Miďë
From Almeopedia
Miďë [mi ˈðjɛ] was a Queen of Verduria, the seventh by reign and the fifth by person of the Abolineron Dynasty.
She was born in 3328, the daughter of Zerdorot, son of Icëlana, who had twice been queen in her struggles with her nephew Ažerey 2e. Ažerey had won that struggle and ruled for more than thirty years; he did much to mend fences with Icëlana's followers. His prime minister Tihom Berg, surcont of Anaseri, ran the government efficiently; it seemed like the country was back on track.
Ažerey was unlikely to win over Zerdorot, and didn't much try. Until Icëlana's death in 3349, he restricted Zerdorot to the royal palace, where Miďë grew up. Miďë was raised believing that her father— the head of the family under Verdurian law— should have been king and herself queen after him.
On Icëlana's death, Zerdorot, his wife Susluoma, and Miďë moved to the family estate in Šerian; indeed, they were forbidden from visiting Verduria city. Miďë married a Viminian prince, Oruseon; she bore a son, Icëlan, in 3353, and a daughter, Naunai, in 3361. She did her best to cultivate relationships with other nobles and with the military; those who met her at this time described her as intelligent, very controlled, and devoid of humor.
In 3369 Ažerey died, succeeded by his son Mëranac 2e. Miďë petitioned the new king for the right to bury her grandmother in Verduria city; Mëranac refused, and for good measure, extended the ban to the entire province.
Miďë seethed, and two years later accepted an invitation for an extended stay at the estate of Meglavo surcont Anaseri, son of Tihom. Mëranac was furious; Anaseri was supposed to be an ally, and it would be impolitic to send troops to arrest Miďë at his estate. Miďë responded to his increasingly incoherent letters with a sensible-seeming proposal: should they not meet at the house of Anaseri, site of so many diplomatic exchanges in his father's day, and work out a peaceful settlement once and for all?
Mëranac accepted, and arrived with a troop of the palace guard. He was plied with Célenorian wine, got drunk, and fell asleep. A bloody sword was placed in his hand; Miďë then cried out loudly, summoning the guards, both Anaseri's and the king's. She was cut and bleeding; she said that the king had attacked her before falling down drunk, and Anaseri backed her story. They managed to convince the guard that Mëranac was unfit to rule, and that Miďë should be enthroned instead.
This was a harder sell to the nation as a whole, which had hoped that the Abolineron strife had died down; but Mëranac wasn't around and Miďë was, and to change the situation the Army would have to intervene, and so far it had refused to take sides. Mëranac was not very popular anyway; he had also disowned his own brother, Ževuran, for marrying an Eleď e. In recoltë he died, still in custody, supposedly of an aneurysm; this was not unsuspicious, but as Miďë had been in Verduria city for a month it was felt that she was innocent. Reluctantly, the Esčambra confirmed her accession.
She made Anaseri her prime minister, and tried to soothe ruffled feathers; she even attempted to reconcile with Ževuran, suggesting that his daughter Ayeša should marry her son Icëlan, ending the dynastic feud for good. Ževuran is said to have laughingly agreed, and added that his younger son Pavlo should marry Naunai.
On 12 vlerëi 3474, Miďë was assassinated. Ževuran produced a dead body, said to be the assassin; he claimed to have killed the man himself. He loudly professed his unwillingness to assume the sash himself; he would not object however if it was given to his dear daughter Ayeša. The Esčambra, perhaps rolling its eyes, agreed; it had barely accepted Miďë and had no interest at all in her son Icëlan.
But many thought that the ongoing dynastic violence had to be stopped. In želea, a group of Esčambromî, with Army support, stormed the Abolineron palaces and murdered as many of the family as they could find, including Ayeša and Pavlo, Mëranac's widow and teenage son, and (in Šerian) Oruseon and Icëlan. Verduria was declared a republic, and quickly fell into civil war.
A quick-thinking servant disguised Naunai, just 13, as her own daughter, and spirited her out of the palace. When Pelerin Vočnor restored order, the surviving Abolinerons asked that she be reinstated as conta, renouncing all claims on the Verdurian throne. Pelerin agreed, perhaps because he had some idea of marrying Naunai to his son Orest.
| Preceded by: Mëranac 2e | Miďë 3374 | Succeeded by: Pelerin |
