Mary Oakton

Mary Oakton was the second wife of Brenmar II of Valkanren. Born to the modest Olbert Oakton, Baron Oakton of Grandhall, she was raised as a member of the Brythonian marches' low nobility. She caught Brenmar's eye in 133 and married him, much to the ire of wealthier Valkanrian lords and princes.

Due to the newfound prominence of Mary's family at court, both her father and brother were elevated to high statuses by the king. The barony of Oakton was promoted to the Princedom of Oakton with the subsidiary title Count of Alryne. This spawned anger from countless families of ancient nobility who saw the Oakton family as nothing more than upstarts.

Mary's love affair with the king ended six years later in 139 after she had only bore the king a single daughter. The king cocked up a trial where he accused Mary of adultery with a hundred different lovers, including her own brother. She, her brother, and her father were all executed in Levenstad and the House of Oakton fell into poverty, with only a first cousin, Sir Philidor Oakton, inheriting only a knighthood and a mortgaged estate near Grandhall.