Mayen

Mayen [MAY-en] was a young Tiste Edur woman and Fear Sengar's betrothed. She was described as "willow thin, the shade of her skin darker than most. Green eyes framed by long, umber hair in which glittered beads of onyx." Her face was heart-shaped.

She wore a number of different styles of clothes befitting a noblewoman. In one instance, she wore a traditional tunic made of silver seal-skin with a wide belt of pearlescent shells, as well as bracelets and anklets made of whale ivory. Another time, she wore a long wool robe dyed midnight blue, with gold-threaded patterns adorning the cuffs and brocade.

Trull Sengar thought her supremely aware of her own beauty and ready to wield it to achieve dominance. She was not well-versed with the world outside Edur lands.

One of her slaves, who acted as her handmaiden, was Feather Witch.

In Midnight Tides

From the very beginning, it was clear that Fear's youngest brother, Rhulad, had inappropriate feelings for Mayen, taking every opportunity to show off in her presence. Trull kept such a wary eye on both his brother and future sister-in-law, that it attracted Fear's notice and scorn.

Mayen struggled to find her place within House Sengar, especially in the eyes of her future mother-in-law, Uruth. Uruth stewed when Mayen criticized her violation of Udinaas' mind as rape. Later, Mayen overstepped her place and blessed the Nerek Indebted who accompanied Buruk the Pale to their village. Feather Witch thought she fashioned herself a queen with the act and reported it to Uruth, who angrily confronted Mayen. Mayen punished her handmaiden by taking a switch to her back.

Mayen and Rhulad by Shadaan

After Rhulad died and was reborn as a secret pawn of the Crippled God, he declared himself emperor of the Edur and demanded that Fear give him Mayen as his empress. Mayen submitted to the creature Rhulad had become while barely suppressing her horror. Rhulad regularly raped her and beget her with child. Mayen coped by drowning herself in the narcotic White nectar to dull her senses and by beating Feather Witch black and blue. Mayen's addiction became such a problem Uruth took over her care to wean her and her unborn child off the drug. Bethra, one of Mayen's old family servants, was executed for giving her mistress more of the drug in an attempt to be kind.

Mayen accompanied Emperor Rhulad during the Tiste Edur invasion of the Kingdom of Lether. Udinaas managed to convince Rhulad that her flirtation with him had only been about securing allies within her future family. Rhulad recognised the error of his actions, apologised to Fear, and offered to relinquish her and the child back to his brother.

During the confusion of the Edur conquest of Letheras, Mayen finally saw her chance to escape, disappearing into the city streets. She was found by Finadd Gerun Eberict and his gang of thugs who thought to enjoy themselves upon her before killing her. Mayen stabbed herself in the chest with a small fishing knife as Gerun reached to grab her. Tehol Beddict found her dead body just before the arrival of the pack of Edur sent to find her. Theradas Buhn and his warriors beat Tehol nearly to death as punishment for her killing.

Fear later found her body in the street, her face finally at peace. He recognised the fishing knife as belonging to Udinaas and questioned the role of the traitorous slave in her death. It was later revealed that Feather Witch had maliciously provided Mayen with the knife.

In Reaper's Gale

When Rhulad saw visions of his brothers and other important people in his life, he named all but Mayen, referring to her only as "the woman [he] would not name who had once been Fear's wife". The vision of Fear clasped hands with his dead wife and called Rhulad out for the betrayal that led her to take her own life.

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