#the tragedy aspect may have been influenced by the Remarried Empress

[violetlunette]

A recolor of Princess Leah, Silver’s birth mom. (My version, at least.) The other color is here

Behold! My version of Leah, aka, Silver’s birth mother. I know that the popular fanon for her is that Leah was a strong, take-no-bullshit-from-anyone Lady who kicks her brother around like a soccer ball and is an all-around Girl Boss, but I imagine her as the opposite. Below is my long-winded / thought-too-hard history for Leah. Notes: *Spoilers for Book / Chapter 7 *Long post. Apparently, I had a lot to say. *My version of Leah’s tale is an angsty one with no happy end. Speaking of which; Trigger Warnings: *Mentions Emotional Abuse and Mental Abuse along with Gaslighting *There is value dissonance at play, which includes underage marriage, sex and pregnancy, as in the medieval time period where Lilia’s memories take place, marrying young was acceptable and encouraged. That being said, the problematic stuff will be treated as such. *Mentions of a rough birth

My version of Leah is a tragic figure lost to history like many Princesses before her. All her life, Leah carried an intense guilt in her heart as her mother died in childbirth birth, leaving her behind with a resentful King and Henrik. The King, in particular, disliked her as he believed that Leah was the result of an affair as Leah was far too beautiful to be his. (He wasn’t a handsome man and always had difficulties believing his gorgeous wife ever loved him.) As such, the King neglected her, and Henrik, following his father’s example, did the same. When they did meet the two were cold and poisonous to her, often belittling every mistake she made. And sadly, she made a lot as she was always jittery from nerves. Because of the mental and emotional abuse inflicted upon her along with a lifetime of gaslighting, Leah became very fragile and timid as she was often bellowed at. It became her nature to become quiet and soft-spoken as being otherwise resulted in harsh punishment, especially from her strict governess, who was as kind as Tremaine was to Cinderella. Even so, she adored her father and brother as much as Silver loved Lilia. Thus, she always forgave them and made excuses for their behavior. “Father and brother are just stressed from their duties.” “They’re right to scold me. As a Princess, I should be better.” “I stole their beloved person away, so they have every right to hate me.” Leah to earn their love by helping the kingdom. While this didn’t earn the affection of her family, she did gain favor with the people. It was actually because of her that the King adopted the Orphans. Leah naively brought them all to live at the castle when she saw the state of the orphanage and her father didn’t want to lose face with the people, so he took them all as wards. (Though as soon as he had the orphans, he turned them over to the army, arguing that it was the best way to give them a future.) The one joy Leah had in life was the fairy tale books she had, which spoke of true love and whatnot, tales she believed 100% as there was no one to temper her expectations. This is partly why she fell in love instantly with the Knight of the Dawn when she met him. Speaking of which:

Leah met the Knight when he saved her from a kidnapping. Seeing him as her hero from a fairytale, she fell in love instantly as he inspired feelings within her that no one had before. (Puppy’s first love.) After this, Leah hung around him often, creating rumors that the two were in love. When the King fell sick, Henrik left with the Knight to create Lilia’s tragic backstory, while Leah stayed behind to pray for everyone day and night. She also attempted to use healing magic on him to keep him alive, even though her magic lay in dreams. (Note: her unique magic was the same as Silver’s. She often used this magic to update the Knight on the King’s condition.) When the two returned, the King was cured. As a “reward,” the King gave Leah to the Knight as his bride and sent both to rule over the fae land the Knight “won” for the humans. The King did this as he worried the Knight’s popularity would be a threat to Henrick’s rule in the future. Thus, his Majesty decided that sending the Knight away was the best option, and allowing him to marry Leah had the King keep face with the people. After all, how can allowing the Knight to wed the beautiful Princess, whom he “loved” and be allowed to rule the land he claimed for them not be a reward for his bravery? Leah was overjoyed as she believed marrying the Knight was the happy ending to her tale and that there would only be joy in her life. Thus, Leah and the Knight were wedded three days later—even though the Knight was a traumatized seventeen / sixteen-year-old while Leah was only fourteen.

The two are sent overseas, where Leah gets pregnant two months after their wedding. The pregnancy is rough on its own due to her age, but other factors make it rough as well. Instead of the happy ending she dreamed of, Leah has to deal with a husband who is suffering from severe PTSD, not helped by living in the castle of the “innocent” woman he killed. On top of that, there were enemy fae constantly trying to reclaim the stolen land. One even tried to assassinate her while pregnant. The only help she had was the royal chancellors, who were more concerned with their ambitions than her and often took advantage of her trusting nature and ignorance. There was also the Diurnal, who also have their own goals, and the fairy godmothers, who try their best but are limited in what they can do. Despite this, she persisted and tried to stay optimistic, doing what she could. But then—she discovered something that shatters her heart. One day, during an argument, Leah learned the Knight never loved her. At least not romantically. He only saw her as a darling kid sister and his Princess. However, he was too timid to reject the King or correct the people who misunderstood their relationship. This is the final crack that finally breaks Leah’s heart. No one loved her. No one ever would. Realizing this, she isolates herself, not even coming out to say goodbye to the Knight when he goes to handle what she is told is a land dispute. A few weeks later, the fairy godmothers tell her he died, and they gift her his ring for the baby. The despair she feels sends her into premature labor.

The process was rough, and Leah nearly passed away. She survived thanks to the fairy godmothers. Holding her child, she realized that he looked just like his father and believed that, like him, he’d never love her. The Princess tried to care for the baby but wasn’t emotionally or mentally able to handle a baby. On top of that, she has trouble producing milk for him. This worsened her depression, as Leah believed that not only did she fail as a daughter and a wife but as a mother as well. One day, the castle is attacked due to her advisors screwing up. As the castle started to collapse, Leah tried to reach her baby but was unable to get past the collapsing rubble. Thus, she had no choice but to leave him to the fairy godmothers. Instead of running, she tried to fight off the enemy and give the godmothers time to save her child. However, because of her broken state, she blots over almost immediately. In her Overblot form, she killed everyone, friend and foe alike, till only Silver, protected by the Fairies magic, remained.

When she was done, not even a corpse remained (hence the lack of bodies when Lilia arrived 400 years later). Then, Leah vanished, drained of life and magic by her Phantom, who wanders away, not leaving even a trace of the Princess.

Notes about Leah; *When creating her, I wanted Leah to be Malenore’s opposite in almost every way. Appearance-wise, Malenore is a tall brunette with an imposing appearance. Leah is small (mainly due to age) and blonde with a delicate disposition. Malenore was strong-willed and arrogant to sin—albeit, with reason. Leah was humble to a fault and fragile, as her name implied. (Leah can mean “weary” and “delicate /fragile” as well as “heavenly flower.”) Malenore was loved by her family, however, they were distant (if Malefica’s relationship with her was anything like the one with Malleus). Leah was close in proximity to her family but was hated by them. The dragon Princess was beloved by all who knew her, including her “knight.” Leah was admired by the people but never loved. (Or at least that’s how she felt, especially by the end.) Malenore was an adult—a young adult but still an adult—while Leah was a child. Maleonre will be remembered by history and those she loved, while Leah was forgotten to the point she was barely a memory, only recalled in passing. However, they had things in common as well, such as losing their husbands while they stayed behind to “incubate” their children. They then died to give others a chance to save their sons. And, regardless, they were doomed by the narrative to never be a part of their children’s lives. *Funnily enough, despite being fragile, Leah did have her own strength as she was still able to stand and keep trying despite all the times her heart got broken. It was just she had no one to teach her how to fight, and she was forced to endure things even an adult would struggle with. Had she time, Leah would have been a loving and doting mother to Silver. Silver, in turn, would have been more of a momma’s boy than Deuce and super protective.

Real quick on the Knight—because this post isn’t long enough—I hope no one thought I was villainizing him. I just took what I saw in canon—him not being able to stand up to the royal family and his need to please everyone—and used it to contribute to their tragedies. Anyway, that’s my overly long headcanon for Princess Leah. Thank you for reading it all, and feel free to share your thoughts and your own version of Leah.