and the spouse of Primarch Antraxes Mehrkuri, before finally becoming primarch in his own right in 2241 CE, a position which he held until his death.

## Personal timeline

### 338 BCE

* Rea is born on Thracia to Aurelion Aurelos and his mother's handmaiden, Nereida. At the time of her birth, she is 14th in line to the Imperial Throne. Her mother dies birthing her, leaving her maternal grandfather, Nereidus, to raise her alone. Aurelion is completely unaware of her existence, having married Septonia Halabrian before her birth.

### 336 BCE *(aged 2)*

* The Regicide of Glabius Imperator and the Massacre of the Heredi occur. Aurelion, once 13th in line to the Imperial Throne, is the most senior member of the Imperial Family to survive the bloody attack.
* Aurelion is crowned Aurelion Imperator alongside his wife, Septonia Halabrian, who is crowned as his Imperatrix. Unbeknownst to Aurelion, his illegitimate daughter, Rea, is elevated to the rank of heir to the throne.

### 335 BCE *(aged 3)*

* Rea's half-sister, Trebia Aurelos, is born to Aurelion and his wife, Septonia. Unlike Rea, Trebia is a legitimate heir and automatically supersedes Rea as heir to the Imperial Throne, by virtue of that legitimacy.

### 332 BCE *(aged 6)*

* The twins Pallix and Castus Arterius are born. Pallix will one day become Rea's husband, while his brother will become her lover. Both brothers will sire child with her.

### 325 BCE *(aged 14)*

* The Unification War ends.
* Rea's maternal grandfather, who has been raising her for her entire life, is arrested by Aurelion for his role in the murder of the Imperial Family. He is tried in court, where he confesses to being a core member of the separatist group who carried out the bloody attack. He also confesses to being the one who stabbed Aurelion's parents, Verix and Polixena, to death. He is found guilty of the charges of treason, regicide, murder and conspiracy, and is sentenced to death by burning at the stake.
* Aurelion decides to execute Nereidus personally. Before carrying out the sentence, he allows Nereidus a few moments to repent his sins and prepare for death. Knowing that without him Rea would be alone in the universe, Nereidus uses his last moments to inform Aurelion of his illegitimate daughter's existence. Aurelion, shocked by this revelation, vows to love and provide for his long-lost daughter. As a mark of respect for this confession, Aurelion changes the method of execution from burning to beheading, carrying out the sentence with his own sword. He purposefully makes Nereidus' death quick and clean, to minimise his suffering.
* Aurelion sends his lover, Markus Abrudas, to Thracia, to collect Rea and bring her to him. Markus does as he is bid, chaperoning Rea back to Palaven and introducing her to the father she had never known. Aurelion embraces her tightly and apologises for his absence from her life, telling her that if he had known of her existence she would have been raised in his household as a hereda.
* Rea goes is sent to live with her fellow illegitimate half-siblings, Flavia and Orian, on one of her father's many estates in Cipritine. Her father provides everything for her with no expense spared, assigning her tutors to improve her level of education and visiting her and her half-siblings regularly. He grants Rea, Flavia and Orian the collective honorific of *Aurix*, meaning "the golden ones", as a public acknowledgement of their paternity. Rea begins to style herself as Rea Aurix, with Flavia and Orian soon copying this style for their own names.

### 312 BCE *(aged 26)*

* Rea's half-sister, Trebia Aurelos, dies in childbirth. Aurelion is beside himself with grief upon hearing the news of her death, blaming himself for forcing her to marry Markus. It is Rea who comforts him in the darkest moments of his grief, cementing her station as his most trusted child.
* On Aurelion's orders, Rea is made parrigogus to Trebia's newborn son, whom Markus named Aurelion "Auri" Abrudas in honour of his grandfather. If Markus were to pass away before his son came of age, it was Aurelion's desire that his first grandchild be raised by Rea in the Imperial Palace. Rea's step-mother, Septonia Halabrian, protested Rea's newfound station, believing that she should be the one to raise her grandchild, but to no avail. This only depended the preexisting rift which existed between the two women.

### 311 BCE *(aged 27)*

* Septonia dies prematurely from cardiac complications brought on by the stress of losing her daughter. Despite his infidelity and their marital estrangement, Aurelion is distraught by her death. It is Rea who comforts him in the darkest moments of his grief, cementing her station as his most trusted child.
* A few months after Septonia's death, Aurelion has his illegitimate children moved into Imperial Palace to live with him permanently. He grants Rea her own suit in the palace, close to his own private chambers. They spend a lot of time together, reading historical texts, playing games of strategy and discussing deep intellectual topics with one another.
* Now residing within the palace, Rea becomes close with her father's adoptive sons, the Arterius twins Pallix and Castus. Castus in particular grows extremely close with her, the pair falling in love and entering into a secret relationship with one another. Castus, six years her junior, is the first man she ever lays with, taking her virginity.

### 310 BCE *(aged 28)*

* Knowing that Pallix and Castus were still viewed as political prisoners by many Thracian citizens, Aurelion devised a plan to have Pallix wed Rea. By wedding him to his own daughter, who was second in line to the throne after his grandson, Aurelion Abrudas, Pallix - a colonial citizen - would be elevated into the senior ranks of the Imperial Family as a true equal. Aurelion hoped that this political gambit would placate any remaining Thracian separatist sentiments, which threatened his hard-won but fragile peace.
* Despite deeply loving Castus, Rea reluctantly agreed to her father's request and married Pallix, seeing logic in his plans. While she respected Pallix and considered him to be a kind and rather sensitive man, she harboured no romantic feelings for him. She did her duty to her father, permitting Pallix consummate their marriage with her to make it official. Despite now being a married woman, Rea could not set aside her feelings for Pallix's brother. She would visit Castus in secret, giving herself to him freely in the ways she avoided with Pallix. They would continue their illicit affair for the next three years.

### 308 BCE *(aged 30)*

* Rea gives birth to her first child, a daughter whom she named Elia in honour of her father. Despite officially being the child of her and Pallix, Elia was in actuality the product of her mother's affair his Castus, albeit this fact was known only to Rea and Castus. Elia was raised by her mother and Pallix, whom she assumed was her real father. Pallix adored Elia, believing her to be his child. Concealing the truth of Elia's paternity from Pallix began to fill Rea with guilt, straining her relationship with Castus.
* Castus attempted to persuade Rea to run away with him, where they could raise Elia together in blissful obscurity. Despite desiring nothing more than this, Rea refused, citing her duty to her father as her reason for staying with Pallix. Castus, feeling betrayed, grew even more resentful of Aurelion than he already was, blaming him for all his worldly suffering. He struggled to be around his brother, especially when Pallix was together with Rea and Elia, as he felt nothing but envy. He began to visit Rea less and less, making her feel abandoned and used by him.

* **305 BCE**: Rea's former lover, Castus, is killed by her father in self-defence ***(aged 33)***
* **302 BCE**: Rea gives birth to her second child, a daughter whom she names Nereia ***(aged 36)***
* **296 BCE**: Rea gives birth to her third and final child, a son whom her husband names Castian ***(aged 42)***
* **294 BCE**: Rea is removed from the line of succession after the Right of Blood is abolished ***(aged 44)***
* **254 BCE**: Rea's father dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of 102 ***(aged 84)***
* **254 BCE**: Rea is inaugurated Palaven's first Conjux Domina at her husband's anointing ***(aged 84)***
* **? BCE**: Rea and Pallix are almost murdered by Aurelian zealots, who believed Auri should have succeeded his grandfather to the Imperial Throne. Pallix suspects Auri of plotting against him but Rea willingly works with her half-nephew to uncover the perpetrators in order to clear his name.
* **243 BCE**: Rea's husband dies peacefully in his sleep at the age of 89 ***(aged 95)***
* **238 BCE**: Rea dies peacefully in her sleep ***(aged 100)***