The Blackbeak Matron was the grandmother of Manon and Matron of the Blackbeak Clan, one of the three Ironteeth Witch Clans.
Biography[]
Heir of Fire[]
The Blackbeak Matron meets with one of the King of Adarlan's dukes, presumably Duke Perrington. Manon and the Thirteen are her guardians. After the Duke leaves, the Matron tells Manon that the Thirteen are to seek out their "kith and kin" and tell them to assemble in the Ferian Gap. Every Blackbeak must be present. They are also to tell any members of the other Ironteeth clans to gather in the Gap as well. She tells Manon that there is to be no fighting or provoking. The Matron says that Baba Yellowlegs is dead and that the King of Adarlan has invited the Ironteeth witches to assemble at the Ferian Gap to train to become riders for his wyverns. If the witches serve as his aerial cavalry, he will let them keep the wyverns to take home to reclaim the Wastes.
While training at the Ferian Gap, the Matron orders Asterin to be whipped for allowing Manon to be pushed into the wyvern pit by Iskra Yellowlegs.
Empire of Storms[]
The Matron arrives at Morath with her coven and the witch "currently warming her bed." She is not pleased in the slightest with Manon. The Matron, Manon, and their respective Seconds go to meet with Lord Vernon and Duke Perrington, who later reveals himself to be Erawan, the Valg king.
After the sacking of Rifthold, the Matron presides over Manon's trial for allowing five Yellowlegs witches to die. She declares that while Manon will not die as punishment, Asterin, her Second, will. She takes Asterin to the dungeons for the night and allows Iskra Yellowlegs to beat and whip her.
At sunrise the witch killing ceremony starts. When Manon is furious at what has been done to Asterin, the Matron claims Asterin only received twelve blows, three for each of the dead Yellowlegs witches, even though it was clearly much more. She then calls for any witch who wants to participate in the execution to line up, but is stopped when Manon calls for the Words of Request. The Matron is furious when Cresseida Blueblood, the Blueblood Matron, grants Manon's request.
When Manon refuses to kill Asterin and begins fighting the Matron in order for the Thirteen to escape, she taunts Manon and reveals the truth about her parentage. The Matron reveals that Manon's father is was a rare-born Crochan Prince, and that Manon's mixed blood would be the key to ending the curse on the Wastes that keep the witches from being able to live in their homeland. She continues by saying that Manon's father never stopped loving her or her mother and never stopped searching for them. She reveals that she killed both of Manon's parents and told her father that she would make Manon into a "child not of peace, but of war." The Matron tells Manon that the Crochan witch that she forced Manon to kill in the Ferian Gap was named Rhiannon and she was Manon's half-sister. With Rhiannon's death, Manon is the last of the Crochan royal bloodline and thus the Crochan Queen. She slices open Manon's stomach with her rusted, jagged iron nails. When Manon escapes on Abraxos, she sends Yellowlegs witches after her but to no avail.
Kingdom of Ash[]
The Matron, along with the Yellowlegs Matron and the Blueblood Matron, find Manon and the Thirteen at the Crochan camp in the mountains. She tries to taunt Manon. Manon engages the Matrons in a fight. The Blueblood Matron quickly stands down, and Manon kills the Yellowlegs Matron. Manon's grandmother eventually decides to flee on her wyvern after the Blueblood Matron.
The Blackbeak Matron is with the Ironteeth witches who are loyal to Erawan when the army marches on Orynth. She travels with the last remaining witch tower. When Asterin and the Thirteen charge at the tower in order to sacrifice themselves through the Yielding, the Matron tries to kill Asterin. However, Asterin is able to kill her and then the Thirteen complete the Yielding, destroying the witch tower and a large amount of the Ironteeth witches.
Personality[]
The Blackbeak Matron was cold, calculating, and ambitious. She was violent and brutal, and she cared little about the casualties in her schemes, to the point that her behavior tended to border on sociopathic. She was willing to turn on her own kin should they disappoint or defy her: she killed her own daughter, Lothian, for her romantic involvement with a Crochan Prince, and showed no reservation about viciously injuring her granddaughter, Manon, when the latter attacked her to avoid her executing Asterin Blackbeak. She also showed no problem with letting Manon die if Manon failed to become Wing Leader. Manon explains that the Matron's preferred method of punishment was not concerned with the how, but the humiliation. Punishment was public no matter what.
Physical Description[]
Even after beginning to age, the Matron was distinctively beautiful and alluring with bone-white skin, long, ebony hair sprinkled with silver, and eyes flecked with gold. She was starting to develop wrinkles on her face as a result of her immortality being blocked by the Fall of Magic. As an Ironteeth Witch, she had retractable iron teeth and nails colored with rust. She was never seen with them retracted. She wore "rich, voluminous midnight robes that flowed like water."
Skills and Abilities[]
- Ironteeth physiology: As an Ironteeth witch the Matron possessed sharp, retractable iron teeth and nails.
- Immortality: The Matron was immortal as a result of her witch heritage.
- Magic: The Matron had inherent magical power that could be released in the form of the Yielding.[1]
- Flight: The Matron was capable of flight through riding her wyvern or on her Ironwood broomstick.
- Combat: The Matron was a vicious warrior, having trained all her life to kill Crochans and defeat her enemies.
Appearances[]
- Heir of Fire (first appearance)
- Queen of Shadows (mentioned only)
- Empire of Storms
- Kingdom of Ash