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Gwendolyn Sophie Elizabeth Shephard (b. October 7th, 1994) is the Ruby in the Circle of Twelve, and twelfth in the Circle of Blood.

Biography[]

According to her birth certificate she is born 8th October 1994 in Durham as the daughter of Grace Montrose and Nicolas Shephard. In reality, however, her biological parents are the two time travellers Paul de Villiers and Lucy Montrose, and she was born one day earlier, on 7th October 1994. Therefore, she shares a birthday with Charlotte Montrose, who she grew up to believe was her cousin.

Upon the request of her parents, the midwife Dawn Heller faked the birth certificate so that Gwendolyn wouldn't be raised with the Lodge's ideology since calculations had revealed that the last carrier of the time travel gene would be born 7th October 1994. When she was sixteen years old, it was discovered that Gwendolyn, not Charlotte, was the Ruby.

In Emerald Green she finds out that she is immortal as a result of being the child of two time travellers. In the movies, she recants her immortality, while in the books she remains immortal.

She grew up in Northern England until her adoptive mother moved her and her adoptive children to London after her husband Nicolas' death. There they moved into the place where Grace grew up, an old house at Bourdon Place 81.

The Ruby[]

Gwendolyn is the Ruby, the twelfth in the Circle of Twelve. Her animal is the raven, her tree is the birch, and her alchemic quality is projectio.

Prophecy[]

The raven red, on ruby pinions winging
it's way between worlds, hears dead men singing.
it scarce knows its strength, the price it scarce knows
but its power will arise and the Circle will close

Initiation Journey[]

She first travels in time on a Monday, while on her way to Selfridges. In the past, she finds her way to her house and rings, but before someone can open her, she travels back to the year 2011.

Uncontrolled Journeys[]

Her Initation journey is followed by a second one later at night of the same day where she hides out in her house to not be detected by the servants working back then.

Her third uncontrolled journey happened at school where she landed in the 18th century, hiding behind the curtains when future-her enters the room with Gideon. To save past-her from being detected by Gideon, future-her kisses him.

Her fourth uncontrolled trip happens while she's waiting with Mr. George for a jump to prove she is the Ruby. She remains in the room and simply takes a key to gift to Lesley that ends up being important.

In Visions[]

Her Great-Aunt Maddy often has visions.

About her heritage[]

An egg made from sapphire lays at the roots of a Mountain Ash. Out of it, a raven hatches that's flying up to the tower clock where Gwendolyn is sitting, dangling her feet. There's a strong wind, and an eagle is circling above her, preparing to push her off the edge.

This prophecy describes her heritage. The Sapphire and the Mountain Ash are symbols for her parents Lucy and Paul respectively. Gwen herself is represented by the raven - her signature animal - and herself, while the danger waiting for her is symbolized by the eagle, who stands for Count Saint-Germain.

Gwendolyn-shephard

Gwen meeting the Count.

About Gideon breaking her heart[]

A polished, smoothed ruby heart laying on the edge of a abyss, before a lion approaches and kicks it down. Upon impact, it shatters, the splitters turning into blood drops.

This vision happens on the morning of the day when Gideon breaks her heart. He is represented through the lion, breaking Gwendolyn's heart by pushing the ruby down the abyss.

About her death[]

Gwendolyn is at a roaring ball night. Everyone is having fun. The ceiling is open and the sky can be seen. Dark clouds are mounting, and out of them a big bird (an eagle) emerges, ready to come down on Gwendolyn. Out of nowhere, a sword is hanging in the air. When Gwen flees from the eagle, she directly runs into the knife. The sky turns red, and everywhere is blood.

Appearance[]

She has long, straight, black hair, sapphire blue eyes and a birthmark at the temple that Gideon calls a crescent moon, while Glenda refers to it as a weird banana. She's almost 5'4 tall and is very pale.

Personality[]

Most of the time, she is in a good mood but in Gideon's attendance it turns into nervousness. Her thoughts are very sarcastic but she often refrains from saying them out loud. Despite this, Gideon often describes her as prickly. She is very curious, especially when it comes to the Guardians whose goals and plans are often kept from her in particular. She is courageous and strong-willed, proving it while saving Gideon's life several times. When she's nervous she tends to talk more and faster and faster - a habit she seemed to have inherited from her biological mother Lucy.

She is not someone who mindlessly follows someone else, unless she holds the person in high regard. Gwen is a true friend in the sense of she is always there for people when they need her. While she may not have as much knowledge as many other characters, she is still quite wise. Gwendolyn also tends to be a little stubborn about things, and won't allow anyone to toy with her and get away with it… she's very kind hearted unless you do her wrong. She tends to get impressed easy and even easier when her heart gets involved. She's curious and likes to get down to the bottom of things and won't stop thriving until she finds all the answers to her questions.

Ruby Red[]

Female Line

As the book opens, Gwen is complaining about how she always manages to get food on her uniform as she hurries to button up her school blazer. After having a run-in with the school's popular girl, Cynthia, Gwendolyn compares herself to her cousin Charlotte, the female gene carrier from a long line of time travellers. She then remarks about how easily Charlottle has accepted the time traveling gene while she wouldn't have been as passive.

After lunch, she and her best friend Lesley compare their A minus grades on their history test as they watch Charlotte receive another A plus. She then goes on to talk about Mr. Whitman and how every girl seems to be in love with him even though because of her best friend, she thinks he looks like a squirrel. While an argument starts out between him and Gordon Gelderman, Charlotte begins to have a dizzy fit. Gwyneth quickly huddles her out of the classroom and walks her through the hallways as she comes face to face with her ghost friend James. Charlotte's dizziness turns out to be phantom symptoms.

Knowing that in her family symptoms like Charlotte is showing are handled extremely carefully, she decides to not tell her mom about herself showing such symptoms. Even as she jumps back in the past a few times she doesn't tell anyone but Lesley.

A few days later, as Gwendolyn continues to have uncontrolled time travels and returns from one she had while in school, Lesley tells her that she has to tell her mother about it. Finally Gwen decides to call her mum on a school day. Grace directly heads to her school picks her up and brings her to the Guardians located in Temple. On their ride there Gwen asks her mother about all this so Grace tells her all she knows. As they head into the headquarters and go on to have a talk with the Guardians Gwen asks more questions but feels like she's being ignored as to no-one answering her.

Later on after having "accepted her new fate" she continues to make a few coordinated time travels first meeting a lot of people important for the course of the action like: Count Saint-Germain, Lucy, Paul, Lady Margaret, Rakoczy and many more.

Family[]

Grace Shepherd[]

"Have those damn Guardians been doing something to you? What happened?" — Grace to Gwyneth when she came home after Gideon's lie.

Gwyneth, Nick, and Caroline's mother. In Emerald Green, it is revealed that Grace Shepherd adopted Gwyneth when she was born. It is shown in the first two books that they have a strong relationship.

Nicolas Shepherd[]

Not much is known about their relationship, as he died of leukemia when Gwyneth was seven years old. But she remembers that he used to play guitar for her and Nick before he became sick and that he always claimed that she got her musical talent from him.

Friendships[]

Lesley Hay[]

"Whenever he looks at me with those big brown eyes, I feel like giving him a nut." — Lesley to Gwen about Mr. Whitman

Lesley is Gwyneth's best friend who also attends St. Lennox High School and is the only one outside of Gwyneth's family who knows about the time travel secret. She helps Gwyneth find out the mystery, gathering information from the internet and books. She is very smart, loyal, helpful, and encourages Gwyneth. She lives with her parents and her dog Bertie in an town house in North Kensington[1].

James August Peregrine Pympoole-Bothame[]

"What does she mean, a ghost? The Honorable James August Peregrine Pympoole-Bothame, heir to the fourteenth Earl of Hardsdale, is taking no insults from young girls!" — James to Gwen and Lesley when Lesley claimed he was a ghost.

James is the ghost who haunts St. Lennox. His only friend is Gwyneth since she is the only one who can see him. He was born on 31 March 1762, but died at the age of 21 of smallpox. He is not aware that he is dead and consistently believes that he is merely dreaming. In Emerald Green, Gwen and Gideon forcibly inject him with smallpox vaccine, which James thought to be some kind of mugging. Afterwards, it is revealed that the inoculation was successful, and he even managed to get married, though it is unknown how long he lived after that.

Xemerius[]

"Girls get on my nerves worse than any other kind of human being. Along with retired taxmen, saleswomen in hosiery departments, and presidents of community garden societies." — Xemerius to Gwyneth after a phone call with Lesley.

Xemerius is the demon that follows Gwyneth around after he witnesses her and Gideon kissing in the church he was haunting in 1912. While called a demon, he is more accurately described as a cat-like ghost that can talk. He becomes very helpful for spying on people to get information for Gwyneth, as she is the only one that is able to see him. He and James don't really get along, as James believes that he is a cat from his nightmares.

Romantic Relationships[]

Gideon de Villiers[]

"It's far too late for you to say that. I love you. And I wouldn't want to go on living without you." Gwyneth to Gideon in the tunnels.

At first, Gideon's relationship with Gwyneth was rocky. They quarreled quite a bit, and wouldn't get along. Later on, though, Gideon was able to pluck up the courage and confess his love for Gwyneth. They had their arguments after that, because Count Saint-Germain told Gwyneth that Gideon was just manipulating her and all of it was an act. However, Gideon and Gwyneth overcame the misunderstanding, and were able to have a stable, romantic relationship. 

Enemies[]

Count Saint-Germain[]

Despite living in the past, Gwen and him have a lot of contact. His goal is it to add her blood to the chronograph, while she is trying to stop him. He repeatedly flirts with her, while she is disgusted and repulsed by him.

Behind the scenes[]

  • In the German original her name is "Gwendolyn".
  • The english translation has her name as "Gwyneth"

Trivia[]

  • At the time of her birth, she weighed 5 lbs 8oz (2.4 kg) and was 20 in (50 cm) tall[2].
  1. Ruby Red, Chapter 2.
  2. Ruby Red, Chapter 1. Annals of the Guardians, 10 October 1994-
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