Lalia the Great

            Lalia the Great—that was what they called her.  Or at least that was what they called her to her face.  But if they would call her that, that was what she would be.  She would be the matriarch of the family whose name she’d borne ever since she married Fortinbras Took.  And she would not allow herself to recognize that the name had been given her out of malice and jealousy.  She would take the slight on her girth and apply it to her whole person.  That was what she wished to be remembered for, her commanding personality.