In “Tales In The Sand” (Sandman # 9) we learn the story of Nada and her ill-fated relationship with The King Of Dreams.
Nada was the queen of a great city and incredibly beautiful, but at the age of sixteen she was still not married, which troubled some of the women of her tribe. One evening a stranger entered the city and stood on the street looking up at the queen’s tower and when she looked out her window and saw him she was immediately in love.
She ordered the men of the tribe to find the stranger and when they failed she asked for the help of the King Of Birds in locating this man. It was the Weavebird who told Nada how to find the stranger (by eating a flaming berry from the sun-tree) and Nada found herself at a palace and it was then that she discovered that the stranger was none other than Kai’Ckul, the Dream King.
Nada ran in fear, knowing that no mortal can ever love one of The Endless, but Dream pursued her. Dream asked Nada to be his queen, but Nada said no, because “love is no part of the dream-world.” (Gaiman, Sandman # 9, page14, panel 5) Nada fled again, but Dream followed her unrelenting and when he caught up with her he once again expressed his love for her. They made love that night and “every living thing that could dream dreamed of love.” (Gaiman, Sandman # 9, page 16, panel 6)
When the sun rose, it saw Nada and Kai’Ckul together and as a consequence of their union, a ball of fire fell from the sun and destroyed Nada’s city. She blamed herself for the destruction of her city and so she leapt from the edge of the cliff, killing herself.
As Nada arrived in the land of the dead she discovered the King Of Dreams waiting for her and he offered his love to her one final time. He told her that she would forever be his queen, but if she refused she would be condemned to eternal pain.
While this story does not tell us what Nada’s decision was, we know from his encounter with her in Sandman # 4 that she once again rejected his advances and he sent her to Hell.
In the Prologue to Season Of Mists (Sandman # 21) Destiny calls together the family for a meeting and it is at this point that Dream discovers that he may have been a bit childish in sending Nada to Hell. Dream then decides to go into Hell once more and rescue Nada, even if it means a war with Lucifer.
When Dream returns to Hell he discovers that it’s empty and that Lucifer has released everyone. His final actions as the ruler of Hell is to give the Key To Hell to Dream.
After returning to the Dreaming, Emissaries from various nations come to Dream’s palace and appeal to him to allow them to become the new rulers of Hell. One of these groups of emissaries includes Azazel, The Merkin and Choronzon, one time inhabitants of Hell. Azazel offers Dream the demon Choronzon (who had once stolen Dream’s helmet) as well as the soul of Nada in exchange for the Key To Hell. Azazel threatened to devour Nada’s soul if they key did not end up in the possession of the demon.
When the final decision was made regarding the ownership of Hell, Azazel furious about Dream’s decision once again threatened to destroy Nada’s soul and Dream entered Azazel and rescued both Choronzon and Nada and then imprisoned Azazel in a glass bottle.
Once the emissaries left, Dream went to Nada and apologized to her for acting immaturely and for acting heartless and foolish and unfair to her. Dream once again offered Nada a place in his palace…a chance to be his queen, but once again Nada declined.
Dream enabled Nada’s soul to be reborn in a human child. She would never know that Dream loved her although he did tell her that she would always be welcome in the Dreaming regardless of what body she wore.
Here is Nada…both a rough pencil sketch and the finished painted portrait....
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