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The Unceasing Emperor, Dranghien Lakseng
The Golden Empress is the leader of the Fleet of the Tiger Eye, a notorious pirate fleet, and the captain of its biggest ship, the Pursuit. She’s cutthroat, selfish, and heartless, seeming to care little for anyone on her crew. On her one prosthetic arm, there are tally marks that Niclays believes denote at least some of the people she’s killed. Though she never goes into detail, she implies that something happened in her past to turn her against dragons—which is why, in the present, the Fleet of the Tiger Eye abducts and sells dragons for their body parts in Kawontay. She’s also obsessed with discovering the key to eternal life, and she forces Niclays to put together the pieces to lead her ship to Komoridu, where she hopes (but ultimately fails) to eat from a magic mulberry tree. While Tané rescues Nayimathun from the Golden Empress, she vows to one day seek revenge for the suffering Nayimathun endured.
The Golden Empress Quotes in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The The Priory of the Orange Tree quotes below are all either spoken by The Golden Empress or refer to The Golden Empress . 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 62 Quotes
‘Unless you would like Yidagé to take the fall on your behalf, it must be you.’ She touched him under the chin with her knife. ‘They may not kill you. But I think you will be pleading for that mercy.’
Her face blurred. Close by, Ghonra gripped Laya by the throat, poised to spill her life.
‘I can find some means of making it her fault.’ The Golden Empress looked at her interpreter, who had sailed with her for decades, without remorse. ‘Lies cost nothing, after all.’
Once, Niclays, had allowed a young musician to be tortured to spare himself the same fate. The act of a man who had forgotten how to serve anyone but himself. If he was to die with any pride, he would not let Laya suffer for him any more than she had already.
‘You will do no such thing,’ he said quietly.
Related Characters:
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Explanation and Analysis:
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The Golden Empress Character Timeline in The Priory of the Orange Tree
The timeline below shows where the character The Golden Empress appears in The Priory of the Orange Tree. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
...200 years, and as several Seiikinese dragons have been captured by the poacher pirate the Golden Empress , the Empire of the Twelve Lakes has sent two dragons. He then begins calling...
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Chapter 33
...friend’s love and that he knows nothing more about it. Realizing that this is the Golden Empress herself, Niclays prostrates himself and offers his services as an anatomist to her. She accepts,...
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Chapter 35
...to sleep on his allotted bit of deck. The interpreter from his meeting with the Golden Empress approaches Niclays with supper to tell Niclays, in perfect Mentish, that he’s now the Golden...
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Chapter 40
Several weeks after boarding the Pursuit, Niclays follows Laya to the Golden Empress ’s cabin, wondering if being torched by Valeysa, the High Western they saw recently, would...
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The Golden Empress explains that the fragment is part of an Eastern scroll, which describes a mulberry tree...
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Chapter 42
...understand how Ments can follow the Six Virtues while studying so much. Just then, the Golden Empress , Padar (the navigator), and Ghonra (the captain of another pirate ship) enter. Niclays assures...
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...is excited—but he also wonders if he should’ve hidden this knowledge from Eastern pirates. The Golden Empress and Ghonra discuss the “rising jewel,” which Laya suggests is probably a seed. Then, the...
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Chapter 54
After weeks docked in Kawontay, the Pursuit is sailing again. The Golden Empress decided not to sell Nayimathun. She’ll keep the dragon as leverage—she’s threatened to gut Nayimathun...
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Chapter 59
...earlier, to guide the ship into the shallows. Now, she can escape and pursue the Golden Empress and Nayimathun.
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Chapter 60
The Pursuit floats on the Unending Sea, under the constellations. Padar tells the Golden Empress which way to go while Laya and Niclays watch. Niclays mentally tells Jannart that he’s...
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Chapter 61
...Loth and Thim realize they’re headed east. Thim shares with Loth the rumors that the Golden Empress , a pirate captain, is searching for eternal life with a dragon in tow. The...
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...Laya runs to him with the news that they’ve spotted land. They hurry to the Golden Empress , who offers Niclays her spyglass. He can see a small island in the distance....
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...can worry about that later. First, they’ll need the key to her chains, which the Golden Empress has.
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Chapter 62
After what seems like forever, the scholar tells the Golden Empress that the ancient text tells the story of Neporo, who lived here a thousand years...
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...there: the mulberry tree could only grant eternal life once. Niclays feels ill, and the Golden Empress approaches. This, she insists, is his fault. Suddenly, Laya pulls Niclays backwards into the trees...
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Suddenly, Tané appears behind the Golden Empress , her sword at the captain’s throat. Tané demands Nayimathun’s key. Ghonra offers Tané a...
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Chapter 63
...strange this combination of visitors is, and Thim and Tané explain how they found the Golden Empress and freed Nayimathun. Then, Loth explains why he’s here: according to a letter from Neporo,...
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Chapter 75
...Seiiki with a letter from the Emperor. As they fly, Tané thinks about how the Golden Empress is still at large. She plans to get her revenge soon. Tané delivers her letter...
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