Character from Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
The dying queen of Babilar — an Epic who flooded Manhattan, manipulated Prof into becoming a monster, and did it all because she was running out of time to save her old friend from himself.
Abigail Reed was a university professor, a colleague of Jonathan Phaedrus, and part of a small group of Epics who tried to use their powers for good. They failed. The Darkness took the others. Prof ran. Regalia built a kingdom. She rules Babilar (formerly Manhattan) through a combination of hydrokinesis and projection — she flooded the streets, creating a water-world where people live on rooftops and everything is weirdly beautiful because of Dawnslight's luminescent plants. She is dying of cancer that even Epic powers cannot cure. Her plan is the most complex antagonist scheme in the series: she needs Prof to use his powers directly (not through gifting), which will trigger his Darkness corruption. Why? Because she believes the only way to save him is to force the crisis. If Prof faces the Darkness, maybe he overcomes it. If he doesn't, at least he's not hiding anymore. She was wrong. Prof doesn't overcome it. He becomes Limelight. Regalia dies having turned her friend into the thing they both feared. It's the kindest, most catastrophic act of friendship in the series.
An elderly African-American woman, bedridden with terminal cancer. Her actual body is frail and failing. But her projections — water-formed images she can manifest anywhere in Babilar — are imperious, sharp-eyed, and commanding. She rules through remote presence, a queen who never leaves her sickbed.
Also known as: Abigail Reed, Regalia