Silvana Nix Decus

"Though we looked identical on the outside, we were always very different.  For one thing, Rosa was always very good with people, while I preferred my own company.  Trying to be as personable as her is a strain, and I detest it.  Not to mention that I always have to pretend that I can understand animals like she did."

--Silvana Nix Decus to Pomona Decus

Silvana Nix Decus (nee Ruber) is the mother of Leviana-Silvana Pomona Decus and Levias Arion Decus.  She is the twin sister of Jovana Rosa Alba (nee Ruber). Her parents are Silvana Leta Ruber and Prince Levias Cassian Ruber. She is a supporting character in Shadowskin, and she is driven by the need to protect her two children no matter what it may require of her.

Appearance
Nix is half Solharian, so although she inherited the pale skin of her Norarchlander mother, she has ebony black hair that falls in a straight curtain down to her waist. She also has the full lips of her Solharian father and inherited his height. At 5 ft. 10 in., she is one of the tallest people currently living in the royal palace of Norarchland and by far the tallest woman. Her eyes are wide and dark, a trait she shares with her daughter. She is slender, and because her eating habits are largely driven by her unstable emotions, she varies between an emaciated look and a full, healthy one.

Personality
As a child, Nix was always more inclined to stay inside and read rather than get into trouble outdoors. This doesn't meanshe had no sense of adventure; she would often go on long hikes with her sister Rosa and take the opportunity to enjoy her magic over plant life. Unlike Nix, she was content with their quiet life and never planned to have any real adventures far from home. She has always been very gentle and reserved, and she is also very easily upset. Uncertainty unsettles her, and she prefers to stick to what she knows. However, she is so driven by her emotions that she has been known to do drastic and impulsive things as a result of being upset or scared. Some of these things have had an irrevocable effect on her life. Nix is very intelligent, and despite her reluctance to spend much time around others, she proved a shrewd and capable ruler once she was forced to take her sister's place. Nix's most defining trait is her ability to love and a willingness to sacrifice for that love. She will go to lengths that few would to protect those she cares about. According to the Myers-Briggs Personality Test, she would be an INTJ.

Early Life
Nix was born a princess in Solharena. She does not remember any of her childhood there, because she was only a year old when she was forced to leave with her mother and sister. Her mother took Nix and Rosa to live in Seneca, Norarchland, where she herself had grown up. There the family made a comfortable dwelling, though they were relatively isolated from contact with others. Nix and Rosa were best friends all through their childhood.

A Visit from a Bear
When Nix and Rosa were seventeen, a talking bear arrived in the middle of winter and asked for shelter. Afraid to say no, they obliged. The bear proved to be exceedingly gentle and kind to them, and they grew accustomed to his presence. They even considered him a friend. He went away come spring but arrived again as soon as the snow started falling. The following summer, the girls encountered a malicious Tenebrarius who threatened to curse them, but the bear appeared and rescued them, killing the Tenebrarius. He then surprised them both by asking Nix to marry him. Terrified by the violence she had just witnessed, Nix turned him down. The bear then asked Rosa, but she also refused him. Rather than being angry, the bear instead left them with gifts: the Speculum Memorias for Rosa and the Speculum Presentis for Nix. He then left and they never saw him again.

Royalty and Solharena
A few months later, a royal entourage came to their isolated cottage and informed Leta that she was next in line to the throne. Leta firmly refused, confusing her daughters. When the royal messenger left, Leta was forced to tell her daughters not only the truth about their birth but the truth about her own, that she was the lost daughter of the King of Norarchland. Her daughters were furious that their identities had been kept from them. Nix was so upset that she acted rashly and left home, heading for Solharena to learn more about where she had come from. She took with her the Speculum Presentis and the rose and diamond that her father had given to her mother. She hoped that this would help prove her identity in Solharena. She had a difficult time in the desert until she adapted. She eventually came across a merchant caravan, home to the Decus family. She joined on with them and befriended the family. She got along especially well with the leader's oldest son, Viator. Once she felt safe enough, she revealed her identity as the daughter of Prince Cassian.

The leader of the family insisted that they take her to the capital to claim her throne because she was of the Libertorum bloodline. Nix hated that idea; she wanted closure, not a country. Besides, she realized that she had fallen in love with Viator, and they wanted to marry. Despite some initial resistance from his parents, they eventually allowed it. Nix lived happily with Viator for several years and had a son with him whom they named Arion. Nix truly felt that she had found her place in the world. Unfortunately, someone among their caravan communicated her existence to the capital, and the rival king sent Reliquia soldiers to seek her out. They chased her, Viator, and Arion into a sandstorm, and they were separated. Nix was pregnant with her daughter Pomona at the time, and she decided to go back to her mother's home so protect her children. She spent some time away trying to find her husband, but to no avail, and she returned to her children in Seneca.

Queen of Norarchland
When Pomona was eighteen months old, she was tragically afflicted with a curse that kept her from touching anyone without drawing away their breath and killing them. The discovery of her curse was made when she nearly killed Arion while playing in the grass with him. Not long after this occurred, royalty again visited the cottage. While Nix had been gone, Rosa had taken on her mother's role as queen of Norarchland. She had suddenly died, leaving a grieving husband and a young daughter. Unwilling to allow his daughter to grow up without a mother and his kingdom without a queen, King Marius demanded that Nix, as her identical twin, take up the role as if Rosa had never died. Nix initially refused, but Marius threatened to have Pomona locked away she did not obey. Nix, Leta, and Pomona were seized to be taken to Artorius, but Arion evaded capture. Unfortunately, he was cursed by a Tenebrarius as he was retreating.

Nix did take her sister's place under the condition that Pomona be allowed to stay in the gardens of the royal palace with Leta. Marius agreed, as long as her identity was never revealed to Pomona. Seeing that it was the only way to keep Pomona safe, Nix became Queen Demetra. She buried the Speculum Presentis beneath the Aetas Tree of Princess Nevea. She raised the princess, though she always resented the fact that she had to raise her sister's child when her own child was just outside. Around a decade later, King Marius contracted a coughing illness (reportedly the same that Rosa had died of) and also perished, leaving Nix the sole monarch of Norarchland. Nix did well in the position, though she struggled to maintain authority when the Tenebrari were constantly trying to manipulate her. She withered under the burden of her secret, and it was nearly twenty years before she felt that burden lifted.

Shadowskin (Spoilers)
Not long after Princess Nevea's Aetas Tree burns down, a wild horse storms into the garden. Nix recognizes the horse as her son, Levias Arion Decus, in his cursed form. She has not seen him in over fifteen years. She insists that he be taken care of, though it kills her that she cannot be open with him about it or communicate with him. She realizes that Pomona, however, is taking care of him. The sight of them together brings on a wave of depression, and she is ill for some time.

In the spring, Pomona learns the truth about her mother and the two confront each other for the first time. Many tears are shed and Nix is finally able to tell the truth about her history to her daughter. Pomona reveals that Nevea already knows the truth, which further embitters the queen toward the princess. Her emotional instability leads her to become more susceptible to the schemes of Lord Appius, who has been attempting unsuccessfully to manipulate her ever since she replaced her sister. When she is told that Lord Appius will end the curses on her children if she orchestrates the death of Princess Nevea, she believes him.

Nix shows Pomona the pile of cursed gold created for her grandmother, Queen Oriana, by the Tenebrari. It is this cursed gold that is responsible for the recurring plague that had its first appearance as the Pythian Plague. She tells Pomona that she has ordered Nevea killed, and Pomona decides to intercede. She and the princess both disappear, and Nix, thinking them both dead, falls into a deep depression. She rarely leaves her room and forgets to eat. The Tenebrari begin making moves to have her removed from power.

A few months later, Pomona arrives at the castle again. Nix is relieved to learn that she is alive and safe, and since she believes that the princess is dead, she thinks that Pomona's curse is broken. Pomona asks to meet with her and Nix agrees. She tries to touch Pomona, but because Pomona is still cursed, Nix is knocked unconscious. Pomona takes the key to the tower with the cursed gold. When Nix awakes, she is told that the tower was destroyed and that Pomona ran away again. Nix confronts the woman that she arrived with, Governor Dema Selene Magna, and demands to know where Pomona has gone. Selene does not reveal where Pomona is, but she promises that she is safe and that she is helping to reduce the power that the Tenebrari have. Somewhat comforted by this, Demetra begins to regain her health very slowly.

A couple of months later, Silvanus Tal Larum arrives at the palace again. Demetra decides to have him lead her to where Pomona is using the Speculum Presentis. They begin to travel to Alcmena, Southarchland and on the way they receive the invitation to Nevea's marriage to Prince Hadrian of Southarchland. Unfortunately, though the invitation is legitimate, the Tenebrari replace Princess Nevea with a fake. They order this fake to have Nix killed with a pair of red shoes which cause her to dance until she dies. Her already diminished health hastened the process, and Nix collapses to the ground at the wedding. Pomona attempts to save her but is too late, and she uses her curse on Nix to end her suffering.

Family

 * Queen Silvana Oriana [Netricia] Aurelia (grandmother)
 * King Jovas Creon Aurelis (grandfather)
 * Princess Silvana Primrose "Leta" [Aurelia] Ruber (mother)
 * Prince Levias Cassian Ruber (father)
 * Jovana Rosa Ruber (twin sister)
 * Levias Viator Decus (husband)
 * Levias Arion Decus (son)
 * Leviana-Silvana Pomona Decus (daughter)
 * King Ventus Marius Albus (brother-in-law)
 * Princess Jovana Nevea Alba (niece)