Meridith Bond Day 2

Character Questionnaire – Kate Cherington

1. Could you please tell me your full name? And what name you prefer to go by.
Katherine Marie Elizabeth Cherington. But everyone just calls me
Kate.

2. Where and when were you born?
I was born in 1773 at my father’s estate, Cherington in Warwickshire.

3. Tell me about your family.
My family consists of my father, my uncle, Kit—Viscount Vallentyn, his
wife, my aunt Vallentyn, who is the high priestess of the Vallen, as you
know, and their six children (Jonathan, Mary, Susan, Jamie, Ewan and
baby Caroline). My mother passed away when I was six.

4. Were you happy growing up?
I was very happy until my mother died. She was a very loving mother,
giving me so much of her time and attention. I was truly a very lucky
little girl—until she died. After that, I’m afraid, I can’t say that I have
been very happy. My father sent me away when he remarried and,
well… it’s not been easy living with my Aunt Vallentyn.

5. Can you tell me about one good memory you have from your childhood or
early life?
One good memory? Playing with my mother. Laying back on the grass
in the gardens on a summer’s day moving the clouds. I’m associated
with Air and she would spend hours with me playing with the clouds.
She was associated with water, so she would color the clouds with
rain while I moved them about and tried to manipulate them into
shapes. It was a silly game we played, but I did learn to control my
magic very well.  She would have me change the temperature of the
air around us, and move objects about. She taught me a great deal.

6. How about a sad or bad memory?
The day my mother died was certainly the worst day of my childhood.
I could hear her screaming. They said that it was just childbirth and it
would be over soon. But when she finally stopped the screaming and
grunting, the silence was even worse.  Then it was the servants who
started screaming. People running to and fro getting water and
clothes and I don’t know what else. But they never let me go to her.
They never let me near her. My nanny held me tightly in her arms not
letting me go. It was… it was horrible.

7. What do you think is your best quality?
Due to the events in my life, I think making the best of a difficult
situation is my best quality. After my father brought me here to my
uncle and aunt at Vallentyn, I worked hard at making myself
indispensible to my aunt, and at making my life here a good as it could
be. It hasn’t always been easy, but I managed.

8. What about your worst?
I’m afraid I’m just not a very patient person. I’ve been tasked with
teaching the children—my cousins—on how to use their magical
abilities and sometime it’s almost more than I can bear. Mary is a little
beast and Susan copies everything she does. Jonathan is a sweetheart
and so is Jamie. Ewan seems to be growing more and more like Susan,
but we’ll see… or, at least, I pray that we will… if he… no, when he gets
better.
9. What do you fear most?
My Aunt Vallentyn. She is quite terrifying. She is so incredibly
powerful and doesn’t hesitate to use her magic toward her own ends.
My uncle is also slavishly in love with her and will do nearly anything
she asks of him. Sometimes I worry that if she were to suddenly
decide that she no longer wanted me to live with them he would turn
me out.  I would hope that he would have the strength to tell her no,
but… it is something I fear.

10. What is that you want in life?
I want to be happy. I want to marry some day, have a home of my own,
perhaps children, should I be so blessed. Barring that… since it doesn’t
look like my aunt will ever introduce me to society, I would love to
travel. I admit that I take the guilty pleasure of reading all of the books
in my uncle’s library which detail great explorations. They sound so
thrilling, I would love to have an opportunity to explore the world
some day.
I know my life is a bit difficult right now, but it will get better. I
suppose you could say that that is another one of my good
qualities—I’m an optimist. I hope and pray and do all that I can to
ensure that my life will get better. A little patience is all I need. Ha!
What I wish I had more of.