Rebeca, called Pocahontas by her people, is an aged king’s daughter living in the Crown of the North: widow of an Englishman, declared dead and buried in England, yet alive, with accounts pending that death itself refused to settle.
| Type | Character |
| Spanish entry | Rebeca |
Description
She is very old, her face “like something made of wood,” big-nosed and wrinkled, and suffers daily pains. She lives in the Valley of the Water in an English-style cottage, shuttered at night, holding only a bed, a straw jar, a chair and a table. The order regarding her: “do not wake her or hurt her.”
Lineage and claims
Daughter of the king, the Great Ruler emperor, she holds lands claimable “in the name of a certain grace of the king.” She was one of the two main figures controlling the native tribes and central in early dealings with the colonists; not the ruler, but the people’s guardian.
In England she married Rolf (John Rolfe), had a son, and was declared dead and given Christian burial; her lands passed wrongly to William. If she proves she exists, she means “to return as the queen princess I was,” and to be buried in a worthy place “of the serpent mounds.” Her faith is one she calls “aberrant” to her people. Her abusers took her identity and gave her a name.
Death refused
“A few weeks ago I… did die, and death did not want me at its side.” She embraces the end but has “accounts pending.” She was told to stay alive to honor her past and give a future to her son and his line.
Powers
“Rebeca is very powerful,” able to contain elemental creatures when something infiltrates a place. She has sought allies.
The relic and the statue
With Sequoia she earlier possessed the object made of dragon bones, “like those father and mother.” Recovering her due element may be an important link for her and the community. One silver statue in the chamber has the shape of Pocahontas when young.
Conflicting accounts
- Most records place her in her cabin.
- Another has her married to a Jewish shopkeeper, with two children, in two rooms in the Jewish quarter — two moments, two imposed identities or two people.
Open questions
- Whether the statue is a likeness or the young woman turned to silver.
- What the element is; the imposed name (unrecoverable).
- Who William is; why death refused her and what sustains her.
- The lands’ location and size; the “Indian War.”
- Her allies; her faith.