Katerina Belmonte [Gladiolus]

MY NAME IS KATE BELMONTE, AND MY AFFINITY IS WATER. MY SECONDARY ELEMENTAL IS LIGHTNING. I AM HETEROSEXUAL AND I AM PLAYED BY CAPT. SQUIRREL.

+ just, intelligent, diligent, inquisitive, compassionate, proactive, decisive, dedicated, brave, creative, vivacious, well-informed, contrite.

- ambitious, furtive, workaholic, temperamental, domineering, calculating, possessive, resentful, anxious, headstrong, competitive, perfectionist, self-conscious.


As the fourth daughter of the king and queen of the Empire, Kate could have easily just been one of a plethora of princesses. Much of her early childhood reinforced this possibility, although many noted that she was somewhat precocious and tended to cause quite a bit of trouble. The only other traits that set her apart from her older sisters were purely physical; although her hair was originally blond, it soon darkened to a light brown by the time she was four. In the years to come, many would note that she took after her maternal grandmother.

Once she could walk, one of Kate’s favorite pastimes was following her sisters around and generally being somewhat annoying. She lost her place as the youngest sibling before long, but her sisters still occasionally found her to be rather annoying. The same could be said of the numerous tutors who were employed in order to teach her how to be a proper noble. Although they insisted she go by her full, proper name, Katerina decided she didn’t want to be known as anything other than Kate. Instead of sitting still and minding her manners, Kate preferred to run around outside at every opportunity. She also developed the habit of speaking her mind and let the tutors know at every opportunity how much she disliked their lessons.

Despite her rambunctious nature, the young princess was often lonely since her sisters tended to find her obnoxious more often than not and she was forbidden from associating with the children of the servants. This changed when one afternoon the Mason couple brought their young daughter along when they had some business with the king. A curious Kate was quick to speak to the girl and although Holly was several years older, the two quickly became both friends and partners in crime. Before long, Kate learned an important lesson; it was much easier to cause mischief if one pretended to mind most of the time.

However, Kate’s tendency to speak her mind swiftly led to trouble. Shortly after her seventh birthday, she snuck into the antechamber to the throne room and hid behind a tapestry right before her father entered in order to discuss a matter with a minor noble. Kate couldn’t follow the entire conversation, but she understood that the minor noble was begging for more time before paying his taxes, which the king refused immediately. Growing bored with her hiding place; Kate stumbled out and commented that she didn’t see why her father couldn’t give the man a few more weeks.

Her father dismissed the noble almost immediately and turned to her. He stared at her silently for a moment before suddenly lashing out to cuff her in the side of the head. Taken by surprise, Kate was caught off balance and the force of the blow knocked her off her feet. She landed poorly on one arm, breaking her wrist. Before leaving the room, the king informed her never to question his authority again.

Some of the best healers in the Empire were employed in the castle, so Kate’s arm was fully mended before long. She never told anyone what happened and most assumed she had taken a tumble while playing. However, no one could fail to notice the sudden change that came over her.

From that day on, Kate made an effort to be a model princess. In her mind, she had clearly let her father down. Over the next several years she threw herself into her studies and everyone around her noted that she had become a rather serious child. As most saw this as an improvement over how she had been as a child, few bothered to even wonder what had caused such a severe change almost overnight. Before long, many of the nobles that encountered her on a regular basis began to note that she would have made a fine heir, had her younger brother never been born. Regardless, no matter how hard she worked, her father never acknowledged her efforts.

When she was twelve, her family hired a Drasilian tutor at her own request. While the man was only supposed to teach her magic, he was well traveled and enjoyed relating stories of his journeys. For the first time, Kate was exposed to perspectives outside what she had grown up with, although the man was careful not to speak ill of the way the Empire was run. Eventually he showed her the book he was writing about his travels.

Kate found the book to be fascinating. Not only were the stories interesting, but the writing process itself sounded attractive. She decided to try it herself and soon almost all her free time was spent writing. It was clear that she had a knack for writing, though she rarely showed her work to anyone.

At the same time she found herself excelling in magic, though this was mainly due to hard work rather than innate talent. As a result, she was rather surprised when her tutor began to insist that she also learn some form of direct combat. When Kate pressured him for his reasoning he insisted that she might not always have time to cast a spell in order to defend herself. Confused, Kate questioned how such a situation might arise. While he resisted at first, her tutor reluctantly told her of a riot that had occurred in the slums only that morning.

This was the first Kate had heard about any unrest whatsoever. Although she had read voraciously and had believed herself to be in touch with current events, she hadn’t realized that everything she read or heard passed through a filter. Even when she ventured outside the castle she was typically accompanied by a number of armed guards which ensured both her safety and that she didn’t stray into undesirable areas.

However, although she trusted her tutor, Kate couldn’t bring herself to simply believe his words. Instead she resolved to see if conditions throughout the city were really so poor with her own eyes. With the instruction of her friend Holly, Kate crafted a disguise that would trick just about anyone. By the time they were finished, a disheveled street urchin stood in her place. Assuming the name ‘Kent’ she snuck from the castle and into the slums.

It was then that Kate found that her tutor hadn’t been telling the complete truth. He had clearly sugarcoated the conditions in the lower district. Poverty was rampant, as was crime. Kate could barely believe that people could live in these conditions. One other common thread tied together everyone she spoke to; hatred for the royal family which had caused such a discrepancy between the rich and poor and refused to even attempt to fix matters. While most of their venom was directed at the king, she realized that a number of these people would be pleased if she died.

Kate returned to the castle, her head spinning. Before she had been under the impression that her father was good ruler, if a bit heavy-handed at times. However, now she could see that her initial impression was nothing more than an illusion. She also could not ignore that by virtue of her family and lifestyle, she was complicit in causing the suffering of numerous people. Still, there didn’t seem to be anything she could do about the issue, though she resolved herself to never be so misinformed again and her trips into the lower district became a regular occurrence.

The next day she agreed to study combat, realizing that there were probably a number of people that rightly would like to kill her. Since her father frowned upon his daughters learning the art of combat, her tutor decided to teach her himself. He chose a weapon he had learned while spending several years in Xihe; the tonfas. While the weapons were incredibly simple, Kate’s tutor demonstrated that they could be used to effectively ward off just about any weapon and could also do some serious damage if wielded correctly.

Still, they were unable to keep her weapon training secret for long, though that was entirely Kate’s fault. When she was sixteen, the castle burst into an uproar when her elder sister’s suitor began ranting that she was a whore. At first Kate expected that her parents would deal with him sharply, but it soon became apparent that they were not intending to do anything about the matter.

Before the man was able to leave the castle, Kate cornered him and publicly asked him to retract his statement. When he refused, she challenged him to a duel. He initially laughed her off, but using his already bruised ego she managed to pressure him into accepting. After all, the odds were in his favor anyways.

The fight was incredibly one sided and did not last very long. Although Kate managed to fire off one quick spell at the beginning, her opponent had been training in the art of swordsmanship since his youth and she had only just started using the tonfas. The man was easily a foot taller than she was, and the difference between them was apparent. He wasn’t one to hold back either, but Kate had been counting on that. When she toppled bruised and bleeding into the dirt, the suitor was shocked to see that a slight smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth.

A number of people had gathered to watch the duel, and for a moment they were silent. However, as the man sheathed his sword triumphantly, a voice from the crowd called out, “So you insult the elder sister and assault the younger?” The others in the crowd were already uncomfortable watching such an unmatched battle and the first shout was followed by a number of others. Although the suitor attempted to pacify the onlookers by claiming that Kate had challenged him in the first place, the petty ‘she started it’ argument did not help his case. Within a matter of moments, the man’s reputation had been devastated and he was forced to leave the castle in disgrace. That the person who had first spoken was never identified went largely unnoticed.

Following the fight, Kate was certain that she was going to be forbidden from practicing the tonfas. However, the matter just seemed to be ignored. Kate half suspected that she just wasn’t important enough to admonish and so she began to train openly in order to test her theory. After about a week it was clear that her father wasn’t going to stop her. She figured that as long as she seemed obedient in all other areas, weapon training wasn’t too much of an issue. Once she realized that, Kate made an effort to rapidly improve. Although she had expected to lose and it had fit her intentions, she was still frustrated by how easily the suitor had beaten her and was determined that it wouldn’t happen again. This determination did not go unnoticed by the other nobles and many of them began to respect her character.

Kate was rather surprised at first; she had only intended to destroy the suitor’s reputation during their fight, not bolster her own. It was simply easier to train outdoors in the proper facilities as well, but the nobles seemed to think that her actions were impressive. An idea then entered her mind; people seemed to be swayed easily, especially when they were in groups. She couldn’t exactly go out into the city and begin speaking, but perhaps she could address the people of Gladiolus a different way. If she couldn’t speak, perhaps she could write. Perhaps that was the way she could make a difference in the Empire.

For the next month, Kate agonized over exactly what to put down and finally settled for a slightly inflammatory piece that discussed the disparities between the nobles and the poor and her thoughts on how it should be solved. She delivered it to a printer in her guise as Kent, though when she paid Kate claimed that she had been hired by someone else so it would be more difficult to trace.

Within a few days, it seemed as though her piece was everywhere throughout the city. It was then banned, which only made it more popular. A warrant was placed for the author’s arrest, due to the both the controversial information contained within the writing and because the author had clearly possessed some inside information. However, nobody came close to connecting the piece to Kate.

Shortly after the hubbub died down, Kate had yet another article published, although this time it was more difficult to find a printer. Although the piece had a similar effect, she soon realized that her writing really wasn’t going to change everything. While it might inspire some to action, that was not enough. While she advocated for nonviolent means to change things, the mood on the streets seemed to be too dark to avoid violence completely. If violence did erupt, Kate feared that thousands would be killed. Even if the common people did manage to take the city, chances were that her whole family would be slaughtered. They might not be innocent, but that didn’t warrant their deaths. For the most part they were only passively complicit in oppressing the people and the same could be said of most of the other nobles. However, her father was the exception.

She began to acknowledge that her father simply had to go; he didn’t seem to be willing to work with anyone in order to improve the situation. However, even if her father were to be removed from the picture, she doubted that her younger brother would be an effective ruler either. While Kate believed that he might have been a decent enough ruler in another time, she doubted he would be able to solve the situation. However, it wasn’t as if they could just hand the power over to the common people; the nobles would never approve which could lead to a civil war.

Perhaps it was somewhat arrogant, but Kate began to believe that she was possibly the only one who would be able to pacify the situation if she were to take the throne. Over the next few years she began to try to find a way to overthrow the king, an act which was made much more difficult since if he was to die then her brother, Vergil, would be given the throne. Even after several years, Kate felt as if she really had not gotten anywhere. However, she had not expected it to be simple and despite the difficult nature of her task, Kate felt as if it had fallen to her to make up for the sins of her father.

• Kate’s disguise as Kent is actually very convincing. However, one area where she occasionally trips up is that she occasionally forgets that uneducated lads off the street probably don’t speak in a well-educated fashion.
  
• When she is Kent, Kate also appears to be no older than twelve or thirteen.
  
• Although she’d never admit it, Kate is terrified of her father.
  
• She rarely goes by her full name, except for important state events or when she wants to make an impact.
  
• Kate is somewhat claustrophobic.

Likes:

• Early mornings
  
• Books
  
• Writing
  
• Coffee
  
• Dogs
  
• Thunderstorms

Dislikes:

• Her father
  
• Being compared to her siblings
  
• Having to admit that she’s wrong
  
• Tight spaces
  
• The feel of velvet
  
• Horror stories