edessa.

[smithereens]

edessa sardissiana nazianzena melitena ("adissiya")
YO THAT'S A LONG ASS NAME lemme break it down: sardissius is her mother's maiden name (the emperor's surname, which is why she keeps it), nazianzen is her father's surname, melitena would only be used when she goes to saarinen, to signify her as melitene. she'll take a saarinen name when she marries, along with her husband's surname(s), hence she'll become adissiya. (madahir can help her pick it c: )

melitene "princess" -- actually the niece of the emperor but who's counting
19 y/o
mixed race (mom is olive-skinned, dad is black)
5'6", 135 lbs
black hair, naturally curly, reaches about her mid-back
gold eyes?? or maybe green
dark olive skin

great-uncle (mother's brother) - tiberius - emperor (age 48)
cousin (mother's sister's son) - lysander - heir (age 25) (also the emperor's nephew)
siblings - sisters isidore, cyra, damiane (edessa is the eldest), youngest brother - dominic (age 8)

she has feelings for her cousin, lysander, but he's about two weeks away from getting married and that sucks. it's a super romantic story, much to her chagrin: he fell in love with a lower class girl who was a former prostitute, and he had to convince his uncle to lift the ban on emperors marrying anyone from below the upper class so that he could marry her.

yeah, she feels pretty shitty. so when the ambassador to saarinen sent word that newly-crowned king madahir was ready to open negotiations for marriage again (except with the wuxians, ofc) she almost immediately volunteered to go. she probably would've been pressed into it anyway, but w/e, she's a princess now.

QUICK N DIRTY PERSONALITY:
-COOL BIG SIS
-mature for her age, very pragmatic, level-headed
-knows when to keep her counsel, otherwise very sassy
-doesn't like to talk about herself, deflects with jokes and charm
-(mostly) polite, respectful, very strong sense of duty/loyalty
-quick to anger & slow to forgive, will totally rip you a new one if you piss her off