Amena Bayn

Personality: Amena is a strong and independent woman and rules with a just yet fair hand. She has always tried to act as a proper lady and actually comes across as rather regal. Which isn't to say that she doesn't know how to get her hands dirty; she loves to ride horses and go hunting just as much as the next person, though she rarely gets to indulge in such acts. She is very intelligent, and she actually loves the tactical side of warfare, often calling meetings with her Commanders to strategize.   
While she puts Keld above everything, she loves her children more than she could ever put into words. Even if she might not have the time to dote on them, she always makes sure that they know she loves them.  

History: Amena was born as the only child to a rather prosperous Grand Duchy. Her mother and father were very tolerant and open minded, so when they only had the one child, it didn't matter that she was a girl. They were going to raise her to uphold the family name and take on the Grand Duchy when it was time. And they did exactly that. She is nothing but happy with how she was raised, and has many bright, happy memories of her childhood and adolescence. 

Her life only grew happier when she met her best friend, Kavan Forrester. He was an amazing knight, and she admired his genius. She knew that he was somebody that she wanted around her when she came into her inheritance, she'd even fancied the idea of marrying him once her parents were dead and in the ground. Keld's people seemed to like him, and while he wasn't exactly highborn, she figured that she could do whatever she wanted to do after her parents were dead. Unfortunately, that idea was struck down when she was paired with an insolent man from Brittany.  

When she learned of her impending marriage, she sought out Kavan to help her come up with some sort of idea to end the engagement, but by the time she found him, she was so hysterical about it all that he could only comfort her. They ended up sleeping together, but after that they hardly saw each other, and she began to think that he didn't share her feelings. About a week before she was to wed Ewan, the man from Brittany, she found out that she was pregnant with Kavan's child. She told him of the pregnancy, and he confessed his love for her. She thought that they might be able to come up with a way to get her out of the marriage, but he left before she could say anything in response to his proclamation, and avoided her in the weeks following. 

So, she proceeded with the marriage, not having figured out a way to get out of it, and knowing that if she didn't marry soon she would be ostracized because of her pregnancy. She never did get along with her husband, though, and despite the fact that she felt Kavan had been lying about his feelings for her (she thought that maybe he had said he loved her because it would soften whatever penalty he would receive for getting her with child), she still sought him out time and time again. The man held her heart, after all, and if she couldn't have him to love, at least she could have him to warm her bed.  
Thankfully, her joke of a marriage lasted for less than a decade. Ewan didn't like the fact that he was little more than a figure head, and had grown prone to drunken fits. One night, while they were seated to dinner with a few noble families, her drunken husband picked a fight with her. He ended up slapping her across the face, and she took his head for it the next day. Luckily, killing her husband only served to gain her more respect from her people, and she didn't have to worry about being brought to trial over it. Which was definitely a Godsend because she had several children to look after, two of which were merely infants. Because she was so busy with the two youngest and running a Grand Duchy, she didn't have time to pursue whatever relationship she might have wanted with Kavan. Which was good, because she needed him to care for her eldest boys while she couldn't. 

Years have passed since then, and while her children are grown and pursuing lives of their own choosing (besides her eldest son, who she's grooming to take over the Duchy), she is currently busy preparing her men (and some women) to go to war. She hasn't yet gotten up the nerve to reveal her feelings to Kavan and it wouldn't be a lie to say that she might never. 

Being the sole ruler of a Grand Duchy doesn't really give Amena time to make a lot of friends, but that's not to say that she doesn't have a few.

The first people on Amena's list of enemies are her late husband's family members, even if they haven't done anything in retaliation for his death.
She, personally, doesn't hold any ill will towards anybody, but she is a Grand Duchess and has sentenced people to death or imprisonment, and has sorted through noble disputes, so she's likely to have her share of enemies.  

Amena has only ever been with two men in her life; her dead husband, and Kavan Forrester - the only man that she had ever loved. Despite the fact that they have never actually sorted through their feelings about each other, Amena would never accept another man as her husband, and refuses to take another man into her bed.