Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Awakened, he sees that Millie is gone and goes after her.
She’s always his first thought.
His first priority.
Later, he returns to Wayfair with Millie to talk with Poppy and Cas, only to find Poppy in stasis. He makes sure Millie can sit with her and then talks with his brother for a while. They air a lot of stuff, and once everything is said, they come to a bit of a truce. While talking to Cas, though, he brought up he and Millie being heartmates while she was just in the other room. He’s not sure if she heard or not.
But does it really matter? She hates him—or so he says. And he believes she should.
MILLICENT “MILLIE” MIEREL
Click here to see a full-size image of Millie by art.bymikki.
There is still so much we do not yet know about Millicent, but I am utterly intrigued by what we do know and anxious to uncover more.
Hair: Nearly white-blond and waist-length with tight curls.
Eyes: An incredibly pale silver-blue—almost colorless.
Body type: Round hips. Several inches shorter than Poppy and shorter than the other Handmaidens.
Facial features: Olive skin. Oval face. Full, wide mouth. Strong brow. Stubborn jaw.
Distinguishing features: Fangless teeth. Some freckles on nose and cheeks. Wears a mask in a reddish black that extends from her hairline to below her eyes and stretches to nearly her jaw on both sides—looks like the wings of a bird of prey.
Personality: Kind. Cheery and chipper. Polite. A bit odd. Keeps emotions behind tight walls.
Other: Possibly close to two hundred years old—the war ended four hundred years ago, and Ires came to Isbeth two hundred years later.
Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Not susceptible to compulsion. Carries crescent-shaped shadowstone blades. Claims to excel at behaving but has a habit of shedding blood needlessly. When she uses arrows, she tips each with shadowstone. Loves to hum but is terrible at it. Has a habit of rambling. Forced loyalty is to Isbeth, but she still tries to protect people.
Background: Revenant Handmaiden. Didn’t survive her Culling, so Isbeth turned her into a Revenant. However, most think she’s like a Revenant yet…not, which is somewhat true given that she’s not a third daughter and her origins were slightly different.
Family: Mother = Isbeth †. Father = Ires. Sister = Penellaphe Da’Neer. Ancestors = Nyktos and Seraphena.
MILLIE’S JOURNEY TO DATE:
Born to Queen Ileana (a.k.a Isbeth) and Ires Mierel, Millicent’s life started as a bit of a lie and something not hers to command. The first daughter referenced in the prophecy, she was always meant to be a tool. That became even truer when she didn’t survive her Culling, and Isbeth, unwilling to let her die, used Primal magic to turn Millie into a Revenant—or at least something having Revenant traits. I’m still wondering if there’s more to that story that has yet to be uncovered. Anyway, it resulted in her becoming one of the Queen’s personal guards—a Handmaiden—and being trained in every manner of death known.
She and Malik Da’Neer are heartmates, but as far as I know, she remains in the dark about that fact. Though maybe she does know and just chooses to ignore it. It’s also been said that Isbeth forced Malik to do many unspeakable things to her, and it forever changed their relationship. We do not, however, know what those things are yet.
Millie’s history comes to me in flashes and bits. I haven’t been able to piece it all together quite yet, but most of what happened when she finally met Casteel and then her sister is fairly clear.
When Poppy, Casteel, and their group infiltrate the castle and come across Ires as a cat, Millie cuts them off in the hallway. Delano sees her as a threat and immediately attacks, but she bests him in seconds, shocking the others. Casteel attempts to use compulsion on her to make her let Delano go, and it has no effect. When the wolven asks her what she is, she tells them all she’s a Handmaiden…and many other things.
Millie politely asks Delano to behave himself and reveals that she has a nasty habit of shedding blood unnecessarily. She also insinuates that she excels at behaving and makes a point to emphasize that they have not behaved by going where they should not have gone—the underground tunnels—and seeing what they should not have seen—Ires.
She offers to keep it from the Queen if they promise to do as they’re told, but adds that if they don’t, it won’t be them who pays the price, it’ll be their cohorts who approach the eastern gates. This lets the group know that their plan has been foiled.
While they’re all before the Queen, Isbeth uses Millie to demonstrate what a Revenant is and what they can do by having a guard stab her in the heart. She dies and then resurrects as she always does, once again moving to stand at the Queen’s side and listening to them discuss a Revenant’s strengths.