- “Summat's not quite normal 'bout her, you know, she's got an other world quality - serene in peace, frightenin' in a temper; very like the sea in some ways. Rules those squirrel colonies with an iron rod.”
- ―Thomas Triton
Audrey was a black squirrel who held the office of Starwife prior to Audrey Scuttle. Her name was not revealed until her encounter with Bauchan right before her death, and coincidentally, it was the same as that of her successor.
Appearance[]
In her youth the Starwife was a pretty black squirrel maiden, but with age her fur had turned grey and become patchy. For this reason, she was easily mistaken for a grey squirrel later in life. She became half-blind in her old age, and a milky film covered one of her eyes.
Personality[]
The Starwife was noble and proud, an intimidating figure known for having a fiery temper when riled. She could sometimes seem rude and downright cruel, but her intentions were always good. She was a wily creature who had a way of manipulating others to do her bidding. Near the end of her life, after Jupiter laid waste to her realm, she became despondent, regretful of her former arrogance and belief that she was invincible. However, in spite of her depression and hopelessness, she was still a force to be reckoned with if angered.
Background[]
Born with the name Audrey, she decided to take up the Starwifeship as a young squirrel maiden, during a time when a battle was raging in Greenwich. On that night, she raced up the hill to the safety of the Oaken Throne.
Though the exact length of her reign was never specified, considering the extended lifespan given to those who become the Starwife, it can be assumed that she had been on the throne for several hundred years.
At one time, the ninth fragment of the jade egg of Sarpedon was given to the Starwife for temporary safekeeping by its custodian, Mulligan. Nine years later, he came back to retrieve it, as to leave the fragment in any place for too long would bring ruin. Mulligan said he had to endure the Starwife's "withering scorn" in the process.
Role in The Deptford Mice trilogy[]
The Starwife summoned Audrey Brown to her realm to hear in detail the story of how the mouse had defeated Jupiter. That wasn't the only reason, though, as she also intended to strike a bargain with Audrey, making her take Madame Akkikuyu to the country in exchange for a bag of magic that would cure the deathly ill Oswald Chitter. She enforced the deal by warning Audrey that if she tried to back out of it, Oswald would become sick once again.
During the time when the spirit of Jupiter smothered the world in eternal winter, he attacked the Starwife's realm in Greenwich Park, stealing her Starglass and murdering many of her subjects. After overseeing a funeral ceremony and telling the other survivors to leave on their own, the Starwife told Thomas Triton to take her to Deptford. She desired an audience with the bats, as without the Starglass she was powerless to see what the future held.
Disheartened to learn that the bats had fled the attic, the Starwife decided to start a beacon fire in hopes of summoning them. It at first seemed a fruitless effort until Orfeo and Eldritch arrived. However, they only mocked her before informing her that their kind were holding a meeting at St. Paul's Cathedral. The Starwife wished to attend, but the two bats refused her and revealed their intentions of bringing Oswald there instead. Outraged, the Starwife couldn't believe that they would prefer the weak albino's company to hers.
The Starwife would often speak with Audrey in her time at the empty house in Deptford, and with no surviving black squirrels around, she decided that the mouse would be the best candidate to succeed her. She reluctantly agreed to heal Thomas Triton, who had been wounded by an ice spear, if Audrey would help her in casting the spell to do so. What the mouse didn't know was that the Starwife was also performing the ritual to transfer her powers over to her. Audrey was furious when she found out that she was the new Starwife whether she liked it or not, but her predecessor didn't care, calmly telling her that she had no choice in the matter.
After this, the Starwife went outside into the cold, snow-covered yard. She created a magic circle in the snow and sat within it, waiting to ritualistically freeze to death. As she did so, Barker the rat approached her and taunted her. She finally saw through his disguise and realised he was Bauchan. She determined that the rat god had come to learn Jupiter's strength to see if the Raith Sidhe would have a chance at usurping him. The Starwife also asked Bauchan what happened to Piccadilly, to which Bauchan responded that Jupiter had killed him. The old squirrel knew that Piccadilly had been abandoned by Bauchan, though he denied this and said he appreciated the lad's bravery even if he was not a rat. The Starwife told Bauchan that she saw him as being more dangerous than Jupiter, as he hid behind a facade of goodness and so could lure the innocent to their doom.
As the Starwife was no longer wearing the silver acorn, Bauchan refused to call her by her title and asked her real name. She revealed it as Audrey. Oddly, Bauchan then showed some respect as he addressed the squirrel by the name and took his leave of her. Hours afterward, the Starwife died with a smile on her face. Her body was later burned in a pyre as she had previously requested, and Audrey found a snowdrop flower among the ashes. She would use this to defeat Jupiter once and for all. In the end, Audrey gained respect for the old Starwife and accepted her position.
Trivia[]
- Although it is easy to suppose that she is Ysabelle from the prequel book The Oaken Throne (in spite of the two squirrels having different given names), according to Robin Jarvis this is in fact not the case. He has explained that there were a few other Starwives since Ysabelle.[1]
