Jaya

Jaya Azhdeen
The leading protagonist of The Lay of a Broken Winged Sparrow (fanfiction), Jaya Azhdeen is a nineteen years old Asmodian woman, born and raised in Carcarron, daughter of Ashura Aetherborn, twin sister to Jareth Azhdeen. At some point the captain of Aelinian Carcarron's guard, later a prisoner of her own people, then of the Elyos and in the end a member of a small Elysean legion called The Furiae.

Personality
Jaya is a strong willed young woman with a fiery temper, which often takes the best of her, and pride to match. She is a trained warrior, as well as an educated person with a lot of love for poetry and a knack for verbal sparring. She is a quick thinker with much attention for details - the traits she displays during her dealings with her still-enemies. Along with self-esteem she also has high expectations of herself, continuously pushing herself beyond her limits, both physical and mental, sometimes unwisely so. Due to her elaborate upbringing, she has knowledge and skill for court meetings, but she distastes politics and chooses art of sword above any other pursuits. Jaya is expressly introverted and, also, values her personal space a lot, always reacting negatively to being touched or even in close proximity with people. Although, a lot of it has to do with traumatizing events of her childhood and she becomes more tolerant to closeness as her mental wounds heal.

Backstory
Jaya and her brother Jareth were born in Spring (presumably April) and raised solely by their mother. They were born the same day as Aelinian Carcarron, whom the twins nicknamed Raum, and all three of them were raised as true siblings.

Jaya didn't just share deep gentle sisterly love for her twin, but also an almost telepatic connection with him, for example, when Jareth broke his hand in his childhood, she felt his pain while being far away, came running to her brother's aid before anyone knew of his injury. She, together with the two boys was growing like a normal child. Playing with them treasure hunting, receiving proper education, and developing interest in swordfight.

A tragedy struck when Jaya was nine years old. Rivenstone was attacked by the Elyos and her mother was killed by an Elyos sorcerer, Terekai Nameless - consumed by his aether-driven flames. Jaya, still only a little girl, watched her mother burning alive - a horrifying experience that left her traumatized and scarred for a lifetime, her enormous fear of fire being the most obvious sign. As if that was not enough, soon after this Jareth was sent far away to the academy of Synedell by Avarran Carcarron, leaving Jaya almost completely alone, save for Raum, whom she thought of as her second brother.

Jaya turned her attention to training with a sword and soon became an accomplished warrior. At the age of eighteen she was appointed as the captain of Raum's guard, who now ran Rivenstone.

But soon another tragedy took place, as the ill- fated fortress was attacked by an Elyos force that practically came out of nowhere very unexpectedly. Jaya, together with her comrades fought them, but when she battled her way through the corridor engulfed in fire to Raum's chamber, in which he had been fighting off the enemy, her way was barred by a daeva. He struck her with a sword in her left shoulder, pinning her to the wall, leaving her bleeding and hearing Raum calling her name until his voice abruptly stopped and she became unconscious.

Healed by Ciella - a mortal healer of apparently exceptional skill, Jaya woke to heartbreaking news: Raum had been murdered, found decapitated in his room, his head missing. She herself was arrested, put in prison for months, not allowed to attend the funeral, nor given a chance to commit suicide.

The Lay - Part I: Exile
Jaya was convicted for failing to protect her lord and many things she was not guilty of. She didn't object, however, being depressed over her practically brother's death and blaming herself for being unable to stop it, she wished for execution.

The trial brings a nasty surprise, when instead of much desired death sentence Avarran Carcarron grants her mercy and sends her to a lifetime of imprisonment in The White Barrow, telling her her brother (who is unaware of these events) will be notified of her fate. At last she receives a jade coraline - a birthday gift given by Raum - she thought she had lost and is prepared for the journey to the Barrow.

On their way from Carcarron the convoy is attacked by a group of Elyos daevas. They slaughter the entire escort and make a sort of harness to carry the wooden cage in which Jaya is held. One of them - a young-looking man with uncharacteristically black eyes and wings of a gyrefalcon - surprises her with his knowledge of Asmoth, announcing that her life has become a property of the House Helios. Jaya is unwilling to live as their prisoner, and she does her best to escape and fall to death, as the Elyos carry her cage in the air. She manages to remove one of the wooden bars and struggles out, but her leg gets caught in splinters of wood and metal, injuring her badly as well as preventing her escape. The Elyos carry her through a portal to Elysea.

She is placed in a painfully bright cell, her leg tended, but agonizingly painfull. She learns that this is not an injury she can fully recover from. Every day she is visited by her kidnappers and pestered wirh questions, as a rule by the blackeyed Elyos (always accompanied by another daeva) who introduces himself as a famous daeva known as Ouroborus Stalks-by-Night (informally addressed by friends as Oros) and who becomes the target of Jaya's hatred. Ironically, this hatred becomes the only thing she has to take her mind off her misery, and their verbal sparring the only thing to look forward to while locked up in a cell for a still unknown reason. He effectively uses her temper against her as well as showing small kindnesses here and there. On the first day of imprisonment she also meets the man who murdered her mother and attacks him, but is restrained by a dozen soldiers. Terekai doesn't show any signs of recognition, which suits Jaya, as she doesn't want the Elyos to learn her true heritage. After a week or so, she makes a bargain and is moved to a comfortable room and gets taught Elyan by a Chantress Ketterine Delaine, informally known as Kit Brightwing, who in turn gets Jaya's help in translation of an iconic Carcaresse ballad "The Lay of a Broken Winged Sparrow". Their daily work together soon turns their relationship into something approaching friendship.

The time spent locked up soon takes a toll on her. Feeling that she will go completely mad if she doesn't go outside at least for a short while, she asks Kit to arrange a little stroll outside in a showering rain. The Chantress is rather reluctant, but Jaya's insistence wins in the end and Kit and Nico disguise her somewhat and go out into the garden. Jaya is drawn to a Green Raven topiary she can see from her window, associating it with the idea of freedom and thinking it as out of place in Sanctum's perfect gardens as she herself is. She asks to go there, but when they arrive, they stumble into Oros. The gyre has no problem recognizing her through the disguise and is infuriated beyond measure, resulting in a lot more shouting from both, but they're interrupted by an Asmodian daeva appearing in the sky above Sanctum, carrying a wounded man and dropping him. Oros manages to catch him in time. The man is Pentarus Lockstep, Avarran Carcarron's spymaster.

Jaya is taken back to her quarters as the Furiae deal with the situation at hand, in the middle of the night she's visited by Trist who secretly takes her to where Pentarus is held. At first she has a spur of emotion at seeing her countryman with horrible wounds (the word "traitor" carved on his chest in a form of a deep injury and his tongue cut out) and apparently a prisoner of the Elyos as well, but then a heavy blow comes in Jaya's way, when she finds that Avarran Carcarron's spymaster - Pentarus Lockstep - is a traitor and Oros' informant. This loses her all self control and she tries to attack him, but Oros stops her, dragging her out on the balcony, where they have another verbal match in the rain. During this fight Oros reveals that he knows Azhdeen is not her real name and threatens to find out the truth and use it against her. In the end they make a bargain: Jaya will interrogate Pentarus and hide no knowledge gained from him, in exchange for Orors' blindness towards Jaya's heritage. Even worse than her countryman's treason is the news she learns from him: Avarran has announced Jaya a traitor and has given the order to kill her on sight, convincing everyone that she has defected to the Elyos and her abduction was in fact a rescue mission manufactured by Jaya herself.

Furious and hurt by such false accusations, ruining her good name and forever disabling her return to Asmodae, Jaya decides to do something unthinkable. She asks Oros to bargain her a meeting with The Helios lord - the leader of her abductors. Oros grants her this wish and Jaya finally meets Taion Helios, the high general of The Furiae - the small legion her captors belong to. And to everyone's shock she announces her wish to defect. It is her revenge for the lord Carcarron's betrayal: becoming exactly what he blamed her to be. She herself comes to the breaking point because of this decision, although she is unexpectedly saved from it by Oros, who provokes her into an exchange of petty insults.

Soon after this there's an attempt to assassinate Jaya at night, which she survives, trapping her assailant in her own room and the latter commits suicide. The assailant is a stranger and investigations give no results. The Furiae decide they can no longer keep her safely hidden. The night of the attack she's taken to the tower where Terekai Nameless resides and Taion reveals what his plan was for Jaya after her defection: to make everyone believe she's an Elyos noble and make her a member of the Furiae. He explains that there's an enchantment of illusion, capable of masking one's true appearance, even making an Asmodian look like an Elyos. Terekai uses the jade coraline as the object of focusing his aetheric magic - the centerpiece of the enchantment, destruction of which is the only way to break the illusion - and places the enchantment on Jaya, also he places a geas that prevents her purposely harming any of Ariel's loyal subjects, except for self-defence - both enchantments agreed with Jaya beforehand.

The Lay - Part II: The Furiae
Thus the young Asmodian becomes a very convincing Elyos. She is given a new name: lady Jaeyarithi Cymraelle - of a recently destroyed minor noble house Cymraelle, adopted by the house Delaine which makes her Kit Brightwing's heir. She meets the Lady of Light Ariel herself and on this meeting Jaya finally learns the reason the Furiae took a trip to Asmodae and snatched her out of her countrymen's hands. It appears Taion has a gift of foresight, he had a dream/vision of a crippled bird in a cage. The surroundings of the cage - which Oros recognized from Taion's description of the dream - were exactly where they found Jaya. In the end Ariel releases her of all the blame placed on her in Asmodae and takes her word that the latter will do whatever request the Lady of Light might approach her with.

At the court she becomes a target of attention of Liath Beltaine - a nobleman the Furiae, especially Nico, quite distaste. Aside from court meetings she is busy with training. She is presented to Sara-shi, a blind swordmistress Mau, who promptly nicknames Jaya "Aetherchild", without knowing her heritage, and even detects the separation of twins in Jaya's aura. Along with the sword training and physical exercise that both strengthens her and lessens the pain in her leg, Sara-shi also gives her dance lessons, using Oros as her dance partner. Given their extremely difficult relationship, both are quite unhappy about it and the first lesson almost ends with a disaster, until Oros decides to show a more respectful attitude, making the whole thing decidedly easier.

After a while Kit, Oros and Trist are sent on a mission to Asmodae. There's news of a newly ascended daeva in Carcarron who's gathering an army. Later she learns (from Beltaine, whose invitation she accepts for once) that the deed name of this daeva is The White Dragon. The name has a  connection with The Lay (ballad), which grasps Jaya's attention immediately. Very soon she is hit with an even more shocking news. For one she learns that Oros she knows is not the legendary Ouroborus Stalks-by-Night, but an imposter and the original Ouroborus had been dwad for quite some time. Another news comes from Oros and Trist, returned from the mission without Kit, the latter has been captured by the Asmodians and is a prisoner in Carcarron. Jaya immediately volunteers to help the rescue mission, but save for Nico, almost everyone is against the idea. Until Terekai reminds them, that after being made Kit's heir, during Kit's captivity Jaya's title is equal to that of Taion's, which means she can't be forbidden to go.

Before departing on the mission Jaya is sent to Terekai to find out how the preparation of the portal is going. During the encounter it is revealed that not only does Terekai know exactly who Jaya really is, but he seems to miss Ashura Aetherborn and mourns her even after a decade. Terrified, she doesn't dare ask him whether he is her father, which now she sees as a very likely possibility. Before they part Terekai tells her he will never do anything to harm her, or Jareth. Jaya is too shocked and doesn't immediately notice that against all odds he knows about her twin and knows his name - something she hasn't uttered in Elysea.

The Furiae, except Taion and Terekai, go through a portal to Carcarron and emerge in a small cave on a hill. Nico and Kiert play distraction, Oros and Trist sneak into the keep and Jaya is guarding the portal. The operation takes an unexpected turn. It appears The Dragon had been waiting for them, an entire army emerges from hiding under snow, Trist and Oros reappear, trist carrying Kit. Jaya, feeling a surprising powerful surge of aetheric energy defends the portal fighting off the Asmodians with ferocity that makes even a daeva stumble back. All of the Furiae reach the portal, Oros tells Jaya to go with the rest of them, he himself staying to defend the gate and give Terekai enough time to close it. Jaya, to her own surprise, finds herself unable to leave him and let him sacrifice himself. Instead she stays and fights alongside him. During the battle she realizes that The Dragon wants the portal (which is still open) to assault Elysea. She doesn't get a chance to share this thought with Oros, because an Asmodian daeva throws a spear at her, it hits her in the guts and throws her back in the ground, fatally wounded, watching the gyre - obviously stricken by her fate - continue defending the portal alone with even more deadly rage. Before all life bleeds out of her, she gathers the last bits of her strength to pull the spear out of het body, stand on her feet and bring down the portal, to save all the innocent people on the other side. As she does this, aether bursts inside her and beyond like flames, scorching the surroundings and forcing the Dragon's troops to flee, only Oros remains. In agony, she sees a ghost of her mother and finally gains wings of a phoenix, becoming a full fledged daeva. The problem is, her wings are dark, very clearly Asmodian.

Jaya and Oros hastily leave the place before the Dragon's army returns, finding temporary refuge in the abandoned Rivenstone, where she's temporarily overwhelmed with the memory of Raum's death. Weighing their chances of escaping abd returning to Elysea, Jaya comes up with an idea: flying to Synedel and asking for Jareth's help. The gyre considers the idea insane, but since they're out of options, goes along with the plan.

The journey takes a few days, during which the two learn to trust each other. There are also revelations, based on a bargain they make - a question for a question. Oros reveals that he is the son of the original Ouroborus, and his mother is (was?) an Asmodian, making him a half-breed. Jaya in her turn reveals the identity of her mother.

When they finally reach Synedel and find Jareth, they find that he has ascended at the same time with Jaya and has wings of a phoenix too. Jareth greets her with open arms, the twins laughing and crying from happiness. He is surprised to hear the reason and circumstances of her arrival and he in turn gives Jaya the most unimaginable news: Avarran Carcarron has been dead for some time and Carcarron is governed by Raum, somehow alive and ascended as The White Dragon. He is preparing for a "crusade" and he's using Jaya's name to make her look like a martyr in his people's eyes.

The Lay: Part III: Unintended Consequences
Jaya is dumbstruck and feels more betrayed than ever. When she somehow collects herself, and asks Jareth to help them, which he agrees to more than readily, though it has to be after his classes. Jaya is dealing with Oros' mistrust in her twin, and doesn't fail to notice, that by contrast he unconcernedly gives her his back, and she herself, sitting at an arm's length of him, doesn't feel any apprehension like she usually does being in close proximity with people. She turns down Jareth's offer to stay in Asmodae and the latter reveals his plan: opening a portal to Elysea with the help of a second - a young woman called Vee. With her help Jareth summons a rift to Elysea and after a heartfelt goodbye Jaya follows Oros on the other side.

They find themselves in Heiron. After a small reconnaisance Oros comes up with a plan how to reach Sanctum, and shows her how to absorb aether from other living things in order to mask her own Asmodian aetheric signature.

Trivia:

 * Jaya is an Indian name and means "victory".


 * Azhdeen may be related Ajdin, which means "enlightened".


 * In Indian lore Jaya was the name of one of the two Dvarapala - demigods, usually portrayed as a male and a female, armed with a sword and a mace - protecting the realm of Vishnu.


 * Phoenix is a mythical fiery bird that is reduced to ashes when it's time to pass, and a nestling is born from the ashes. In some variations the newborn  phoenix is an offspring of the passed one, while in others it's the reborn old phoenix.


 * In greek mythology phoenix is believed to have a beautiful singing voice that even made the Sun god Helios stop his chariot to listen.


 * The Chinese version of phoenix symbolizes balance of the opposites, it's a dualistic symbol including male and a female. It's also considered to be a counterpart of dragon.


 * Sara-shi naming her Aether-child must be connected to Jaya's mother, who, the legends say, was born of aether instead of being conceived by parents.