Kiera Magorian

Kiera wasn't born a princess, but she was born a noble. When the time came for Siobhan Magorian, crown prince of Ireland to take a bride though fifteen year old Kiera hadn't even been in the running as far as most folks were concerned. Then her parents died, victims of a terrible plague that swept through the young woman's remote mountain valley, and she suddenly became a ward of the royal family. Within six months of moving into the castle, Siobhan had announced he would take her as his bride.

That is when the first rumors began to circulate about this strange young woman. It's said that she never once cried or mourned her parent's loss. It's said she herself caused the plague that killed so many. It's said that she bewitched the prince into marrying her. A lot of things were said, whispered over pints of ale or crackling fires.

Goodness knows she hadn't been Siobhan's father's first choice for future queen either. They'd already absorbed what had been left of her family's lands. What more would be gained from an alliance? The future king was insistent, however, and three years later, at the tender age of eighteen Kiera became his bride.

Two years later the king had died and despite the fact that it had happened on the battlefield fending off a Viking incursion with countless witnesses present, rumors spread once more that Kiera must have somehow been involved. She's a witch. She cursed the king to die. She placed an unholy blessing upon the arrow that killed him. Anyway the tale could be twisted to make her the villain, that is how it was told. Of course there was no proof nor any way for her to combat the rumors, and so, to the displeasure of many, later that year Siobhan was crowned king and his wife, queen.

How long would Siobhan last sleeping in the same bed as a serpent, became the newest whisper among those who have nothing better to do with their time. How long until she kills him too? As fate would have it, Siobhan would live another five years, to the ripe old age of thirty, before catching his death of pneumonia on a hunting trip. Once again the rumors spread, this time fueled not only by his death but by the fact that the queen was known to be pregnant with their first child at the time. Obviously she had been waiting until he provided her an heir with which to secure the throne before she killed him off too.

Whatever the truth might be about Kiera's intentions towards the throne, at four months pregnant the queen miscarried. It was a terrible ordeal. The doctor's were sure that the mother would quickly follow the child. She did not. The queen spent the next six months recovering her strength and ruling her kingdom from her sick bed. Indeed, it did end up becoming her kingdom despite the outcries against her and her 'witch craft.' A few of the kingdom's nobles discussed the possibility of ousting her, but the only other option was an illegitimate cousin, Rian, currently living in France or civil war. No doubt they assumed that she would be easy to manipulate to their whims due to being a woman. They were wrong.

As time went on, Queen Kiera's infamy outside her own borders only grew. While her own people came to accept if also fear her, foreigners who had never benefitted from her rule turned a pitying eye upon Ireland and it's people for having to endure the rule of such a monster. Wilder and wilder rumors spread, some clearly based on at least a kernel of truth. Some utterly fantastic creations of the human imagination. She practices magic. She consorts with the devil. She consorts with fae. She is fae. She drinks the blood of virgins to maintain her youth and beauty. On and on it goes. At the end of the day there is really only one thing all these stories agree upon. Kiera is evil.

An Evil Queen.

In this version of Kiera's story her original backstory remains save that instead of coming from the mountains her family lorded over a remote coastal area. The major change in her story happens when Siobhan dies and Kiera miscarries. In this universe while the queen is recovering her husband's illegitimate cousin returns and claims the throne. With the support of the nobles and in a weakened state, the usually indomitable woman isn't able to fight back. Yet. Once she recovers however and it becomes clear to her that Rian has no interest in keeping the former queen around, Kiera gathers her most loyal followers and returns home. Within a year she has a ship, a crew, and has transformed what had largely been a small fishing community into a fortified hide out. Two years after that and she is in control of a total of five fully crewed ships, not a one of them press ganged.

While Kiera would very much like to regain her rightful place as the ruler of Ireland, at the moment that doesn't seem like a possibility. Instead she's willing to settle for being a scourge upon Rian's short, harrying his private vessels and any foreign ones that might come to trade with him. However, the king knows that if his shores are threatened from without, he need only send word and Kiera's fleet will fight for him. No, for her people.

In this version of Kiera's story at least one of the rumors about her are true. She does, in fact, drink blood. It doesn't necessarily need to be the blood of virgins though. After miscarrying Kiera had indeed been standing upon death's door. However, with her death and no other viable heir to the throne, the kingdom looked to fall into disarray and infighting. That is when a mysterious stranger approached her and offered her a deal. She would live. Not only now, but for all time. She would be stronger, faster, but she would also hunger. However, if she could find the strength of will to fight past the animalistic nature inherent in her transformation, she could continue to be queen and protect her people.

Forever.

So it is that Kiera Morgorian became the vampire queen of Ireland. As the years pass, she finds ways to hide her lack of aging. Eventually the most logical explanation for her longevity is that she is simply her own daughter/grandaughter/great-granddaughter, etc. Those who live in her court know the truth of course. All the common folk know are the rumors that eternally plague her family name and the fact that there never seems to be a male heir...