A ken mind and sharp wit, Martella is one of the most shrewed operations to play the great game. She is totally loyal to the Pricness, who is the only family she has left.

“The wealthy Lotheed family has been a strong supporter of the Stavians for almost 100 years. They have a long family tradition of arcane magic, adding to their wealth and prestige.

Martella is the black sheep of her family, being a result of an extramarital dalliance with a Qadiran diplomat. She lacks her family’s gift for magic as well, adding to their resentment. A terrible accident befell Mercater Lotheed one evening while the count worked in his study. A sudden heart attack struck, killing the middle-aged man. Martella attended the funeral, where she learned that her eldest half-brother, Bartelby, would take over the dayto-day management of the family lands. Bartelby visited Martella once following the death of their father, and rather than console his sister, he instead told her not to return to the family estate unless she brought a suitor who would actually bring value to the Lotheed family.

When she completed her schooling, Martella found herself alone— without a home, a family, or any resources. Seeing Martella without anywhere else to go, Eutropia offered her a position within the growing political coterie she had assembled. Martella accepted the offer, not only out of friendship, but also because the alternative was to find a dullard suitor if she ever wanted to see her ancestral home again. She is now Europia's spymaster.

Martella Lotheed honed herself at becoming a spymaster worthy of the future monarch of Taldor. While she lacks magical aptitude, Martella makes up for it with skill in crafting mechanical devices and understanding alchemical reactions. The secrets she overhears, the papers she intercepts, and the agents she places in estate staffs have proven valuable in positioning the princess for an eventual succession of power, and she now works diligently behind the scenes to identify and block threats to Eutropia’s life or plans”