Lady Quina, who is somewhere over 400 years, is the daughter of the late Lord Wayne of Chantris and Lady Meredith of Mandrake. An arranged marriage between two 'lesser' branches of the Houses which took place in their later years, both were comfortable with the arrangement (second marriages for both) and got along well throughout the remainder of their lives.
Quina was raised in the countryside, mainly by her mother since Lord Wayne was involved in the family business of trade. Her love of horses showed very early, and she followed much more of a Mandrake calling than that of her Chantris relatives. She spent a great deal of her time on Mandrake lands, studying the animals there and in particular all their breeds of horses. This developed into impressive skills as a horse trainer, and she is currently considered one of the best in Amber, if not the best.
Her interests are not at all limited to horses. Quina is known as a student of all facets of the natural world, and has spent a great deal of her life studying nature in almost all the forms she could reach without the ability to travel shadow on her own. She's also then known as an accomplished herbalist who does some trading.
She was married to Lord Theophrastus d'Mandrake, brother to Duchess Lucretia. This, as with her parents, was an arranged marriage that 'gave' Quina to House Mandrake. They both seemed to be quite content in their marriage, and the union produced a daughter, Julia. Lord Theophrastus' presence in Amber waned however, and a few years later the marriage contract was ended. Quina remained with Mandrake, per an agreement between the Houses, and is now Duchess Mandrake.
