Dyhianna Selei

Dyhianna Selei, also called Dehya, is a fictional character in the Saga of the Skolian Empire books by Catherine Asaro.

Dehya is the Ruby Pharaoh, titular head of the Skolian Imperialate. She is a mathematical genius, who can even predict future with the help of her equations. She dislikes giving public speeches, dresses with long skirts (her preferred style is jumpsuit) and would rather spend her time solving math problems than ruling an empire. Dehya is the oldest living member of the Ruby Dynasty, actually even the oldest living Skolian. She is also a member of the imperial Triad with the title of Assembly Key and powers and maintains the psiberweb used as an essential communication network by the Skolians.

Unlike her younger sister Roca, who has the beautiful figure of a former dancer, Dehya is small, slender with childlike face and appears to be helpless and vulnerable. But anyone who would see her that way would be mistaken. Dehya is very strong-minded, courageous and has a superior intellect. Unfortunately, people don’t always understand what she is talking about because the genius speech is not as universal as it may seem to her.

Dehya was married twice with both weddings being arranged for her for political reasons by the Skolian governing body, the Assembly. Her first marriage to Seth Rockworth, a top officer from Earth, established the Icelandic treaty between Allieds and Skolians. They were married for several decades but had no children and later divorced.

Her second marriage was strictly enforced by the Assembly – against her will Dehya had to marry her own nephew Eldrin Valdoria. Eldrin was, like her, a Rhon psion and the Assembly was desperate for producing more Rhon heirs. Luckily, with time Dehya and Eldrin happened to fall in love with each other and are having a happy marriage now. Being so closely related to her husband however led to genetic issues with Dehya's offspring.

Her firstborn son Taquinil was a mathematical genius who worked at a prestigious university as an economics professor. He possessed an extremely sensitive mind without any mental defenses that protect empaths from the bombarding emotions of people around them. This led to his mental problems, resulting in splitting his mind to multiple personalities and the need to take strong medications so that he would be able to live an almost normal life.

Dehya's second son Althor was born with a deformed body, his legs and several internal organs missing. He would not have survived without the help of modern medicine and had to spend his early childhood in intensive medical care. Huge parts of his body were replaced by biomech, which actually helped him to pursue his goal of becoming a Jagernaut.