Maricella

Maricella
Race	Altierran
Born	509
Age in “Snow”	47
Occupation/rank	Handmaiden tutor
Family

Maricella is the Criada Velada — the senior tutor — at Sometria, the school where Bestia are conditioned. She is Meg Maddison's instructor and jailer, the only tutor at Sometria who knows Meg's true origins, and the woman who kills Toia during the escape attempt. Where Jesenia is the novel's strategic antagonist — managing the system from a throne — Maricella is the system's enforcer, the person who translates doctrine into daily practice. She is not portrayed as gleefully sadistic like Kataleya or Vila; she presents cruelty as discipline, doctrine, and procedure, and that makes her more dangerous, because her violence is principled rather than personal.

Appearance

Maricella is described in the novel primarily through her bearing, her rank, and her instrument. She is identified as Criada Velada Maricella, a senior tutor at Sometria, and is the only tutor there informed of Meg's true origins. She characteristically carries a strap — doubled up and gripped in her hand — which serves as both instructional tool and weapon. The novel gives little physical description beyond her role, her authoritative posture, and the strap that is rarely absent from her hand.

The reference photos show the following details not explicit in the novel text: light grey or pale blue eyes; an angular, long face with very high, sharp cheekbones and hollowed cheeks; a fair, pale complexion with visible ageing lines around the mouth and eyes, suggesting maturity; a lean build concealed by heavy robes. She wears a dark forest-green wool robe with two vertical lighter green bands running down the chest, and a matching thick hood draped around her head and neck as a cowl that completely conceals her hair. A large silver geometric pendant shaped like a recessed square with an abstract design hangs on a simple dark cord. In the primary portrait her expression is severe, stern, and unyielding, her mouth set in a tight flat line, standing upright and rigid with her arms crossed over her chest against a rustic stone wall. In the second portrait she holds a long, thin, dark brown leather strap loosely coiled in her right hand — the instrument of her trade — her expression cold, authoritative, and watchful against a dark gradient background.

Character

Only concerned with Sometria, not politics. She does not dislike Meg in the way that Laritza does; her only concern is to turn her into a proper Bestia and complete her task.

She can be ruthless however, as shown when she killed Toia. She has been given the order to kill her if Meg should escape and saw this as fulfilling her duty, with no personal animosity towards the Bestia.

Speech

“Wretched”

Addresses the novices as “child” (can be used with either sex)

Images

Maricella