Queen Bellis is either a wise matriarch or a heartless tyrant , depending on which side of the war you find yourself on. She believes that the resources of Solis belong to the people of Solis and that, unless it is a matter of life or death, Solis has no obligation to share its bounty. Solis has the most fertile lands of all Tesu and produces more crops than anywhere else. They always engaged in trade with the other lands but when King Hesphur ascended to the throne in Ryna he felt that Solis had an obligation to support the lands that were unable to produce crops. When King Theos and Queen Bellis refused to give away what belonged to the people of Solis, King Hesphur declared war. The first attack was intended to kill the entire royal family during a festival near Leyni but little Ayn had a fever so Queen Bellis stayed at the castle to care for her while King Theos headed off with their sons. The death of her husband and her sons hit her hard, but Queen Bellis couldn't waste time grieving. She had a kingdom to protect and a daughter to raise. She issued a proclamation that Solis would not trade with any land that had dealings with King Hesphur. This put the other lands in a quandary for they did not want to get drawn into this war but they relied on the food they traded for in Solis to survive. King Hesphur in turn declared any land that traded with Solis to be an enemy of Ryna and began attacking them. Some of the lands stopped trading with Solis and supported Ryna's fight while others continued to trade with Solis even thought it meant fighting King Hesphur. The Oracle had foreseen the arrival of a dark wizard but Dalvo, his sister and the nanny weren't what Queen Bellis had been expecting. They were from a settlement bordering Leyni and sought refuge after Sulea was accused of being a witch. It still amazed Queen Bellis that some of the towns were so afraid of magic that they tossed the term 'witch' around like it was a bad thing. If only they knew that it was mostly magic protecting them from King Hesphur. The witch hunters are, unfortunately, a very real threat to those women accused. A renegade militia, they have allegiance to no one, wandering Tesu enslaving girls and women accused of witchcraft. The slave trade is a lucrative one; it is one of the things that you can always trade to get what you want even in Solis since the crops don't harvest themselves. Queen Bellis knows King Canu's proposal of marriage between her daughter and Prince Josha would be good for Solis. Having the added resources of Leyni to fight King Hesphur would be beneficial but she is sure there is an ulterior motive besides wanting to ensure continued trade and support from Solis. Her feeling is shared by Sulea, and if there is one person the Queen trusts to find out the truth it's the Enchantress. Princess Ayn