Character from The Realm of the Elderlings by Robin Hobb
A Servant of Clerres — a fanatic collector of White children who kidnaps Bee and will not stop, cannot be reasoned with, and believes absolutely in her divine mission.
Dwalia is terrifying because she is not a monster — she is a bureaucrat. She kidnaps children with prophetic gifts the way a tax collector gathers revenue: systematically, without malice, and with complete confidence in the institution she serves. She hurts Bee not out of cruelty but out of frustrated efficiency — the child won't cooperate, and Dwalia has quotas. Her use of Vindeliar's magic to control and confuse is clinical rather than sadistic. She is the banality of evil in a fantasy setting.
A middle-aged woman with an unremarkable face and the flat, certain eyes of a true believer. She dresses in Servant robes and carries herself with the authority of someone who has never questioned whether she's right.
Also known as: Dwalia