Countess January O'Leary is Duke Sylvester Torquill's niece and CEO of ALH Computing, located in the County of Tamed Lightning. She first appears in A Local Habitation.
About[]
January is a Torquill by birth but took her Tylwyth Teg father's surname. She is on close terms with her uncle Sylvester, but she still keeps Tamed Lightning fiercely independent of Shadowed Hills and the Duchy of Dreamer's Glass.
She is married to Li Qin Zhou. Together they have an adoptive daughter, April, a dryad who January rescued and uploaded into a computer server.
As an employer she is fairly casual and has made bets with her employees over office shenanigans. She is also very ambitious, inspired by April's circumstances to upload the entire consciousness of Faerie to a computer server and make them truly immortal.
Up until her resurrection which restored her eyesight, she was one of the rare fae who actually require eyeglasses.
In the Series[]
These Antique Fables[]
When their home in the Kingdom of Silences is under attack in 1916, Malcolm transforms January into a yarrow branch and sends her to safety in Shadowed Hills. When she awakens, January discovers that much has changed. Her father is dead, her mother is crippled with mourning, her home knowe has fallen, and her uncle Sylvester has taken her in as ward. When he declares her his presumptive heir, she finds the functions and responsibilities a heavy burden. She finds solace in the Library of the Stars and in her friends Elliot and Magdaleana.
In 1943, January learns of her mother's death acting as a medic in World War II.
In 1965, on her 100th birthday, Sylvester throws January a party where she meets Li Qin Zhou.
A Local Habitation[]
When January misses several of their regular check-in calls, Sylvester sends Toby to investigate. January is outraged; she believes Sylvester is the one who hasn't been answering her calls.
January hides from Toby that several of her employees have been murdered, but eventually the truth comes out and she gives Toby full leave to investigate. January ignores Toby's instructions to use the buddy system for safety and is killed, far more violently than any of the other victims. Toby eventually learns that she was killed by Gordan, the only victim who April didn't help subdue, and the only one who was not intended to be uploaded to the server.
January's body is burned on a funeral pyre. Her employees, members of Shadowed Hills, and Amandine all attend.
Of Things Unknown[]
April convinces the night-haunts to recreate January's body with help from the blood she stored away prior to her death. She, with the help of Toby and Li Qin, manage to restore January to life along with the ALH employees that were killed. The resurrection also restored her eyesight as well.