Amandine (sometimes styled "the Liar") is the Dóchas Sidhe Firstborn and the estranged mother of October Daye. She is later revealed to be Simon Torquill's wife and the mother of August Torquill.
About[]
Amandine is selfish and cruel, used to getting her own way and quite temperamental when she doesn't. Amandine is a household name among the fae, known as the strongest bloodworker in the Kingdom, though it is not widely known that she is Firstborn. While she is able to love, as Toby remembers her as a doting mother before Toby made the Changeling's Choice, she isn't able to provide the care that others in her family needs. This included her ex-husband and her two daughters. She is also highly possessive, refusing to share her husband with someone else despite her lack of love for him.
She lives in a skerry tower in the Summerlands bordering Shadowed Hills. Her tower only allows family and those directly invited by family inside. Toby grew up thinking the tower had five floors, but there is a sixth floor belonging to August that Amandine magically hid in her grief. As of The Brightest Fell, Toby is not welcome to her tower anymore.[1]
She helped a red-haired woman Toby didn't recognize create Goldengreen.[2]
Biography[]
Prior to the revelation of the false identity of Titania in Be the Serpent, Amandine was the last known Firstborn. Amandine was born of Oberon and a human woman, Janet, whose interference in Faerie led to the disappearance of Maeve followed by other Creators. Oberon initially planned on naming her Almandine, after the almond trees on Janet's orchard, but Janet shortened the name.[3] Prophecy states that as Amandine's line caused the Creator's disappearance, so shall it bring them back one day, a prophecy that haunted her for most of her life.[1]
The absence of her parents had made Amandine unable to compensate for her weaknesses, and this led her to being spoiled by her eldest siblings, notably including the Luidaeg.[4] She became accustomed to getting her way, which carries into her adult life, and all it took to get her siblings to relent was a few tears.
Because of her powers and her unknown heritage, she was advised to pose as Daoine Sidhe and foster with the Torquills. Sylvester, Simon and September acted as her protectors, teaching her how to behave as a Daoine Sidhe should. Amandine discovered her capabilities when she accidentally revealed to Simon that they were once changelings before they were exposed to a hope chest. Both Sylvester and Simon were infatuated with her growing up.[1]
She married Simon[5] and bore a daughter to him, August. Amandine used her abilities to shift August to pureblooded Dóchas Sidhe and they were happy, both parents cherishing August and each other whenever Amandine didn't experience slips in her mental health. Amandine trained August to be a powerful user of blood magic, though August was also coddled and protected from practical experience. However, when August discovered the Dóchas Sidhe's prophetic role, she was unable to cope with a looming destiny and decided to rush through it, abandoning Amandine and Simon to search for Oberon. Amandine went mad with grief and pushed Simon toward extreme measures to recover their daughter, leading to his association with Evening Winterrose.[1]
With August missing and Simon gone searching for her, Amandine played Faerie Bride with an Irish accountant named Jonathan Daye, marrying him as a human woman. In the laws of Faerie, it wasn't even considered infidelity to Simon since Jonathan was a human, so she never viewed the dalliance as an affair. She gave birth to October, a changeling Dóchas Sidhe, to unsuccessfully fill the void August's absence left.
Afraid that October would die fulfilling the prophecy, Amandine began discreetly shifting her blood balance towards human and convinced Toby that she was a weak Daoine Sidhe in a misguided attempt to spare her from the cruelty of Faerie; Amandine's childhood fostered among the Torquills gave her the skills for the deception. Toby always remembered Amandine as a loving mother during this time, unaware of what she really doing, but Amandine has since said that Toby fought the shifting and it was immensely painful and traumatic. Amandine's goal was to make Toby fully human so that she would never have to make the Changeling's Choice, wishing this daughter to live and die by a mortal lifespan so that she may remain with Jonathan. The Luidaeg discovered Amandine's plan when Toby was seven years old and dangerously close to human, and the Luidaeg convinced Sylvester Torquill to offer the Choice to October before she ended up fully human. October chose Faerie, wanting to be just like her mother, and a rift formed between the Firstborn sisters.[6]
A fire was staged in the Daye house and Amandine let Jonathan believe that she and October had died. They moved to Amandine's tower in the Summerlands, where Amandine halfheartedly tried to train Toby as a Daoine Sidhe and made a noticeable effort not to touch Toby, lest the Luidaeg accuse her of trying to shift Toby's blood again. Toby was hurt by her mother's sudden emotional distance, feeling like Amandine was keeping her as little more than a pet and accessory, so she ran away from the Summerlands.[7] Amandine, having been abandoned by both daughters, went insane.
In the Series[]
A Local Habitation[]
Toby sees Amandine at January's funeral pyre. However, Amandine disappears before Toby can interact with her.
Late Eclipses[]
Amandine comes at Sylvester's call when Toby is dying of elf-shot. She shifts Toby's blood toward fae, dissipating the poison in her system, and leaves before Toby wakes up.
The Brightest Fell[]
Amandine takes Tybalt and Jazz hostage in their animal forms in order to force Toby to find August. She claims that she didn't save Toby from elf-shot because she was her daughter but because Luna's rose goblins pleaded with her to save her life. Though Toby is successful in retrieving August, Amandine tries to exploit a loophole to keep Tybalt and Jazz captive. Toby, finally having enough of Amandine's selfishness, threatens to kill Amandine. Though she finally relents, Amandine loses any love she has left for Toby and later indirectly drives a wedge between Sylvester and Toby.
A Killing Frost[]
Amandine is called when Simon files for divorce. Because of her spoiled nature, she protests the divorce, hoping to still ascertain control over the situation, even going as so far as to reveal herself as Firstborn. The Luidaeg manages to stop her protests, and Amandine watches as October and August choose Simon as their parent, releasing her claim on Toby and only losing her composure when August chooses Simon, barely being restrained by her father Oberon. She argues that August is her daughter, however the Luidaeg bites back that August had chosen Simon and threatens to use transformation if Amandine continues to argue. Enraged, she leaves Arden's knowe, humiliated and devastated.
Relationships[]
October Daye[]
Amandine's daughter by a human man. October is a changeling Dóchas Sidhe, but Amandine tried to shift her blood to be fully human in a misguided yet cruel attempt to spare her from Faerie. She preferred Toby to live out a human lifespan than be caught up in the prophecy that plagues their bloodline. She would have preferred to shift her blood all at once, but Toby fought it every step of the way. Toby does not remember this; it is suggested that she has blocked out the traumatic memories since she only remembers Amandine as a doting mother in those days.
After Toby made the Changeling's Choice and claimed her fae heritage, Amandine became distant. Toby believed for years it was resentment for tearing Amandine away from her human life, but it may also be Amandine's fears of the prophecy. Toby's teen years and young adulthood were filled with apathy and emotional abuse, and eventually Toby ran away. Amandine also drops all pretence and continually shames Toby for being a changeling, despite her being the reason she was more human than fae.
Amandine comes to aid Toby when she is dying of elf-shot, claiming to do it on a whim rather than affection for Toby. Later, Amandine lets her cruelty take over and endangers Toby's loved ones in order to get what she wants: her pureblooded daughter August back. After Amandine got August back, she stopped caring for Toby to the point where she disowned her when Toby continued to rebel. She makes it official when Toby chooses Simon as her legal parent during the divorce proceedings.
August Torquill[]
Amandine adores her eldest daughter, coddling and doting on her as she grows up and training her to be a strong blood magic user. When August goes missing, Amandine loses all sense of morality or care for her husband, whom she blames for failing to locate August. She is also willing to manipulate Toby by torturing her loved ones if it means getting August back; however, she was swayed by August to return Tybalt and Jasmine to Toby.
Amandine's love for August, however, is more geared towards a pet rather than a daughter, and this pushes August into choosing Simon as her parent during their divorce proceedings.
Simon Torquill[]
Simon is Amandine's childhood foster-brother and ex-husband. They separated after August's disappearance and were later divorced. They were presumably happy raising August together, but Amandine pressured Simon to take increasingly more desperate actions when August went missing. When Simon joins Toby on the quest to find August, Amandine is completely dismissive of his presence. However, Amandine attempted to keep the marriage going not out of love, but to prevent herself from losing face in the eyes of the Kingdom, which was denied by the Luidaeg. It was also noted by Patrick that despite her dismissive attitude towards Simon, she refused to share him with another person.
Sylvester Torquill[]
Sylvester is Amandine's childhood foster-brother and legal brother-in-law. He had a crush on her as a child, but she chose Simon over him. They remained close friends through the years, and Sylvester left her in peace as she played faerie bride, though their friendship was presumably damaged when Sylvester forced the Changeling's Choice upon Toby. He refused to break another promise to her, and withheld Toby's true heritage and that she had been married to Simon from Toby.
Lily[]
Lily and Amandine are old friends; Amandine helped Lily immigrate from Japan to California. Their friendship leads Lily to look kindly upon Toby, who she becomes friends with in her own right. However, Lily was aware of Amandine keeping secrets from Toby, and regularly chided Amandine over it.
The Luidaeg[]
The Luidaeg is Amandine's half-sister through their father, Oberon. They do not get along in any sense of the term, at least partially because the Luidaeg did not, to her own way of thinking, do right by Amandine when she was growing up. The Luidaeg loved Amandine dearly that she toasted at her and Simon's wedding, and refused to forgive Simon when he abandoned her to search for August. A rift forms between the sisters when the Luidaeg saves Toby before she is turned fully human. The Luidaeg aids in denying Amandine's demand to remain married to Simon, telling her to go home and try to figure out what went so wrong that both her daughters chose their father.