Talea Hilwood

Lady Talea Hilwood is a high-born lady born to House Umber of Last Hearth. She was married to Lord Garth Hilwood of the Lodge and sired two sons, Adam and Roddrick.

Appearance and Character
see also: Lady Talea in 280 AC.

Talea is a tall woman with a half-grey hair that is tied back off her face. The left side of her face is damaged due to injury with a milky left eye. In her youth, she had a stern look of her northern kin, but was attractive in her own right. Talea is tall for a woman with broad shoulders, supple breasts, and a narrow waist. Even aged past forty, she remains fit.

History
Talea was born into House Umber. Talea is a cousin to the ruling line of House Umber, including Mors and Hother Umber. Raised in Last Hearth, she grew up in the harsh far north, near the Wall and the constant fight for survival from the elements and against the trespasses of Wildlings. Her childhood was her own, and she had much more freedom than many noble ladies, due to her noble, but relatively unimportant birth.

Eventually she served in the court of Lord Rickard and Lady Lyarra Stark. Lady Talea served as Lyarra's Lady-in-Waiting until her mid-twenties when Lady Talea's father, Theo, negotiated a marriage to a southerner and widower in 272 AC.

Marriage and Children
Lord Garth Hilwood and Talea Umber were married at Winterfell, under the blessing of her father Theo and Lord Rickard Stark who held the feast as appreciation for her years of service. Life in the Kingswood suited Lady Talea, who had been used to the cold north, but also enjoyed the rugged lifestyle which seemed to follow her to the Kingswood. Within a year Lady Talea bore Lord Garth his third son, Adam. And two years later, another, Roddrick. She helped raise her step-children, Damon and Ryan, as best she could, showing them love as their mother might. Surprisingly, her relationship with both was never strained as the boys accepted her into the family.

Abduction and Injury
In 280 AC Talea was returning from Last Hearth for the celebration for her father's sixtieth name day. Her retinue was ambushed in the Kingswood near the Lodge and captured. Over the next two weeks she was violated and beaten badly, eventually rescued by her husband and his forces. Horribly injured, Lord Garth sent his wife to the neighboring House Greenleaf for aid.

As Talea arrived at Greenleaf Hall, the Lodge was being sacked and her husband and step-sons killed. Talea slipped into a coma for over two months and although she could have returned to the Lodge, which was ransacked but freed, both Maester Aubry of the Lodge and the local maester decided she was not to be moved. For six months, Lady Talea remained at Greenleaf Hall convalescing. She finally was strong enough to return home with her sons, Adam and Roddrick, who had survived the siege of the Lodge and joined her as she recovered.

Robert's Rebellion
Lady Talea, the regent for her young son, Lord Adam, did not declare for King Aerys Targaryen for some time, feigning ill health. Instead, she began to harry the Kingsroad against the king, remembering that he sent no aid to House Hilwood in their time of need just two years earlier. In a secret treaty with Robert Baratheon, House Hilwood sided with the usurper while neighboring houses remained loyal to the king.

Eventually their betrayal became known, and a force of loyalists from Kings Landing were able to catch the entire Hilwood family before they could escape the Lodge. The Mad King had both put to death, while Talea was placed in the Black Cells until her execution. Luckily for the lady, soon after the Lannisters sacked Kings Landing and she was freed.

Aftermath
For House Hilwood's service to King Robert, they were given domain over the entire Kingswood, becoming the overlord of other small houses that had long aided the policing of the ancient forest. And yet, with no heir and not being of Hilwood blood herself, various distant relatives have constantly petitioned the king for legitimacy over House Hilwood in an attempt to oust Lady Talea from control of her seemingly cursed House and home. King Robert has yet to rule favorably on any request to remove Lady Talea from her seat.