In fair Verona, our tale begins with ODESSA VERNON, who is TWENTY-FOUR years old. She is often called OPHELIA by the MONTAGUES and works as their EMISSARY. She uses SHE/HER pronouns.
She was everything her mother and father prayed for and everything one might expect a lady to be. Intelligent enough to make her own way in the world but passive enough to let her father and brother make it for her, Odessa Vernon was the image of the perfect daughter incarnate: a pretty little PUPPET with velvet strings. Born two years after her half-brother and no less capable—if not more capable—of learning the same things he did, she was instead taught the importance of using the right fork at dinner so as not to appear uncouth, of being humble so as not to threaten her male peers, and of knowing when her opinion was welcomed and when it was not. In the Vernon household, women were to be seen and not heard, regardless of what to bring to the table, and it was due to this upbringing that Alvise Vernon’s daughter came to be known as coy, soft, passive—just like her mother, when in fact, she had the potential to be anything but. Her gentleness was learned, a BYPRODUCT of being told that was the only thing a young lady should be.
It was for that reason alone that, rather than allowing her to join the mob as soon as she was of age, her father chose to send her to university. Ladies don’t get blood on their dresses; they don’t lie, cheat, steal—KILL, but the only way a young woman could expect to be welcomed into the fold without doing any of those things was if what she could do with her mind was far greater than what she could do with her hands, and for once in his life, Alvise Vernon let himself be contradicted. He would much rather an INTELLECT for a daughter than a weapon, so he allowed her to pursue a degree at the university of her choice, and she welcomed the opportunity with open arms, thrilled to get away—to prove her worth. The four years she spent away from home saw her become the woman her father and brother had long suppressed—as smart as she was beautiful, assertive but unfailingly well-mannered, the farthest thing the pretty little doormat they’d raised her to be—but that freedom was terribly short-lived, and it wasn’t long before she was again told to lower her voice at the dinner table and let her elder brother speak.
She became a Montague emissary at twenty-two, a fitting position for a child of one of the most prominent families in Verona that sought to keep her hands relatively clean—or who had a father who insisted that she do so—and despite having it chosen for her, Odessa found she rather enjoyed the work. Negotiating and closing deals with some of the city’s most elusive dealers made her feel the kind of POWERFUL that even her father could approve of, and for two years, it was enough. For two years, she was content to be the brains of the operation, to look pretty and speak only when asked to and squash the tickle of indignation in her stomach when someone remarked that she was awfully quiet. And then her father was found shot to death in his apartment, and for the first time in her life, she wasn’t told what to do—how to act. The strings that had guided her every movement for twenty-four years had been severed, and the only daughter of Alvise Vernon was left grieving with eyes wide open, set free and inexplicably ALONE.
Hers was a revelation not only of what she’d lost—a father who had loved her, raised her, damn near drove her mad with his expectations—but of what she’d gained: a CHOICE. Waking up the morning after he was killed was like coming up for air after being held underwater for far too long, and she’s found, with quite a bit of guilt, that she doesn’t mind the deafening silence that’s replaced his once-overbearing guidance. Worse still, she’s not afraid of the voice in her head telling her to get even, to show the world that the gentle, unimposing girl she once was DIED with her father. One day, they’ll say this was her breaking point, the thing that drove her over the brink of insanity, and once again, they’ll be mistaken. Her mind has never been clearer, and she knows what she wants: blood. Retribution. Revenge. This is the story of a rose learning to embrace her THORNS.
LILLIAN WEN: Enemy. Every time she comes across the woman, Odessa can’t help the way her stomach curdles in resentment and – oh, how she detests this deadly sin – envy. Here she is, bound to a world everyone proclaims a princess like her does not belong to, embracing it but not without the struggle of balancing who she is and who she has to be. And then there is Lillian, thriving in the position she has and harnessing it for a cause. A good cause. She is stagnant, all while watching Lillian soar. What a befuddling sight it was; like watching a free, boundless flock of birds, starkly white and beautiful, taking flight across a grim, moonless skyline. She knows she deserves nothing less than such degree of untainted achievement and yet, can she reach it? The apprehension – guised in traditional Montague hatred –tells her she is loathed to find out.
LAWRENCE VERNON: Brother. She envied him once for his freedom, for his value as more than just a pretty thing to own in the eyes of their father. But for all that he’s just like Alvise—for all that he, too, had a hand in clipping her wings and keeping her in a cage, she’s never loathed him, never wished him ill. He meant well, and in the purest corner of her heart—the part unmarred by tragedy and bitterness long suppressed, she knows her father did, too. But the days of letting her brother decide who she is and who she’ll be are gone. He may be the only family she’s got left, but he’s not all that’s left of her. She loves her brother, blood or not, and she’ll defend him to the death, but she intends to make it clear she no longer needs his permission.
GENEVIEVE & HENRY ZHANG: Superiors. Three days after they laid her father in the ground, she strode into Genevieve Zhang’s office, and in a voice that didn’t dare shake, announced, “I want to be lethal.” The older woman’s response came, “Darling, you already are.” Taught only basic self-defense in case of a negotiation gone wrong, the Vernon woman wants to learn more, to become a force her father’s enemies lose sleep over. She wants to be a soldier, and the woman who watched her grow will make her into just that. Odessa and Henry grew up together, two children raised in the throne room of the empire their fathers helped to rule, but four years his junior and reminded constantly by her brother to make herself scarce, she often found herself falling through the cracks. They’ve shared many a conversation about tact and negotiation, and she’s closed many a deal for him, but she’s loath to regard him simply as one of her captains; truly, he’s something of a friend—a reminder of simpler times. The recent death of his father has seen a change in him, but she’s got her own storm to weather, and they both know the Zhang heir needs no coddling, least of all from her.
CRISTIAN DE LUCA & CELESTE DUVAL: Fellow emissaries. There’s an unspoken agreement among emissaries, a sort of understanding that begs no real explanation. It’s not that they’re not good with words—their skill in that aspect is what made each of them far mightier with a pen in their hands than a gun—but that, of all the things they’ve brought to fruition and continue to accomplish, their understanding is by far the simplest. Cristian acted as a mentor to her when she first joined the mob, but though she’s long since become his equal, she still holds him in high regard and values his guidance. Much older than the rest of them, he’s always been a bit distant, but he’s good at what he does; formalities aren’t part of the job description. Celeste joined their ranks mere months after declaring loyalty to the Montague cause, effectively replacing Odessa as the youngest among them, and she’s found something akin to a kindred spirit in the Duval woman. Their ranks have been scattered since her father’s murder, but Odessa knows it won’t be long until they recover—they always do.
Odessa is portrayed by LAURA HARRIER and was written by BREE. She is currently TAKEN by ALYX.
