“ | I adore Amberly. As a mother, I look at her with a sort of awe. She's charming, smart, gracious, beautiful; and though she's seen her share with sadness, she tries to be joyful. | ” |
—Kiera Cass praising Amberly
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Queen Amberly Schreave (née Station) was the Queen of Illéa and a supporting character in The Selection Series.
Biography[]
Amberly was the former queen of Illéa and the mother of Prince Maxon. Amberly was born and raised in a tiny house in the south, right by the coast of Honduragua in Illéa. She shared a bed with her older sister Adele. She had other siblings too. Her grandpa owned a coffee farm (Though in The Elite she states she worked in a factory) and gave it to her uncle. Her family and her worked all together there.
She entered the Selection as a Four and was ultimately selected by the former prince, and then king, Clarkson, whom she married. Amberly was chosen partially because there was unrest in the south of the country, and since she was from there it was thought that it could have pleased the southern people. It did, but only for a time. Clarkson was also charmed by her beauty and, most importantly, by her calming nature. The opposite of everything Clarkson had ever known, so he was drawn to her from the start.
During her own Selection, the doctor found out that it was barely possible that she will ever have children because the toxins in her home province left in her blood made it impossible to bear one. Still Clarkson chose her, never caring if they would have children or not. Also, she had very bad headaches that she believed were because of the polluted environment in which she was raised. For the Selection, her maids were Martha, Cindly, and Emon.
Amberly had three miscarriages: two before having Maxon and one after. At the beginning of the Selection, the queen had little to no interaction with any of the Selected girls, because she was afraid of connecting to a girl that could get sent home. Her sister, Adele, said that she would open up to the girls once there was a smaller group. Once eliminated to the Six Elites, Amberly indeed opened up to the girls and socialized with them, but only for a limited amount of time. She was suspecting though that Maxon loved and would eventually choose America, something that made her happy and warm toward her future daughter-in-law.
When Maxon is about to announce who is he going to marry, at the end of The One, the Southern rebels attack the palace. They first killed Queen Amberly and then King Clarkson, after she took the first bullet aimed at him, exactly like she had promised herself to do, years back during her own Selection.
Three years after her passing, Maxon and America have twins: a boy and a girl. The girl, who is seven minutes older than her brother, is called Eadlyn, making her the heir to Illéa's crown and the prize of her own Selection. Eadlyn ends up marrying and having two kids, one unborn. She looks exactly like her grandmother, Amberly. Her grandson is called Ahren and he marries Camille. She eventually has two more grandsons, Kaden and Osten Schreave. Kaden gets married to Josie Woodwork. Their further life is unknown.
See King Clarkson's Selection for more information on her Selection.
Personality[]
"I think she genuinely believes no one is bad on purpose, that every soul has some good in it, and she looks for it constantly" — Kiera about Amberly in the introduction of The Queen in Happily Ever After: Companion to the Selection Series
In a deleted scene from The Selection, Maxon described his mother as "generous," "good," and "a very soothing person," and able to calm down King Clarkson when he was angry. She was a strong, brave, and ladylike queen. However, he mentioned that "his mother [was] sick. She [had] headaches a lot and [seemed] tired". In The Prince, Maxon said his mother never gave a gift thoughtlessly. She had seen her share with sadness but tries to be happy. Queen Amberly is also known to be kinder and gentler unlike King Clarkson, and because so America always saw her as a mother figure.
"One of my worries about this novella (The Queen) is that it takes away something from Amberly. I worry that it makes her seem foolish, to disregard Clarkson's words and actions, and want him anyway." — Kiera about Amberly's flaw
When Amberly is sad, she tends to treat herself like a victim until Clarkson pulls her back from the brink. Despite knowing it is wrong, she listens to her husband at all costs which makes her seem, as Kiera had stated, foolish.
She's also a very good Queen and knows what she is doing most of the time. In some cases though she can get emotional and forget about her duties as a queen. She is a loving mother, caring wife and an excellent ruler to sum it all up.
Features[]
"I didn't have the fire some of the other girls had and I wasn't a Two but there are other ways to shine. I'd decided that I was going to stop dressing like a princess and start dressing like a queen." — Amberly about becoming ladylike
Words described on Amberly is "stunning" and seems to do it effortless. Amberly has been described as beautiful and had an aura of importance to her. She had dark hair, which America described as "absolutely gorgeous", and brown eyes, and was Hispanic, giving her olive-toned skin. When her hair was cut, Amberly described it as having a "mahogany frame". When she first came to her Selection, her hair was down to her waist. But after a suggestion from then Prince Clarkson, she had her maids cut it just below her shoulder blades to get his attention. Before she became the queen her hands were also dry and cracked from her time working on a farm in Honduragua before her Selection and had to wear lace gloves on her first meeting with Clarkson. She was regal and very ladylike.
Quotes[]
- “If it ends as I suspect it will, Mom will be just fine.” — Amberly Schreave to America Singer
- “Maxon, this is my gift to you. I promise I will make every effort to see these girls through your eyes. Not the eyes of a queen, or the eyes of your mother, but yours. Even if the girl you choose is of a very low caste, even if others think she has no value, I will always listen to your reasons for wanting her. And I will do my best to support your choice.” — Amberly Schreave to Maxon Schreave
- "On the contrary, he was a mystery I was excited to solve." — Amberly Schreave about Clarkson Schreave
- "His world looked like a storm. I was going to be its center." — Amberly Schreave about Clarkson Schreave
Trivia[]
- In the prequel novella The Queen, Amberly narrates her own story and her Selection: how she met and was chosen by Prince Clarkson.
- In The Queen, Amberly admitted that she would protect Clarkson with her life even if it costs hers. At the end of The One she died indeed protecting her husband, taking a bullet for him.
- She is of Hispanic descent.
- Although she was a Four before her Selection, she worked on a farm doing work Sevens do.
- In The One, during a fun day with the rest of the Selected, Amberly told America that if the Selection ended the way she (Amberly) thought it would, she (America) could call her "Mom" after America jokingly called her as such.
- Her granddaughter, Eadlyn, took on more of her features.
- Amberly never got to meet her grandchildren because she died in a rebel attack before they were born.
- It is revealed in The Crown that her husband cheated on her with an unamed mistress, which resulted in an illegitamate child, Brice Mannor.
- Maxon stated that King Clarkson kept Queen Amberly's quarters in the other wing, stating it was the King's idea, because he can't imagine his mom seperating herself intentionally from the King.
- Amberly was 7 years old when she fell in love with Clarkson. She celebrated his birthday every year in secret as she worried Adele would tease her.
- May, America's sister, admired Queen Amberly before America herself was selected.