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Cleolind Onjenyu/the Mother/the Damsel
The historical figure Sir Galian Berethnet founded and modernized Inys, as well as founded the Six Virtues (in which he’s known as the Saint). In the West, he’s seen as a kind and gallant knight who saved Lasia from the Nameless One and brought back a princess, Cleolind, whose daughter with Galian became the first Berethnet queen. In reality, Galian was less noble: he refused to listen to Cleolind when she refused to marry him, he couldn’t fight the Nameless One, and he was hoodwinked by Kalyba. Kalyba raised Galian as her son and later, forged Ascalon for him—and fell in love with him. He was so caught up with Cleolind, however, that Kalyba made Galian believe she was Cleolind so the two could marry. When Galian eventually discovered her deceit and that he’d conceived a baby with his adoptive mother, he hanged himself out of shame. In the novel’s present, upon learning and accepting Galian’s complex history, Sabran plans to spread the truth about him and Cleolind, downplaying Galian’s importance and honoring Cleolind for the first time.
Sir Galian Berethnet/the Saint Quotes in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The The Priory of the Orange Tree quotes below are all either spoken by Sir Galian Berethnet/the Saint or refer to Sir Galian Berethnet/the Saint . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 14 Quotes
All sisters knew about the lost years. Not long after vanquishing the Nameless One and founding the Priory, the Mother had left on unknown business and perished before she could make her way home. Her body had been returned to the Priory. No one knew who had sent it.
One small faction of sisters believed that the Mother had gone to join her suitor, Galian Berethnet, and had a child with him, establishing the House of Berethnet. This idea, unpopular in the Priory, was the founding legend of Virtudom—and what had landed Ead in Inys.
[…]
‘Well,’ Chassar said, ‘most sisters believe that the Mother left to protect the Priory from some unnamed threat.’ He pressed his lips together. ‘I will write to the Prioress and tell her what Fýredel said. She may be able to solve this riddle.’
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Chapter 32 Quotes
‘Despite their fear,’ Chassar continued, ‘the Lasian people did not want to convert to this new religion. Cleolind told the knight as much and refused both his terms. Yet Galian was so overcome with greed and lust that he fought the beast nonetheless.’
Loth almost choked. ‘There was no lust in his heart. His love for Princess Cleolind was chaste.’
‘Try not to be irritating, my lord. Galian the Deceiver was a brute. A power-hungry, selfish brute. To him, Lasia was a field from which to reap a bride of royal blood and adoring devotees of a religion he had founded, all for his own gain. He would make himself a god and unite Inysca under his crown.’
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Chapter 51 Quotes
‘When history fails to shed light on the truth, myth creates its own.’
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Chapter 55 Quotes
‘Birthing my daughter took a great deal of my strength. I lost too much blood. Finally, as I lay racked with childbed fever, close to death, I could keep hold of Galian no longer. Clear-eyed at last, he threw me into the dungeons.’ Her voice darkened. ‘He had the sword. I was weak. A friend helped me escape…but I had to leave my Sabran. My little princess.’
[…]
All the scattered fragments of the truth were aligning, explaining what the Priory had never understood.
The Deceiver had himself been deceived.
‘Galian ripped down every likeness of me that had been painted or carved and forbade any more to be created for the rest of time. Then he went to Nurtha, where I had raised him, and hanged himself from my hawthorn tree. Or what was left of it.’ […] ‘He ensured his shame would go with him to the grave.’
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Chapter 63 Quotes
The dragon, Nayimathun, was nothing like Fýredel, except in her great size. Terrifying as she appeared, with her mountain-tops of teeth and firework eyes, she seemed almost gentle. She had cradled Tané with her tail like a mother. She had saved Thim. Seeing that the creature was capable of compassion towards a human made Loth doubt his religion all over again. This year was either a test from the Saint, or he was on the verge of apostasy.
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Sir Galian Berethnet/the Saint Character Timeline in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The timeline below shows where the character Sir Galian Berethnet/the Saint appears in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...the Nameless One, a dragon who attempted to subjugate humankind 1,000 years ago before Sir Galian Berethnet wounded him. Eastern dragons aren’t at all like the Nameless One, but there’s been...
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Chapter 6
...daily human sacrifices. One day, Cleolind, the Onjenyu princess, was chosen as the sacrifice. Sir Galian Berethnet offered to kill the beast in exchange for Cleolind’s hand. Suddenly unable to help...
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Ead agrees, saying that Sir Galian stabbed the Nameless One, who returned to the “Womb of Fire.” Sir Galian married Cleolind,...
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Chapter 9
...with the other women in the Sanctuary of Virtues. The chapel features a statue of Galian Berethnet and his famed sword, Ascalon. There’s an empty plinth to commemorate Queen Cleolind. No...
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...what she sees and hears—Sabran insists that from his place in the heavenly court, Sir Galian Berethnet will protect her from Fýredel. Ead races for the clock tower and climbs as...
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Chapter 11
...that Ead is a sorceress who protected Ead from Fýredel. This, Sabran insists, is nonsense—Sir Galian Berethnet protected her. Ead insists Truyde is just young and jealous that Ead’s position is...
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Chapter 14
...Chassar muses that perhaps the Mother truly did found the House of Berethnet with Sir Galian during her “lost years,” time the Priory cannot account for.
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Chapter 22
...Arch Sanctarian welcomes everyone, explaining that marriages in Inys are based on the marriage between Galian and “Cleolind, a heretic woman of Lasia.” Ead is annoyed. She spends the service watching...
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Chapter 32
...lottery to sacrifice a person to him regularly. When his daughter, Princess Cleolind, was chosen, Galian Berethnet arrived and promised to kill the Nameless One with his sword, Ascalon, provided Cleolind...
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Chassar continues: Lasians didn’t want to convert, and Cleolind told Galian no. Greedy Galian attempted to fight the Nameless One himself and got hurt immediately. Then,...
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Chapter 39
...she can see the giant orange tree, the huge waterfall (called, mockingly, the Wail of Galian), and the river that feeds the tree. While most of the Priory’s rooms are in...
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Chapter 43
...insists that neither she nor the Berethnet queens have been able to find it after Galian hid it. (It’s well known in the Priory that Kalyba forged Ascalon for Galian, which...
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Chapter 52
...Ascalon’s creator. When Ead and Loth are finished, Sabran is offended by Ead’s claims that Galian was terrible and didn’t banish the Nameless One.
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...find Ascalon and the other jewel so they can finish the job. According to Kalyba, Galian left the sword with people who would die to keep it hidden. Loth suggests it...
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Chapter 53
...was sick, and during that time, she lost her baby. However, they must look to Galian for guidance so they can protect Virtudom. Sabran says that she will pardon most people—but...
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...Draconic creature. Sabran admits that she’s struggling to come to terms with Ead’s version of Galian and Cleolind’s story, as it contradicts everything Sabran was taught to believe. But she’s afraid...
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Chapter 55
...grasp on reality shifts from day to day. And over dessert, Lady Annes confirms that Galian visited Serinhall soon after Cleolind died.
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...based on Clarent’s riddle, that Ascalon is there. By now, Margret and Ead have reached Galian’s tomb. However, Margret reveals that it’s true that Galian “had no earthly remains,” though the...
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...light of fire and star / What I drink will drown”—Ead and Margret deduce that Galian understood that Ascalon would be drawn to sterren (and to Kalyba), and that burying it...
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Kalyba explains that Galian was her adopted son. She stole him from Goldenbirch, planning to use his blood to...
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Chapter 56
...Ead and Sabran walk in the Privy Garden. Ead thinks privately about Sabran’s ancestry, about Galian and Kalyba, and how Galian created an entire religion to try and hide his shame....
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Chapter 71
...it was satisfying to create such a legacy, she remained jealous and in love with Galian, who wanted Cleolind, not her.
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