"I picked maichen because I don't believe I'm better than anyone else. With beating hearts and open minds, we are all the same."
-maichen on how she chose her name[1]
maichen is the queen, of the Shadows, a subspecies of vampire, in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series by JR Ward, a position which she shares with s'Ex. She is the shellan of iAm and one of the main characters in the thirteenth book, The Shadows.
Biography[]
Shortly after her birth, maichen was given into the care of specially trained staff; thereafter she only saw her mother on formal occasions when she was brought out to be put on display before being locked in her rooms again.
To gain some small measure of freedom on the palace grounds, she began to camouflage herself as a low priest, astrologer, or servant. This last role was how she got her nickname of maichen, which is a shadow term for "maid," as that was how she was disguised when she met iAm. He was a prisoner at the time, having been caught sneaking into the palace to search the library for any information on Selena's disease. With s'Ex's assistance, she helped him look and then escape safely after they came up empty-handed.
Continuing to pretend to be nothing more than a maid, iAm and maichen met in secret a few times, but s'Ex revealed her true identity to him. Hurt and angry, iAm told her he didn't want to see her again. Disheartened, maichen returned to the palace with s'Ex where she followed her suspicions and looked into the astrology charts. She discovered that the astrological chart for s'Ex's infant daughter indicated that she should have been the rightful heir to the throne, thus supplanting maichen. Queen Rashth didn't want someone from a commoner's bloodline as queen so she had the newborn's record changed. Years earlier Rashth had, had iAm and Trez's charts swapped because she'd wanted one of the twins to become the Anointed One, but iAm hadn't been expected to live for very long; the change was in the best interests of the twins' parents and her own.
s'Ex executed Queen Rashth for having his daughter murdered and ensured that maichen took the throne. Once queen, she first abolished the role of Anointed One; then she elevated s'Ex to the equivalent of king to ensure that no Shadows were ever again treated the way they had been under her mother's rule.[1]
Currently, she and iAm are expecting a daughter.
Personality[]
maichen is down-to-earth, funny, sweet[2], humble, and intuitive. She's also not afraid to put her foot down, but doesn't do so unnecessarily.
Physical Description[]
maichen has long, tightly waved black hair, dark brown skin, peridot coloured eyes, and high wide cheekbones.[3] She has a husky voice that makes a male think of sex.[4]
Abilities[]
- Those that come with being a Shadow.
Relationships[]
iAm[]
Although their relationship suffered at first due to her mother's machinations and her own wish that iAm would see her for herself and not her title, they were free to be together once she took the throne.
Queen Rashth[]
maichen rarely saw her mother and she though of her more as her ruler than as her parent.
s'Ex[]
Although they began as uneasy allies through mutual blackmail, their alliance grew when he helped smuggle iAm and maichen in and out of the Territory, and they became true allies when she discovered that the queen had been behind the murder of his daughter.
Trivia[]
- The first time a male ever saw her face was when she was ordering s'Ex to ensure that no harm came to iAm as a prisoner.[5] The second was when she was intimate with iAm for the first time.