“Once you were nothing but a bride for a king. You have grown so much since then, and you cannot imagine yourself in that role again. But know that that part of you isn’t gone, either. There is good and bad to every role. You have come to accept your name: Blushing Bride.”
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Retired
Bride is more than happy to be retired, because she can still do music but she doesn't have to watch pesky cubs. She spends most of her time with her crows, or messing with the other retired lionesses. She still helps lead the drumming and roaring, though, once in a while.
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Personality
Bride was raised to be a serious lioness, dignified and not overly-bubbly. Her mother was the same way: stoic and showing very little emotion. But Bride has grown since she was that young, and she’s no longer the polite little cub she once was. She has a dry and sardonic tongue, a master of deadpan and putdowns. She’s always insulting the other lions, sometimes affectionately and sometimes with rather rude intentions. Her sarcasm is quick and she likes it when it goes over other lions’ heads. She’s devoted to her friends to the point of ignoring bad qualities. Though she rarely smiles, she’s usually in a quiet good humor. She’s a bit of a self-centered lioness, often making jokes at others’ expense and unwilling to apologize.
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Background
“Don’t go out in the fields or the crows will pick you apart before you can run.” Bride grew up afraid of the crows, a fear her cruel mother instilled in her. Her mom wanted only for her to marry well. Bride only wanted to make her mom happy. In the days when Bride was grown, lions fought each other in arenas, savage and wild. She was a young cub when a champion king, Baobab, was chosen as her husband. Sid's other mother, the queen, didn't approve of her marrying so young, but she was too busy to intervene. When Baobab came to meet Bride, he showed off his bloody moves to the pride. Bride was horrified, and told her mother she wanted nothing to do with him. But the marriage had already been arranged and her mom wouldn’t hear of her quitting now. She told her other mother, who said that if she didn’t want to, she didn’t have to. Soon her two mothers were arguing, and Baobab was furious that Bride didn’t want him. Overwhelmed and scared, Bride ran out into the fields. She forgot until it was too late about the crows. She had to make a decision: she could go back or keep running through the crows. She chose neither. She stood perfectly still, and the crows didn’t harm her. But Baobab plowed through the crows, killing them as he went. They rose up in a cloud of black around him. When her mothers caught up, they saw Bride standing next to the crows and Baobab’s dead body. Bride, furious at her mother, said that she was leaving. She was very young, but the crows protected her as she moved across the land. Few lions dared to get close to her, but on the day that Boffo found her she knew she had found someone who would look after her. She was stronger and fiercer now, and she was young enough to be trained, so Boffo chose to teach her the ways of music. The day she came of age and became the pride musician, the crows brought her the pelt of Baobab, dried out in the sun. Bride was delighted with the macabre gift from her murderous friends. She spent years as a musician, with her friends the crows who came to visit her very often. Of course, crows don't like quiet as long as lions, and eventually they trickled to a halt. So she made friends among the pride, but she never forgot where she was from. She got married a few times, and came to peace with the idea of herself in the role of romance. But she still wore her skin - it was a gift! And she looked great in it. Now she's peacefully retired after having trained Paperwhite to be the next musician.
  
How do you feel about Monarch?
"An ironic name, since he does nothing remotely leader-like. He's just there to look pretty and piss off the whole pride. I have to admit, I was a much bigger fan of Boffo, back in his day. At least he had rhythm and great big squishy paws. Monarch's sort of like a useless den ornament."
Who is your favorite lion?
"Do famous lions count? Because Beacon is hot hot hot. But I guess you want some lion I actually know. And I have to actually like them? Okay, give me a minute . . . well, So Sweet is weirdly obsessed with poison and she has a cruelly ironic name like me, so I guess it would be her."
Who is your least favorite lion?
"I'm wearing him! This little sucker I've got skinned and dried is Baobab, my ex husband-to-be. My ravens very kindly brought his bead body to me so I can remember that I'm a tough bitch. My husbands never liked it, but hey, I look great in it." |
