History Characters / KushielsLegacyHouseMontreve

* BornLucky: Inverted, as she claims on the very first page of her book, saying it began with her parents' naming her "Phedre," a name from ClassicalMythology.

* GoodThingYouCanHeal: She heals quickly and cleanly, an added bonus of being an ''anguissette''. Most characters comment upon it throughout the course of the series with some surprise, given Phedre's profession.\

* BornLucky: Inverted, as she claims on the very first page of her book, saying it began with her parents' naming her "Phedre," a name from ClassicalMythology.

* GoodThingYouCanHeal: She heals quickly and cleanly, an added bonus of being an ''anguissette''. Most characters comment upon it throughout the course of the series with some surprise, given Phedre's profession.\

The mother of Anafiel Delaunay.

%%* DarkAndTroubledPast:

* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Alcuin has male patrons as well as female.

* MayDecemberRomance: Alcuin and Delaunay.

* NiceGuy: Alcuin is generally a nice person.

%%* DarkAndTroubledPast

* DeclarationOfProtection: [[spoiler: He swore a vow to protect Ysandre and her claim to the throne of Terre D'Ange. He means to do everything he can to fulfill that promise.]]

* GuileHero: Phedre's a pretty good athlete, but not a skilled fighter. She's beautiful, but in Terre d'Ange beauty is everywhere. Instead, Phedre's skill set includes skill with languages, training observation, compassion for others, and her wits.

* BornLucky: Inverted, as she claims on the very first page of her book, saying it began with her parents' naming her "Phedre" (Phedre of Crete experiences one of the worst fates in Classical Mythology, and that's ''saying something'').

* DaughterOfAWhore: A peculiar case. Phedre's mother was an adept of the Night Court, and in Terre d'Ange that's a respected, elevated profession. However, Liliane abandoned her contract with Jasmine House in order to marry her true love, and ''that'' is extremely bad manners to say the least. When Liliane offers Phedre to Cereus House, the Dowayne makes it clear she's doing Liliane a big favor.

* BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: When Phedre is held captive in La Dolorosa in ''Chosen'', Melisande visits from time to time. When she does, Phedre is forced to wash don clean clothes.

* BornLucky: Averted, at least according to Phedre herself. She claims that she is unlucky because her parents gave her a cursed name.

%%zce* CunningLinguist: Both meanings.
* DaughterOfAWhore: Her mother was an adept of the Night Court, though she had already left to wed her one true love when she had Phedre. Though 'whore' is not entirely accurate, as Naamah's arts are considered sacred worship, many characters refer to Naamah's Servants as 'whores' (mostly foreigners who do not believe in Elua and his companions being gods). The Dowayne of Cereus House, however, says this trope almost word-for-word when Liliane gives away her daughter to her.

* GoodThingYouCanHeal: She heals quickly and cleanly, an added bonus of being an ''anguissette''. Most characters comment upon it throughout the course of the series with some surprise, given Phedre's profession.
%%* GuileHero
%%* HeroicBSOD

** She also blames herself for Remy and Fortun's deaths, for a similar reason.
* LadyInRed: Wears red dresses on several occasions, most notably at the Midwinter Masque in ''Chosen.'' There's also her sangoire cloak, made of a special shade of dark red that may only be worn by ''anguissettes''.

** Phedre also believes thatr he is about to perform the ''terminus'' in ''Chosen'', when their group is confronting the Yeshuites and the Unforgiven at Camlach. She never finds out for certain if it really was the ''terminus'' however.

* SlaveCollar: Melisande puts a leash and collar on Phèdre when they spend the Longest Night together.

* WhipItGood: She frequently gets whipped during assignations.

* BadassInCharge: She is Kushiel's Chosen, a hero of the realm. She is also the Comtesse of Montreve and in charge of an entire estate of people.

* GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex: Phèdre may be a masochist, but it's telling that the most vividly written sex scenes are those with Joscelin who doesn't seem to care for rough sex or giving pain. Phèdre herself enjoys their caring passion even more than those she's experienced with anything else

* KnifeNut: He typically fights with a pair of daggers. Cassiline Brothers are only supposed to draw their swords to kill.

* [[FirstGirlWins First Guy Wins]]: Both of Delaunay's pupils are in love with him, but he adopted Alcuin first, as a very young child, and they end up together after Alcuin completes his marque.

* TheConscience: To Melisande.
* CunningLinguist: Both meanings.
* [[SonOfAWhore Daughter Of A Whore]]: Her mother was an adept of the Night Court, though she had already left to wed her one true love when she had Phedre. Though 'whore' is not entirely accurate, as Naamah's arts are considered sacred worship, many characters refer to Naamah's Servants as 'whores' (mostly foreigners who do not believe in Elua and his companions being gods). The Dowayne of Cereus House, however, says this trope almost word-for-word when Liliane gives away her daughter to her.

* AdultFear

* AdultFear:
** After storming out of their house in La Serenissima with no intent of returning, Joscelin hears news that Phedre, Remy and Fortun have gone missing at the Little Court. He understandably freaks, and after Ti-Philippe joins them they set out to find and rescue Phedre. They try to take La Dolorosa, where Phedre is imprisoned, but in the attempt Phedre falls off the cliff and into the sea (which has very strong currents) and is presumed dead. Joscelin ''majorly'' freaks out at the thought that his rescue attempt accidentally got Phedre killed.
** He also has to endure Phedre being raped and abused in Darsanga by the Markaghir, while being unable to do a thing about it.

* BadassAdorable: She is incredibly attractive and seems meek and submissive to those who bed her. However, that doesn't mean that she's weak. It's something which her patrons and enemies are completely fooled by.

* YaoiGuys: [[spoiler: He has long-term relationships with Rolande and Alcuin.]]

!!Tropes appying to Delaunay:

* YaoiGuys: Begins a relationship with Delaunay after he's made his marque.

* BlessedWithSuck/CursedWithAwesome: Depends on the situation. Phèdre has very conflicting feelings about being an anguissette. It makes her experience pain as pleasure, which sounds convenient on the surface, but can actually be very complicated. On the one hand, it means she's almost impossible to torture. On the other hand, Phèdre is sometimes frightened by her own needs and desires and doesn't like that she takes pleasure from pain, cruelty, and humiliation.

* ItsAllMyFault: Blames herself for Anafiel Delaunay and Alcuin's deaths, thinking that if she hadn't been stupid enough to give away Rousse's messenger to Melisande (or if she had simply told Delaunany about what had happened when she got back to the house) then it wouldn't have happened.
** Also blames herself for Remy and Fortun's deaths, for a similar reason.

* RavenHairIvorySkin: Less so on the covers, but describes herself as this in the books proper.

* YuriGenre: Most notably with Melisande and Nicola.

* AdultFear: After storming out of their house in La Serenissima with no intent of returning, Joscelin hears news that Phedre, Remy and Fortun have gone missing at the Little Court. He understandably freaks, and after Ti-Philippe joins them they set out to find and rescue Phedre. They try to take La Dolorosa, where Phedre is imprisoned, but in the attempt Phedre falls off the cliff and into the sea (which has very strong currents) and is presumed dead. Joscelin ''majorly'' freaks out at the thought that his rescue attempt accidentally got Phedre killed.

* NoAccountingForTaste: How most D'Angelines see Phèdre's relationship with him. Phedre and Joscelin do not care.

* BadDreams: Phedre is plagued by one in ''Kushiel's Chosen'' which she can't remember; after visiting Gentian's House he realises that it means she must go to La Serinissima and possible danger to hunt for Melisande Shahrizai.
** She is also plagued by a few of these in ''Kushiel's Avatar'', the first of which serves as a plot-triggering event in the novel. The rest show Phedre's stress and fear as her quest continues and her feeling of travelling towards darkness and doom grows, and also serve as guidance from the gods.

* LoverAndBeloved[=/=]MentorShip: Alcuin and Delaunay are both mentor-protégée, and--eventually--lovers.

* LoverAndBeloved[=/=]MentorShip: Alcuin and Delaunay are both mentor-protégée, and--eventually--lovers.

* HotBlooded: Very much so, in his youth. His rash decision to write the poem which labelled Isabel L'Envers a murderess (caused in part by grief and rage, as well as a sense of justice needing to be done) had drastic and bitter consequences for him, as his poetry is banned and burned and he gains the enmity of L'Envers and House Courcel. It seems that this is partly why Rolande was so attracted to him.

%%* TookALevelInBadass

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: His poem implicating Isabel in Edmee's death wound up having huge repressions, both for Delaunay himself and for Ysandre, who had to grow up being labelled a "murderess's get."