Hildred Vance

Hildred Diane Vance (1984 –) is the Grand Commander of the Republic of Scion England and authority maximum of ScionIDE. A ruthless strategist and manipulator, Vance was the mastermind behind the invasions of Ireland, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Background
Vance joined ScionIDE at the age of sixteen and served in the Highlands for five years. She helped crush several uprisings in what was then called Scotland. People whispered her name, like they were scared she might be able to hear. Her superiors noticed her appetite for slaughtering unnaturals, and they rewarded her for it. Her rise through the ranks was meteoric. She is now the longest-serving member of Scion's upper echelon.

When Vance moved against the rebels in the Balkans, she knew the names and backgrounds of all the leaders. She planted double agents among them within days of arriving in Bulgaria. Maria tells how Vance learned that her unit's commander, Rozaliya Yudina, had once had a younger brother who had died before the family left Russia. Somehow Vance knew that this was Roza's weak spot. Vance also knew that Rozaliya's death would devastate the morale of the remaining militants. So Vance's soldiers found a boy who looked like Roza's lost brother. During the rebels' final stand, this ten-year-old boy was thrown onto the street and told to scream at Roza for help. And Roza hesitated. The boy had been given a toy bear to hold. Inside was plastic explosive.

The Song Rising
Vance plants false information about the location of Senshield's core within the ranks of SciORE, knowing the Underqueen isn't the kind of person to let her people risk their lives without risking her own. She turns out to be right when Paige follows the false lead straight into an ambush. This allows Vance to use Paige to improve Senshield.

Vance uses Paige's weak spots against her in Edinburgh by executing her father, Colin Mahoney, and recreating the scene of the Molly Riots, intending to trigger Paige's traumatic childhood memories and make her surrender out of despair. Paige does surrender, just not for the reasons Vance intended.

When Paige battles the poltergeist powering Senshield's core, the glass pyramid of the tower shatters and Vance is seriously injured. Patricia Okonma, the Deputy Grand Commander, takes over.

Physical Description
Vance is seventy-five. Lines branch through her sun-beaten skin. She has a pinched nose, a seam of a mouth, and white hair combed back from a raw-boned face. Her eyes are chilling and black as pits. According to Paige, her voice is calm and crisp as pressed linen.

Personality
Vance is merciless and cruel. She enjoys killing clairvoyants. One reason she is so lethal is because she doesn't underestimate her foes. She remembers every encounter with her enemies and learns from the experience. She has a mental database, and the more she learns about someone, the better she becomes at predicting them. Paige describes her as "a puppet with a brain, and thus far more dangerous."

Appearances

 * The Song Rising