#silentia

Silentia Malduit | Minstrel | Hayley Atwell | Open

“Nature and nurture can fight all they want. I choose reason, and with it I will blaze my own trail.”

Biography:

Silentia’s fate was decided for her before she was even born, since shortly after her conception it was decreed in her kingdom that women would not be allowed to inherit any lands or titles. Her parents had gone to great lengths for their love of each other, and even greater lengths to ensure their child would have a good life. Times were hard and when they realized their daughter had no future without the wealth they had intended for her to inherit they devised a plan. Silentia would be raised as Silentius. She would grow up as a boy so she could have a good life, and no one would ever know of her true gender. They called upon their trusted sénéchal to take Silentius away and raise her in seclusion in the forest, where her secret would be safe until the time came to claim her inheritance. It was the only way they could think of to provide for their daughter and give her the best possible life. Silentius spent her childhood as boy, playing gleefully in the forest and growing strong every day. The sénéchal trained her to be as manly as possible, teaching her to fight, wrestle, and hunt. When she was finally old enough to realize that she was different her parents wrote her a letter explaining the situation. Silentius or more accurately, Silentia was torn. She had spent her entire life as a boy and had grown accustomed to a certain kind of lifestyle. She enjoyed the freedoms and rights of being a man, and she had developed a quick witted and boisterous attitude. Still, a part of her always felt like there was something missing, like she spent her entire life wearing ill fitting clothes. A part of her wanted to simply let go of all the lies and find out who she truly was, but she understood why her parents had done what they did. She decided it would be for the best if she respected their wishes and continued to live as a man, after all, who knew what kind of terrible punishment they would all have to face if the king ever realized they had been lying all these years to cheat his law.

With every passing day it became harder to remain silent and she grew resentful of her family and the sénéchal who had kept her sheltered and isolated all those years, so when a pair of minstrels came into town she decided she’d finally had enough. Still dressed as a man she convinced the minstrels to take her with them and overnight she packed her things and ran away with them. It was then that Silentia found what truly made her happy. She leaned to play music by watching the minstrels and soon became as skilled as they were, and her light and joyful voice was lovelier than theirs could ever be. When their realized her talent surpassed theirs the minstrels grew jealous and plotted to kill Silentia while she slept. Thankfully she had been trained well so she was able to fight them off and escape. She stole a horse and rode until she reached the kingdom of Camelot. There she made a living as one of the most skilled minstrels of the kingdom, though she kept up the ruse of being a man. She knows that this is her chance to finally stop living a lie and find out who she really is, but if she were to finally reveal herself she might never be able to return to her kingdom. However, the choice was made for her when she was asked to perform in King Arthur’s court and the druid Merlín saw through her disguise. Confused, he asked her before the entire court why she was dressed as a man and she was forced to reveal her secret. Moved by her story and her music the king made her the royal minstrel and offered her a chance to start a new life. Now that she is finally seen as a woman she is struggling to adjust. She is still one of the finest minstrels in the kingdom, but work is harder and the pay is less. To make matters worse she isn’t exactly accustomed to behaving like a lady. The fine gowns that have been provided for her itch and make it hard to breathe, and her hair has grown out into a mess of brown curls that’s impossible to tame. It doesn’t help that she grew up in the forest and her manners are simply appalling. She’s accustomed to saying what she wants when she wants, and her behaviour has made her something of an outcast. She knows she’s expected to act like a proper guest at court, but it seems that even now that her secret has been revealed she is still living a lie.

Connections:

Silentia.

Soon-to-be gunslinger.