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Court: Originally, Vathi

Hair: Curly. Fair.

Eyes: Deep amber.

Body type: Tall. Slender.

Facial features: Sharp cheeks, eyes, and jaw.

Personality: Loyal. Likes to tease.

Other: Older than Nyktos by several hundred years.

Background: Knew Eythos and Mycella fairly well. Knew about King Roderick’s deal. Sometimes joined Lathan to watch over Sera—starting on her seventeenth birthday.

Family: Sister.

ECTOR’S JOURNEY:

I’m going to admit that when I started seeing Ector in my visions of the past, I immediately had a soft spot for him. And the more I saw, the more I learned by researching and viewing others, the more endearing he became.

The first real glimpses I got of Ector started when he hands Sera a narrow birch box that he was ordered to give to her—the box containing her special crescent moon shadowstone dagger.

Ector accompanies Nyktos to the mortal realm to retrieve Sera and tends to her after Tavius’s assault, freeing her from her bonds and calling her stepbrother an animal. When Nyktos orders everyone out of the hall, Ector escorts the mortals.

When they return to the Shadowlands, Ector stands guard outside Sera’s room, even though he feels he has much better things to do. However, he remains for her safety since he’s heard that she likes to wander off into dangerous situations. He also takes it upon himself to bring her meals.

Ector accompanies Sera as she watches Nyktos hold Court, though he was against letting her come. Rhain teases him that he worries Daddy Nyktos will be upset and send him to bed with no dinner. When Veses arrives, he is ordered to take Sera somewhere safe and gives her the option of her chambers or the library. When she chooses, he deposits her and reminds her to adhere to what they agreed to.

Later, when Erlina arrives, Ector brings Sera to her chambers and stands guard outside. When the seamstress leaves, Ector offers to walk with Sera in the courtyard instead of keeping her in her room. He tells her that the draken understand when someone talks to them, even when not in their god forms.

Ector sympathizes with the shock Sera must have felt learning the truth about the Chosen. They discuss Gemma, and Ector tells Sera that she hasn’t been in the Shadowlands long. He then reveals what Court he’s from and tells her how old he is, teasing her about how good he looks for his age.

As they discuss Nyktos’s parents, Ector tells Sera that Eythos loved Mycella, even more so after she died, and would never have remarried.

A ruckus arises at the south gate, and Ector asks Sera to stay put as he goes to investigate. He finds Gemma, injured, and carries her into the palace, then orders Rhahar to get Nyktos. He tells Sera to return to her chambers.

He tries to argue that Gemma isn’t dead, but then he sees that she is. When the draken start acting strangely, he remarks that he’s never seen anything like it and then stares in shock as Sera starts to glow. He watches in awe as Sera brings Gemma back to life.

Later, Ector enters the war room with Bele and helps to relay the tale of Kolis’s treachery, how he exchanged destinies with his twin and then destroyed all records of the truth. When they discuss recent happenings, Ector remarks that it makes sense now why the poppies returned.

After Sera’s secret becomes known and during the dakkais siege, Ector asks what to do with Sera but ends up fetching a hooded cloak and meeting Nyktos by the gates to the bay. He doesn’t believe that Sera cares about Nyktos’s safety and tells her so later when he relays that monsters are in the water. He adds that Nyktos won’t kill her until he figures out what’s up with the embers.

When the dakkais spill out of the bay, he remarks that he thought they’d cleared the harbor, and Rhain tells him they were in the process of doing it. As he watches Bele fight, he gushes that he might be in love. As the battle rages, a dakkai pins him to the parapet wall, and Sera throws a dagger at it, saving Ector’s life. He thanks her in response.

Ector takes Sera back to the palace and wants to return her to her bedchambers. When he sees Nyktos, he asks the Primal how much of the blood he’s wearing is his and realizes that most of it is. It concerns him. He then turns his attention to Sera and tells her that she doesn’t have to pretend to care for Nyktos around them. She promptly tells him off and chastises him not to tell her how to feel.

After Hamid attacks Sera, Ector arrives with Nyktos and Saion. He kills Hamid with eather before thinking that Nyktos would probably like to question him. Sadly, there’s nothing left but ash. Despite the error, he’s a little surprised by how upset Nyktos is that he killed Hamid and remarks he should probably think before he acts, then goes to clean up the mess.

Ector says that no one would piss Nyktos off when he could fuck with them after they’re dead. As they talk about what might have led to the attack, Ector tells everyone that Gemma is still in the palace and was sleeping when he checked on her half an hour ago.

He shares that Nyktos doesn’t enjoy being touched but likes Sera’s kind of touching and is asked if he has a death wish. His response? “I’m beginning to think I do.”

He reminds me so much of Emil…

Ector enters the throne room just as Nyktos engages the murderous gods. When he sees that Bele is injured, his eyes turn glassy. He falls to his knees and argues when Nyktos says she sleeps, that is all. Then, with awe and fear, he stares at Sera, saying, “That is not all,” and watches in shock as Sera Ascends Bele.

Ector and Saion pace as they wait in Nyktos’s office with Sera. She asks them if they’re scared of her, and Ector responds that they’re more unnerved since nobody should be able to do what she did—bring a god back to life and Ascend them. He then adds that he doesn’t think Bele is a Primal, but she is more powerful. He goes on to say that he was around when Primals Ascended.