Valda Duerrg

Power hungry to the last, Valda rules from the castle of her happily departed husband. Her subjects pay her taxes and homage. No one dares challenge her, let alone speak of the treachery that brought her to rule. Paschalis Sacerdos (page 22) remembers, but also remains silent and distant. He was still a boy when he watched his parents’ heads tumble into a basket. Valda pays him no mind. Many children she knew from that time drank themselves to an early grave, starved, or froze to death sleeping in ditches. Why would he have fared any better? Still, she is well aware that she is hated and prepares accordingly.