| Nicholas Sinclair |
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| Nicholas was born the only son and heir to the Earl of Treyhearn in a kingdom by the name of Wyreth. The land in which Wyreth was situated had long been isolated from the rest of the world; although there was much magic to be seen in the rest of the world, this land had chosen to isolate itself and its people from the existance of such; the only 'magic' that most of the population - including Nicholas - knew of, was the occaisional gift of the gods. For most of his life, Nicholas was a close friend to the Heir of the kingdom, Dacien Drake. The two of them would spend many hours together from early childhood on, often getting themselves into trouble... and while the one responsible for getting them there was often Nico, neither of them were particularly 'innocent'. As he grew older, however, his sights focused down from general trouble, to much more enjoyable pursuits: the chasing of women. He soon became known as the 'Peacock'... strutting about the lands and even the Palace itself, dressed in meticulous finery, in search of his next 'playmate'. Despite his reputation for an uncaring womanizer, however, he had a much softer side... for one thing, he always treated his 'playmates' with caring and respect; he was also something of a hopeless romantic in ways; and also something of a 'closet scholar', reading every scrap he could - so long as no one saw him doing so. It was in fact because of this - a late night trip to the library, when (he thought) no one would witness it - that he came to better know a young Lady of the court by the name of Kimberly Stevens. She lived in the Palace, the Goddaughter of the king and Queen. He remembered her as a diminutive slip of a girl in her early teens, as she had been when he met her upon her arrival at the Palace. But he would soon find that not only had she grown into a lovely young Lady, she had quite a fiery spirit. She also had one quality that seemed to entrance him, making it difficult to keep her out of his mind: she seemed totally, completely, and in all other ways uninterested in him. After that night, he used every excuse he could think of to spend in her presence. He was so preoccupied with her, in fact, that he pretty much gave up his normal 'sport' of bedding every lady he could find. As such things go, however, it was not long before they became quite close, and more than close. In fact, not long before he went to the King, as her Godfather, to ask permission to seek her hand in marriage. He was thrilled when not only did the King give his permission (after threatening his life and more should he hurt her in any way), but that she accepted his proposal as well. Several complications arose that seemed determined to keep the wedding from actually happening, however. First, Dacien, who had left on a journey to 'find his true love', asked them to wait until his return, so that they could have a double ceremony. Then when he finally returned, the Lady he had found disliked the idea of a double ceremony - which apparently Dacien had neglected to mention his wish for to her before asking Nico and Kim to wait for such. Shortly after that, however, King Alex and Queen Elise asked the young couple to join them on a trip - to where, they would not say. And so it came to be that Nico and Kim were taken to a land far from Wyreth, to a kingdom known as Vanyanin Aran'dor; a land far from their own, and a land full of magic, and 'strange' beings and beasts - things that they had grown up knowing only as legends and fairytales for children. |