Mistle

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	"That shaven-haired one is Mistle..." someone near Tuzik said. "Dripping with trinkets, just like a Yule tree." "They say she's killed more people than she's seen springs..."
- Gesonian peasant, pg. 41 Baptism of Fire (U.K. edition)

Mistle (d. 9 September 1267) was one of the members of the Rats.^[1]

Biography

Early life

Hailing from a wealthy noble family from the city of Thurn in northern Maecht, her father, a vassal of Duke Rudiger, during the Ebbing confederation insurrection in 1265, joined the insurrectionary army and was defeated, vanishing without a trace. She was forced to flee from the city because of the Gemmerian Pacifiers's forward assault during the rebellion, and after three days was kidnapped by a roving band of manhunters that were following the Nilfgaardians. She was the only kidnapped female not repeatedly raped during this time. Eventually, the Nilfgaardians caught and killed the manhunters, capturing the girls and raping them like their previous captors, tossing their tortured and naked bodies into a ditch. Mistle was the only one to survive, and she was eventually discovered by Asse, the son of the village blacksmith, who pulled her to safety and the two began working together.^[2]

Likely around 1266,^[3] they met Reef, Kayleigh, Iskra and Giselher during the holiday of Lammas in a village in Geso and formed a gang. Originally the law ignored the Rats, believing the group would soon fall victim to the usual methods that wiped out other gangs: be killed by a mob of peasants or fight each other over loot. However, the Rats were different in that they didn't kill for the goods, they killed for entertainment and thus handed out the goods to the poor citizens in the area, which also made it harder for troops to track them, as the citizens would give false information on the Rats' whereabouts and even shelter them on occasion. The Nilfgaardian prefects then tried to offer generous rewards on the Rats, but any informers had their cottage set on fire and were summarily killed by the gang when they tried to escape the burning building. Trying another route, the prefects tried to plant moles, but the group despised outsiders and refused to accept anyone else.^[2]

Meeting Ciri

This changed in July 1267, after Kayleigh was kidnapped by the Nissir and held at the inn at Glyswen; the group attacked and killed the Gesonians and their allies, the Trappers, who held Ciri captive. Mistle was the first of the Rats to take an (almost over-abundant) interest in the girl, and later that night, Mistle chastised Kayleigh for attempting to rape Ciri (who was too emotionally drained, due to her recent past experiences, to resist). Once Kayleigh was gone, Mistle took advantage of the now half-dressed Ciri, attempting to build more on the purely-physical relationship, but Ciri remained emotionally distant and even admitted she was only in it because she didn't want to be alone again.^[2]

Before leaving the Rats for good, Ciri got the same tattoo (a rose) as Mistle on her inner thigh. After a romantic night, Mistle caught Ciri the next morning attempting to leave. She did not stop her but concluded that Ciri had been more receptive because she was going to leave, and that once she did, Mistle would be forgotten. Ciri promised to never forget her and that she would come back for her "in a six-horse gilded coach. With a retinue of courtiers" and change her fate as well as show her how much she was able to change. Before she finally left, the two kissed and told each other "I love you."

Death

On September 9th, she, along with the rest of the original gang, went to Jealousy to confront Leo Bonhart, a legendary bounty hunter that'd been asked to deal with the Rats. However, their overconfidence led to the gang's downfall and all of them were subsequently killed and beheaded by Bonhart, save for Ciri as Bonhart had a separate, special contract on her. Mistle's decapitated body was then buried in Jealousy with the rest.^[1]

Appearance and personality

She was tall with long legs, had close-cropped, straw-colored hair that stuck up like a brush, and wore a red doublet and high, shiny boots reaching above the knee.^[2]

References