Bethany Begay

Not part of Riordanverse The following article/section is from the Race to the Sun continuity under Rick Riordan Presents and not the Riordanverse canon.

Bethany Begay
Biographical information
Gender	Female
Family	Unnamed mother Unnamed father Mr. Begay (husband) Nizhoni Begay (daughter) Mac Begay (son) Eugene (maternal uncle) Unnamed father-in-law Changing Woman (ancestor) Nayéé Neizghani (ancestor)
Residence	Albuquerque, New Mexico
Item	Crossbow Lightning Sword
Status	Alive
Physical description
Eye	Brown
Hair	Black
Species	Legacy
Behind the scenes
Appearances	Race to the Sun

“	Oh, Nizhoni. Don't you see? I tried to save you from all of this. I thought that you if I could kill the monsters, you wouldn’t have to. You’d be free to grow up and become whoever you wanted to be.	”
–Bethany telling her daughter why she left her family , In Race to the Sun.

Bethany Begay is an inheritor of the powers of Monsterslayer, the wife of Mr. Begay, and the mother of Nizhoni and Mac Begay. She is a descendant of Monsterslayer, one of the sons of Changing Woman.

History

Bethany Begay was born to two members of the Navajo tribe who lived on the Navajo Nation. At one point she married a man and had a daughter and son with him.

However when her children were around three years old she left and never returned. At this time Bethany took Nizhoni out in the snow and rolled her around in it to teach her to be brave. As they head back to the house a monster finds them and she rushes in and leaves Nizhoni with her husband before taking over her bow and fighting the monster.

Unknown to her family, she was an inheritor of the powers of Monsterslayer, one of the sons of Changing Woman. She went each of the four mountains to gather offerings for Spider Woman and complemented a rug she was working on. She then set out the complete the trials to reach the House of the Sun, however she failed at the fourth trial and became trapped in her worst memory.

Race to the Sun

Nizhoni Begay, her daughter.

When her daughter is going through the trials, she sees her reflection in a mirror and sees the last moment they were together. When Nizhoni sacrifices her chance at becoming a hero, she and the rest of those who are trapped in the lost and found are freed. when she sees her children she stares at them in disbelief. She tearfully embraces her son and tries to do the same with her daughter, but Nizhoni refuses and backs away. Bethany explains she went out to fight monsters so that Nizhoni wouldn’t have to. Jóhonaa’éí Walks over to her and gives her a new lighting sword. However the guardians and heralds arrive and tell them the Bináá’ yee aghání are free. She, Mac, and Davery, mount the heralds with her riding the herald of Sisnaajiní, Łigai, along with Rock Crystal Boy. When Nizhoni explains she can’t join them due to giving up the opportunity to fight to free them, but Mr. Yazzie explains she only had to be willing to sit aside and she can still fight. When her daughter joins in they head to Shiprock.

File:MacBegay.800.jpg

Mac Begay, her son.

As they reach Shiprock, all but her and her daughter avert their gaze as she slashes at the eyes of the Bináá’ yee aghání. When Nizhoni jumps off Łizhin, she catches her daughter and they take out the blockade. She cuts off Mr. Rock’s hand holding the gun while Nizhoni shoots Ms. Bird out of the sky. She jumps of the white herald to do so and lands on Tsídii. She and Davery land and congratulate Nizhoni. When Spider Woman returns Mac they hug him and she kisses her husband when they are reunited. Soon her mother shows up and they go back to her house for flatbread.

Appearance

Bethany Begay is a Native American woman in her late thirties to forties with long black hair and brown eyes. She wore heavy make up around her eyes. Her daughter resembles her greatly.

Personality

Bethany cared for the well-being of her family and is a brave warrior. When she saw her children for the first time in a decade, she tearfully apologized to them, showing an apologetic side.

Eythmology

• Bethany is a biblical given name meaning “house of affliction”.
• Begay is a Navajo surname meaning “his son” or “her son”.

Trivia

• Bethany and her children are the first legacies to appear within the Rick Riordan Presents imprint.