Maida Sollys is High Queen of the Westlands on the continent of North America and rules over all the Divided Courts on the continent. She is the wife of High King Aethlin Sollys and the mother of Quentin Sollys. She first appears in Full of Briars.
About[]
Maida and Aethlin live in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where the family's ruling seat is located. Together with her husband, Maida has authority over all royalty and nobles of Faerie on the continent, and with Aethlin serves as judge when any of them commits a crime against the kingdom, Faerie or the mortal world.[1]
Appearance[]
While beautiful as all fae, Maida's face is marred by scars from a childhood bout of chicken pox when she was still a changeling. Her hair is molten silver.[2]
Personality[]
Maida loves her children dearly and is both firm and fair. She tends to temper her husband's decisions, acting as a voice of reason when she thinks he is about to act hastily. She, being a former changeling herself, greatly cares for the welfare of all changelings under her rule, which helps her get along with Toby.
Biography[]
Maida's father was a count who married a human woman, resulting in Maida being born a changeling. Unlike most Daoine Sidhe, her father believed in hard work and dismissed most of the staff after Maida's birth and raised her as a farm girl. During a chickenpox outbreak, Maida's mother died, though Maida herself survived with a few pox scars.
She met Aethlin during his fosterage and they fell in love, eventually marrying. Though the cost of her marriage to the High King was giving up her humanity, Maida accepted it.
Realising that Quentin had picked up the pureblood superiority from the High King's court, Maida hid her parentage from him in order to help Quentin be less prone to treating changelings unfairly and prevent him from being ashamed of his heritage. Quentin is aware that Maida was very ill when she was younger, but has no idea that her former changeling status had worsened the severity of her illness. Toby noted that her former heritage as a changeling was present in Quentin's magical signature and the echoes of watermarks of blood shifting in his blood similarly to how Amandine saw that the Torquill brothers were once changelings. [citation needed]
In the Series[]
Full of Briars[]
After personally and publicly confirming Arden Windermere as the rightful Queen in the Mists, Aethlin and Maida visit with Quentin, Toby, and their family. They consider bringing Quentin home for his own safety but are convinced to let him continue his training under Toby.
Once Broken Faith[]
Both Maida and Aethlin visit Toby in her home to check in on Quentin, where Maida reveals her origin and how she became to be High Queen. Maida and Aethlin presides over the conference of rulers held in the Kingdom of the Mists to determine whether to allow the use and spread of the cure for Elf-shot developed by Walther Davies. While she is for the cure, she is visibly distraught when the monarchy of Golden Shore points out that the cure for elf-shot could make the weapon more frequently used and could endanger changelings further.
Though the cure is distributed, Aethlin shows concern over letting October free - well aware that she killed Blind Michael, overthrew two monarchs, and witnessed the deaths of King Kabos and Queen Verona of Highmountain. Though Toby claims that she's not interested in power and was only interested in survival, Maida encourages Toby to have her wedding with Tybalt in their Knowe to reinforce peace and also for the sake of hosting a wedding.
When Sorrows Come[]
Maida and Aethlin host Toby's wedding at the High Court. After the first assassination attempt on Aethlin, Maida advises him not to hold the upcoming staff interviews in his private office; he ignores her advice. She finds him in his office dying of contact poison and begs Toby to save him. Her comments lead Toby to believe that should Aethlin die, Maida will lose her standing in the court.
After Toby gives Aethlin her blood to save his life, Maida asks for a vial of the blood in case of another assassination attempt. Toby gives it to her, and she uses it on Aethlin during a third assassination attempt.
Maida attends Toby and Tybalt's wedding and reception.
Relationships[]
Aethlin Sollys[]
Aethlin met his wife when he was a prince, touring his kingdom so that one day he would be better prepared to rule it. She was a changeling herself, and when they fell in love Aethlin's parents demanded she use a hope chest to become pureblood before they married.
Quentin Sollys[]
For some time after being sent into fosterage, Quentin is confused and resentful of his parents, feeling like they didn't want him around. He now understands that they were influenced by Evening Winterrose.
Maida reveals that she had second thoughts about sending Quentin away fairly quickly after the fact, and within a year of his fosterage was asking Aethlin to bring Quentin home.[3]
Penthea Sollys[]
Penthea is Aethlin and Maida's daughter who was sent off into blind fosterage when she was twelve years old. Quentin talks about how the two of them were raised more by nursemaids than their parents while at home, but it is unclear how Penthea feels about her parents now.
October Daye[]
She has a cordial relationship with October Daye, to whom Quentin is squired. Because Maida was once a changeling, she bonds more with Toby than her husband does, although she worries about the danger he is put in while serving October despite understanding the importance of his training to becoming a just ruler someday. She and her husband approve of Toby as Quentin's knight-master, however is concerned when Toby's actions and heroic deeds paint her as a kingbreaker.[4]