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Lady Gisela is part of the Sencen family and is Keefe's mom, as well as Lord Cassius's wife. She is the leader of the Neverseen, as stated in Everblaze. The name “Gisela”, means “oath” or “pledge”.
Apperence
Lady Gisela (Ji-sell-uh) is described as very beautiful, with pale peach skin and blonde hair, which she usually keeps in intricate updos. Her eyes are ice blue, the same color as her son's eyes. She has a red wound on her shoulder from when Keefe hit her with a goblin throwing star after she attacked Sophie, Keefe, and Silveny in Exile. Her name, Gisela, is a form of the name Giselle. This name means "hostage" or "pledge". This could refer to the fact that she pledged her allegiance to the Neverseen. It could also refer to how she became a hostage to them.
In Neverseen, a gnome working for the Black Swan, Mitya, saw Lady Gisela being dragged to a cave near the Lake of Blood. She had dozens of wounds on her cheeks, chin, and neck, caused by a shamkniv. But later, in Flashback, it seems that the scars are gone, with her face looking like "the human women Sophie sometimes saw growing up who'd had too much plastic surgery."
Personality
She is cold and acts with little to no emotion. In Flashback, it is said that she would crack “if she let her hair down or gave a true smile.”[1] She does care about her son, but in a cruel manner, which is shown when she wants him to complete his legacy. Gisela is ruthless but also ambitious, doing whatever it takes to complete her goals. In Flashback, Sophie and Fitz look into Keefe’s memories, she appears cruel and distant to Keefe, along with Lord Cassius.
Relationships
- Keefe (Son)
- Lord Cassius (Husband)
- Sophie Foster (Enemy)
- Fintan (Former Ally/Enemy)
- Vespera (Reluctant Ally)
- Umber (Deceased Ally)
- Ruy (Ally)
- Trix (Ally)
- Tam Song (Former coerced ally)
- Alvar (Ally)
- Glimmer (Former Ally)
Abilities
Lady Gisela is a known Polyglot and is very skilled at mimicking, teaching Keefe how to mimic as well. She also has a photographic memory, which is where Keefe got his.
She is not an Empath, as she married Cassius and wanted to create an alliance with Vespera because she needed an Empath for her version of Nightfall.
Everblaze
Sophie first meets Lady Gisela when she and Keefe visit Keefe's house. She notices that Lady Gisela has a scar on her shoulder. Later, they find out that Gisela got the scar when Keefe threw a goblin throwing star at her shoulder in Exile. It is revealed that Lady Gisela is part of the secret (and evil) organization called the Neverseen. At first, Keefe believed his father was part of this group. Later, he realized it was his mother when the Black Swan and the Neverseen fought on Mount Everest.
Neverseen
It is unknown exactly what happened to Lady Gisela after Everblaze, but it was assumed she was tortured and maybe killed by the Ogres after two gnomes saw her being dragged away by two Neverseen members, one being Brant, in a horribly beaten state. During Neverseen, Keefe regains a memory that Lady Gisela erased about her involvement with a secret plan called the Lodestar Initiative.
Nightfall
Lady Gisela helped Sophie find her parents throughout Nightfall in return for favors, one of which being to find and retrieve her Archetype, which she later reveals to be a test for Keefe. In the end, Lady Gisela forced Vespera to ally with her by using Ruy to keep her in a force field. She told Vespera that she could either join her or be caught by the Council again.
Flashback
Lady Gisela leads the Neverseen and follows Vespera's plan at the time of the eclipse. She later appears threatening the alicorns and Linh leading up to where she then blackmails Tam into joining the Neverseen.
Legacy
Lady Gisela appears in about the middle of the book, when Sophie is in London with Fitz and Keefe, looking for a leaping crystal that Lady Gisela was hiding in the forbidden cities. After discovering it, Lady Gisela shows up with Tam, and congratulates them for finding the leaping crystal. She also instructs Keefe to "embrace the change", and mentions his Legacy several times. This causes Sophie to use her full inflicting and leaves Gisela lying on the ground, twitching. Sophie, Keefe and Fitz attempt to capture Lady Gisela, but Tam uses his shadows to take her back to the Neverseen with him.
In the note that Neverseen send Sophie a note two days after their encounter with them, Lady Gisela writes Bring Keefe, XOXO at the bottom of it.
She is soon seen in Loamnore, and is able to take control of the situation after warping Maruca into protecting her with a misguided forcefield. Once Keefe arrives, she uses her alliance with King Enki to knock everyone but Sophie and Keefe out, and then uses stellarlune to prompt a transformation for Keefe's Legacy. Shortly after, Glimmer defects from the Neverseen, and Tam attacks Lady Gisela with shadowflux- however, she is able to get away. Yet again.