Nina Willows

Nina Willows (or Tresfer) is a Westrian character, and belongs to the Heirs of Westria roleplay. She joined the contest in hopes to become queen so that she could shed light on the suffering of people in the streets, and hopefully make things easier on the poorer, less fortunate people of Westria.

Childhood
Nina Willows was found abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage when she was only two weeks old. She was wearing ragged baby clothes and wrapped in a tattered blanket. There was nothing revealing her name, or who her parents were, or if they were alive or dead. Naturally, the orphanage took her in, but they treated her poorly. She was named Nina by those owning the orphanage, the name intending to be cruel, because it means "little girl." Nina was indeed the little girl, the youngest of all the orphans and the easiest to push around. She suffered incredible bullying, and because she was so little, was often overlooked at mealtimes and such. She got sick often, suffering malnutrition and many forms of abuse, from both the owners of the orphanage, and the older children. Not a single orphan offered Nina any forms of friendship or kinship, and no one even bothered to help her. Her whole life, Nina felt like she wasn't worth loving, even when she was a small, cute child. And trust me, she was a very cute child. As she got older, she started getting braver, and learning to fight to get attention. She started approaching her caretakers, boldly asking them to feed her. They would either refuse, claiming to be too busy and brush her aside, or they would grumble as they did it, ranting about the annoying child they had to care for. But Nina kept fighting, defending herself as best she could. She started fighting back against the bullies, trying to keep them from hurting her. Being so small, it was hard for her to fight back against many, but she took satisfaction in knowing she wasn't letting them force her around.

Teenage Years
When Nina reached her thirteenth birthday, she decided she had a better chance of surviving on the streets. She ran away from the orphanage, disappearing without a trace, and no one bothered to look for her. She adopted the family name Willows for herself, because it was easier for her to feel like she had a family out there that existed, or had existed at one point, if she had a last name. She quickly learned to pick pockets, and in extreme cases, break into people's houses. She was careful to only steal food, in small amounts, whatever was necessary to get through the day. She slept in doorways or quiet alleyways. Sometimes she was able to sleep in public buildings, like churches, especially in the winter. During the colder seasons, if she wasn't able to sleep in a building, she found sheltered corners that she sometimes had to fight for. Hunger and cold weakened her, but also made her more determined, and she pushed herself, quickly becoming a confident fighter.

Heirs of Westria
Nina is first seen arriving at the palace of Westria for the Heirs of Westria competition. She joins in rebelling with some of the other heirs on the first day. Following the rebellion, she ends up joining the group of heirs poisoned by Mary.

Nina meets Merek Tresfer when she sneaks into the joust with Calluna Brooker, another contestant. She gives him her token to wish him good luck before sneaking in and jousting with Reve Maloof. Reve beats her, and she ends up breaking a rib.

Nina is one of the heirs captured by the assassins during the first kidnapping attempt, and is among those who suffer a lot of torture. This is also where she and Reve have their first kiss.

Merek is successful in saving the heirs, and in their reunion, Nina and Merek have their first kiss. When the others escape, Merek and Nina fail to go along with them, and get captured again. After getting tortured more, they escape when Nina picks the lock of their cell.

At the masquerade, Nina is reunited with Reve, after thinking he was dead. She is torn between him and Merek, but finally chooses to be with Merek. Before she can tell him she's chosen him, she is poisoned by Abigail and nearly dies, but Calluna brings her back. She finally tells Merek she wants to be with him, and they start officially dating.

Unfortunately, right after they start dating, Councillor Ardina announces romance between heirs is forbidden. Nina breaks up with Merek to spare them pain, but they absolutely suck at being apart because basically an hour later, they're back together. Ardina catches them in the middle of their reunion and punishes them by banning Nina from the contest.

During the fire, Merek and Nina are originally separated, but they escape together without injury, and Merek proposes to her. She obviously says yes. After the fire, Ardina reluctantly gives Nina another chance in the competition.

After the fire, Nina is paired with Cadmus to rule over the village of (I'll have to check). On the way there, they are attacked by assassins and left to die on the side of the road. Merek makes it to Nina in time to be with her before she dies. Merek digs her a grave, and before putting her in it, kisses her goodbye. Something about the kiss - probably because it was true love's kiss - brings her back to life. Merek switches places with Cadmus, so Nina travels with him to the village instead.

At the birthday party, Nina drinks a love potion that makes her fall for Reve again. She breaks her engagement with Merek, and she and Reve very passionately kiss. After drinking the potion to reverse the previous potion, Nina witnesses Merek propose to Victoria, which shatters her heart. However, she and Merek make up for it, and are soon reunited.

Following the birthday party was the Christmas celebration, where Nina is named one of the top heirs. After the top heirs are named, the assassins return, kidnapping all of them, including Nina. After suffering more torture, the prisoners experience a new kind of torture - brainwashing. Nina is spared the actual brainwashing process, but Merek is brainwashed into joining the assassins. Because of this, he tortures Nina. Nina tries to break it with true love's kiss, but it doesn't work. Luckily she is rescued before he can do any major damage, but she has to leave him behind.

Nina returns to the castle with the rescued heirs, and mourns Merek's absence. She is startled by Merek's arrival, and realizes he has broken the brainwashing himself. However, because of what he did to her, he breaks off their engagement and plans to leave. Before he can, Erik Raoul drops a chandelier on Nina. Sensing Nina is in danger, Merek pushes her out of the way, saving her. Nina begs him to stay with her, and the two kiss and reunite.

Following this, the winners of the competition are named. Since Nina and Merek are both not chosen, they are immediately married by Ardina. After this, they begin life together as a married couple.

The day after the wedding, Nina and Merek go house shopping, but Merek gets hit by a runaway carriage, breaking both his legs. The two put house shopping on hold, and plan to move to Merek's childhood home until he recovers.

Nina is last seen at the coronation for Sebastian and Juliana, celebrating with Merek.

After the Contest
Nina and Merek settle down in his childhood home, living with his parents, Tham and Jess. Nina immediately takes to Jess, who adopts Nina as the daughter she always wanted. Soon after Merek recovers from the accident, Nina becomes pregnant. Only a few weeks after sharing the good news with her family, she is tripped on the stairs by Merek's brothers. The fall causes her to lose the baby. The mourning couple moves back to Kordile, where they buy a new home, but their relationship is strained because of their grief. After several months of hardly speaking, Nina finally reaches out to Merek and the two reunite. They both agree that they thought the baby was a boy, and name him Elijah. After that, they start trying to have kids again.

Two years after, Nina becomes pregnant again. She later gives birth to Calista, her first daughter, after a long and painful delivery process.

Nina experiences another miscarriage between Calista and her second daughter, Pelia. When Pelia is finally born, Nina is in labor for much longer, and Pelia is born dead. However, Calluna manages to revive her, and the family is completed with two daughters.

Defenders of Westria
Nina is seen as a happy mother, now 41 years old. She's busy raising her two daughters, now 18 and 14, when the rebellion begins. Sebastian and Juliana send for the former heirs to gain advice from them, and the Tresfer family moves into the castle for the time being. Nina spends most of her time trying to calm down Merek's overprotective father instincts.

Following the ball, Nina is captured along with Calluna by Minuet, and taken to the rebel base. There she is tortured for information, and when she doesn't give any, Minuet paralyzes her legs by stabbing her in the spine.

Nina steps back from the fighting, continuing her duties as a mother, and helping Pelia and Calista navigate their boy problems.

During the final battle, Nina meets her birth father, Ernald. The two are happily reunited, despite the fact that he is leading the rebellion. He warns her to take her family and flee the castle, so she and Merek rush to find Pelia and Calista. They make it through the battle and find Pelia's broken, nearly dead body. Pelia dies in Nina's arms, and the family grieves her together. However, thanks to true love's kiss, which is the Tresfer family trademark, Pelia's boyfriend, Eddie, brings her back to life.

Soon after this, the entire Tresfer family is captured, along with the other former heirs and their families. Nina suffers more torture during this time. Eventually they are rescued, and finally, the Tresfer family finds peace as the battle ends.

Merek Tresfer
Nina fell in love with Merek Tresfer when she met him in the contest, and made it her goal to get him to smile and loosen up around her. She was indeed successful, as he fell in love with her, and the other way around, and the two had a short relationship before getting engaged. Their engagement lasted for several months, and they were married as soon as the contest was over. They currently have two daughters, and are living happy married lives in a country house outside of Kordile.