Adelaide of Glorinel

* 3E 296
* 3E 274

**Adelaide of Glorinel** was a Breton queen.

She was the daughter of Archduke Louis VIII of Glorinel and the second wife of King Berenger II of Torlan. As the mother of King Elzear VII, she ruled Torlan as Queen Regent from 3E 292 until 3E 297.

## **Biography**

### **Early Life**

Adelaide was born under the sign of the Lord on 26th First Seed 3E 250, as the youngest child of Archduke Louis VIII of Glorinel and his second wife Adelaide of Glastir (daughter of King Eustache IX). She was raised in the magnificent court of her fabulously rich father, residing within the ancient Direnni edifice from which the archduke ruled. As a child, Adelaide was praised by her tutors, and lauded by the court for her singing and dancing.

Unsurprisingly the archduke's daughter developed a hauteur, demonstrated at the age of eleven when she penned a letter to her father petitioning that she be declared heiress to Glorinel in place of her elder brother, to the amusement of Louis VIII and his court. Adelaide's *amour-propre* was encouraged by the mistaken belief that she was destined to become the Empress of Tamriel, having overheard her father discussing the marriage of his child to a Septim. She was nicknamed 'Little Potema'.

The empress-in-waiting was never to realise this aspiration. She was instead given the honour of carrying the train of Kintyra Septim during her wedding to the Prince of Corstir in 3E 270; a humiliation for the still unbetrothed Adelaide. Her ignominy lasted a further five years, since Louis VIII had emptied his coffers to procure an imperial marriage for his son and was reluctant to finance a dowry for his daughter. Adelaide remained the chief lady-in-waiting to her sister-in-law, Princess Kintyra, whom she privately disparaged as *'some cousin of the emperor'*.

### **Queen of Torlan**

    In 3E 274, Adelaide was finally betrothed. Her father had negotiated the marriage of his daughter to King Berenger II of Torlan, a widower some twelve years her senior. For the two miserly monarchs, this agreement was entirely pecuniary. The archduke died shortly after finalising the marriage contract. Despite her pleas, Adelaide's brother, now Archduke Louis IX, honoured this treaty. In 3E 275, the bride travelled overland to the Kingdom of Torlan, where she was wed to King Berenger and crowned Queen of Torlan.

As a queen, Adelaide finally outranked her brother and sister-in-law. The kingdom of Torlan, however, was considered a middling principality and Torlan Castle lacked the magnificence of the Rock of Glorinel. Worse still, King Berenger, woefully devoted to the memory of his first wife Queen Emma, displayed little affection towards Adelaide. The couple nevertheless produced three children: Elzear (3E 276), Marguerite (3E 278) and Baudouin (3E 279). After the birth of Baudouin, the king and queen no longer shared a bedchamber.

Adelaide was disappointed that her children were not born with the fair features of her bloodline, instead inheriting their father's dark and slight appearance. Nor were her offspring expected to inherit the throne of Torlan; the king's son from his first marriage, Prince Berenger, was the heir apparent. Adelaide's contempt for her stepson was barely concealed, and she forbade the mention of the more popular Queen Emma in her presence. On one occasion, the queen drunkenly raged to her attendants: *'Who is this boy? Who was his mother, the daughter of some vassal? I am the daughter of the Archduke, a scion of kings. I have more noble blood in one finger than that woman had in her whole feeble body.'* The implication that Prince Berenger was a morganatic child incensed the king when he learned of this tirade.

With the accidental death of Prince Berenger in 3E 291, the prospects of Adelaide and her children were greatly improved. Suspicion of involvement in the prince's death fell upon queen, who was confined to her chambers by the grief-stricken king (who thereafter withdrew to his own). In the absence of both parents, guardianship of the royal children was assumed by Magister Engelard. This supposed altruism impressed Adelaide, whose favour would be decisive in the mage's rise to power.

### **Queen Regent**

On the death of King Berenger II in 3E 292, his widow was at once released from confinement. As her son, now King Elzear VII, was underaged, Adelaide was immediately proclaimed Queen Regent by the royal council. For the first time in her life, Adelaide wielded political power and could convince herself that she was finally a player rather than a pawn. One of her first acts as regent, the appointment of Engelard as chancellor of the realm, would prove this to be an illusion