Reigned from 1482 to 1485 she was known as The Sick Queen or The Prepared.
Ascension and Early Promise
Eleanor XIV ascended to the throne at age 30, having been thoroughly educated in statecraft by her mother’s carefully chosen tutors. Her first year showed remarkable promise – she negotiated the Treaty of Five Ports, established new trade routes with the Kingdoms of Southern India, and began plans for what would become the Great Western Fleet.
However, six months into her reign, she began experiencing mysterious fatigue and recurring fevers. The royal physicians were baffled by symptoms that seemed to wax and wane with no discernible pattern.
The Slow Poison
Unknown to Eleanor XIV, her aunt Isabella had begun a campaign of systematic poisoning using a combination of rare botanical toxins from the Spice Islands. Isabella had developed a nearly undetectable poison derived from the Antiaris toxicaria (upas tree) of Java, combined with processed extracts from the Maluku Islands’ endemic Strychnos species, administered in tiny doses through aromatic oils and incense that were gifts “to ease the Empress’s suffering.”
The poison was designed not to kill quickly, but to weaken gradually, creating symptoms that mimicked various diseases:
- Recurring fevers that seemed malarial
- Weakness that appeared consumptive
- Tremors that suggested nervous affliction
- Periods of clarity followed by devastating relapses
The Letters to Eleanor XV
By late 1483, Eleanor XIV began to suspect her illness was unnatural. Though she couldn’t prove it, her keen intellect recognized patterns in her affliction. She began two parallel efforts:
The Secret Investigation
She tasked her most trusted spy, Marie de Montmorency, with investigating everyone who had access to her chambers and food. This investigation would eventually unmask Isabella, though too late to save Eleanor XIV.
The Letter Project
Knowing she was dying, Eleanor XIV spent her lucid periods writing a series of letters to her daughter, to be opened at specific ages and circumstances:
- Letter for Age 5: “On the Nature of Courage” – Written in simple language about being brave when afraid
- Letter for Age 10: “The Art of Listening” – About gathering intelligence and reading people
- Letter for Age 13: “On the Weight of the Crown” – About the burden and responsibility of rule
- Letter for Age 16: “The Dance of Diplomacy” – Detailed strategies for managing rival powers
- Letter for Age 18: “When to Show Mercy, When to Show Strength”
- Letter for First Battle: “Remember Who You Are”
- Letter for First Victory: “Glory is a Drug – Do Not Become Addicted”
- Letter for First Defeat: “Iron is Forged in Fire”
- Letter for First Blood: “On the Taking and Giving of Pleasure” – About power, vulnerability, and maintaining autonomy in intimacy
- Letter for the Birth of Her First Daughter: “The Cycle Continues”
- The Final Letter: To be opened only upon conquering her first kingdom
The Council of Guardians
Eleanor XIV’s greatest achievement was the assembly of what would become known as the Council of Guardians for her daughter:
- Admiral Catalina de Aragon: A Spanish naval commander who had defected to the Empire, she would teach young Eleanor XV revolutionary naval tactics
- Astrid Ironside: Descendant of the legendary Astrid the Fierce, master of land warfare
- Chen Wei: A Chinese scholar-spy who would train Eleanor XV in intelligence gathering
- Rangitāne Te Kohu: A Māori master navigator and warrior-philosopher who would teach her the ways of reading wind, water, and men’s hearts
- Mamadou the Chronicler: A Malian historian who would ensure Eleanor XV understood the full history of her empire
- Sister Marguerite: A French nun and master of languages who would make Eleanor XV fluent in twelve tongues
Death and Revelation
In March 1485, Marie de Montmorency finally discovered Isabella’s plot. She had traced the poison to specific rare orchids and tree bark that only grew in Isabella’s private botanical gardens in Ternate. Racing to the Empress’s chambers with proof and antidotes, she arrived to find Eleanor XIV in her final hours.
Eleanor XIV’s last act was to sign Décret 1547: The Condemnation of Isabella of the Spice Islands. When Isabella learned her plot was uncovered, she took her own life rather than face execution, using the same poison she had been administering to her niece.
Eleanor XIV died at age 33, having reigned for only three years. Her last words, spoken to the assembled Council of Guardians as they held her three-year-old daughter, were: “I have prepared the way. Make her the lion I saw in my dreams.”