Woman Reading

Quintana of Charyn, the Half Mad Princess

Australia celebrates The Princess Indignant:

“Oh, you're one of those,' the princess said.
'One of what?'
'One of those who needs to be told their worth over and over by others. Do you know who tells me my worth, Phaedra of Alonso?'
The princess pointed a hard finger at her own chest.'
'Me. I determine my own worth. If I had to rely on others I'd have lain down and died waiting.”

The US gave us the Serker Savage:

“I can live without you,’ she said. ‘I can live without a man I've only known for one hundred and eighty days.’
‘And how have those calculations helped?’ he demanded to know.
She didn't respond except for a look down her nose at him and a curl of her lip. So much for the angry half-spirits being responsible for the savages within them both. This was pure Quintana.

No matter the voice or the intent, underneath Quintana's protective facade was a woman of immense bravery despite her vulnerability.  It's so hard to be strong when you're completely and utterly alone, and nobody was more alone; “Quintana of Charyn's body was a map of hatred.”  

She was beautiful and broken and no matter the odds she kept fighting to live and to save her people.  Probably the best, most complex, female character I've ever read. 

“... then she was laughing. They both were, and the savage teeth were the most joyous sight Phaedra had seen for a long time. It was as if they were dancing. There it was. Suddenly the strangeness of Quintana of Charyn's face made sense. Because it was a face meant for laughing, but it had never been given a chance.”