Aubrey Amundda is a secondary character in The Kheld King, does not appear in The Second Stone, and becomes a main character in The God Spear. She remains a main character in The Walled City, in which she serves as a primary Kheld point of view.
Aubrey's character takes readers deeper inside the Kheld culture that other characters like Stefan and Cullen introduced in earlier books. Through Aubrey we see the importance of the Mother in Kheld life and decision-making. We also learn more about Kheld law and inheritance, which become key to many of the story's developments.
Aubrey, meanwhile, moves out of her insular Kheld-bounded world and into the greater World of the Triempery and its wonders—and its peoples.
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Aubrey is a Kheld woman of mixed parentage. Her father, Amund Rhys Thegn—so named because he was conceived “under the Hill” and so has no father name—was born to a high-ranking woman of the Thegn clan. Amund’s older brother, Nalf Rhys—also conceived “under the Hill”—almost certainly had a different father. Unlike Nalf, who sought status and renown through becoming a warrior and leader, Amund chose to become a forester. During the reign of Marc Frederick, Amund served as an arborist at Gustan Manor—tending the extensive oak groves at the King’s great house—where he eventually became Head Groundskeeper and Chief Forester. It was at Gustan that Amund met and took as his wife young Vallsa Elslethsda.
Vallsa’s origins are more mysterious than Amund’s. Her mother, Elsleth Brodhesda, was the daughter of Brodhe Hoggeson, an important, high clan Kheldman who served on King Marc Frederick’s advisory council in Stauberg. Young Elsleth’s beauty was the subject of much talk at court. Her disappearance in the city and the resulting search created a scandal that worsened relations between Khelds and the Staubaun nobility. Though Elsleth was found, the full details of her abduction and weeks long disappearance were never revealed; she and her family left Stauberg. Elsleth spent some months in seclusion at Gustan, where she gave birth to a daughter. Elsleth left Gustan soon after, abandoning her daughter, and did not return to Amallar with her father and brothers. Her whereabouts became unknown. Vallsa was raised at Gustan by two of the King’s staff.
Like her mother, Vallsa was fair to look upon. She was also clearly of mixed parentage, with dark blond hair and brown eyes; accounts agree her father was most likely a Staubaun noble of high rank. Because her conception stemmed from rape, Khelds believed Vallsa was unfortunate, a child of ill portents, and she would have been shunned by families of good breeding. Amund wed Vallsa at Gustan in the autumn, beneath the King’s own Oak, and with the King’s blessing he and his new wife left for the contested land of Neuberland where Khelds were establishing new towns and settlements. Marc Frederick bestowed a kingsgrant of land in Neuberland on Amund and his wife, to be inherited by any child of Vallsa’s, and by this means provided for the family. Amund and Vallsa settled the estate of Amundhal and established the town of Saemoregh.
Aubrey was born at Amundhal and would be Amund and Vallsa’s only child. She had Kheld looks—dark hair and blue eyes—along with her mother’s half-Staubaun beauty. In adolescence she grew to be tall. By the time his daughter was six, Amund had engaged tutors for her; correspondence suggests this was with help from the King. When Aubrey was seven Amundhal was attacked during one of Amund’s absences by troublemakers believed to have been sent by the Enlad of Gobba, who was trying to drive Khelds out of the region. [This was also the year Sebbord Teremareon was assassinated in Merath, a deed which further fanned anti-Kheld fervor.] Aubrey’s languages tutor hid and saved her, but Vallsa perished while leading the estate’s defense. Devastated by the loss of his wife and mindful of protecting his daughter, Amund never again left Saemoregh and Amundhal.
Amund became a leader of Kheld resistance to Staubaun efforts to drive them out; he also established the first Neuberland Cruihcil. Aubrey was not yet nine years old when a more concerted force raided Saemoregh. Amundhal too was attacked. [For readers interested in timelines, this corresponds to Dorilian’s rebellion in Neuberland, to which Marc Frederick put a stop.] Aubrey fled to the inn her former governess ran and took refuge in the spring house there. Amund was slain defending the town. That year the King installed a full garrison of Essera’s army at Saemoregh to deal with rising hostilities in the region.
Following her father’s death, Aubrey was taken in by her kin in Rhodhur. Nalf Rhys, by then a leader of the Thegnkeld, saw to it his niece could board with the Mothers of the School at Aurdollen. Aubrey’s Brodheson kin—Vallsa’s uncles and cousins—provided a home for when school was not in session. She also made friends at the school, in particular Lark Rappeleye, whose clan also gave Aubrey a place to stay on occasion, and Nilla Lowenda, whose high clan kindred approved of her lofty connections.
On one of Aubrey and Nilla’s visits with Lark at the Rappeleye holdings near the Bogs, they ventured into the mysterious swamp and encountered the Crone (also known as the Bog Witch), a figure out of Kheld folklore. The Crone compelled the three girls to draw runes from her bag and used these to lay a Wheel, a means of Kheld magic to reveal their fates. To one a king. To one a man. To one the cold trees. Only when the Crone had pronounced their fates did the door to the hut swing open and the frightened girls flee. At the Rappeleye Motherhome they told of the encounter and were given sets of rune stones by Grandmother Rappeleye, herself a rune hag of great renown.
During her time at Aurdollen, Aubrey acquired many skills, especially in healing, and the reading of runes. Aubrey can use her stones to diagnose the nature of ailments or maladies, and so determine an approach to healing. She also studied lore and poetry, while through her tutors she became well-read in philosophy, economics, and literature. Her favorite poet is Myron, an Esseran whose poems often allude to Staubaun lore. On the other hand, Aubrey is not a good cook or seamstress, both skills a homemaker should acquire.
Readers first meet Aubrey a year or so later in The Kheld King where she, Lark, and Nilla are the three young women—they are all fifteen years old—presented to King Stefan, who has asked the Thegn leadership to help him select a bride. Though Lark reminds them of the Mother’s Law that a woman must choose her own man, not have a man chosen for her, Stefan chooses Nilla and the Kheld leaders, including Nalf Rhys, support him. Nilla leaves to wed Stefan and neither Aubrey nor Lark ever sees her again.
Also in The Kheld King, Aubrey meets with her cousin Cullen Brodheson at Amundhal two years later when he journeys to Gignastha. Her conversation with Cullen reveals that she is now a self-possessed young woman with an interest in the world outside of Neuberland and Amallar. She’s well-educated, well-spoken, and spirited in defense of her views. She’s also communicating with Nilla in letters. Later, readers will learn that Aubrey speaks and writes three languages: Khelda, Stauba, and Esta.
Though Aubrey doesn’t appear as a character in The Second Stone, readers do see references to Cullen and Stefan establishing that Hans is related to them—and so also to Aubrey. During the events of that book, though, Aubrey is busy off page, carving out her place as a leader in Saemoregh. Amundhal, her holding, is prosperous and she has hundreds of people who look to her—and men she can call to arms if needed. Her chief man is Wodd, a former soldier who was her father’s chief man. Wodd’s wife Hild manages the daily operation of Aubrey’s holding, which has dairy, wool and weaving, and lumber production. High clan and highly educated, Aubrey Amundda also has the resources to wield serious clout—though only Khelds might know this.
Aubrey at this point in the series is twenty-five years old. Nalf and most of Saemoregh would like to see her take a husband. One possible match seemed promising: Franwelf Gorseddson, a half-Staubaun rebel and general leading the resistance in Neuberland was Aubrey’s choice to be her first man. They were a pair for a few months until she learned Fran was sleeping with other girls and also had sired children he was not helping to support. Other known suitors have included minor Staubaun nobility intent on acquiring her kingsgrant holding—and possibly her banked assets in Leseos and Eastmeary Brenna.
Aubrey becomes a main character in The God Spear, when she and Dorilian enter the book together. Dorilian runs roughshod over almost anyone and throwing him onto Aubrey creates lots of fun. She doesn’t have to put up with anyone’s crap and she doesn’t put up with his. He doesn’t have to put up with anyone’s crap either—and Aubrey will test his patience. He could use more of that. Meanwhile the Khelds are pushing for Aubrey to pair up with Hans, hoping he will follow in Stefan’s footsteps by taking a Kheldish queen. Her relationship with Hans in the series is important, as are those with her uncles: Nalf Rhys and Robdan Aelfricson.
Will Aubrey and Dorilian’s story arc be romantic? Not in the way romances tend to go. Aubrey isn’t happy at all to learn that the one man she finds attractive and interesting is... yeah. That man. It’s a great scene.
Meanwhile the Crone’s Wheel is still in play, traveling the Mother’s Path.
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